Duplin County board authorizes superintendent to sign needs-based school capital grant application

At its September business session the Duplin County Board of Education voted to authorize the superintendent to sign and submit a North Carolina Needs Based Public School Capital Fund grant application, the board's presiding officer said.

The board added the topic as a late agenda item and then approved the authorization after a short procedural discussion. The chair told members the application is open and that the deadline is Oct. 3, which falls before the board's next regularly scheduled meeting. Board members moved and seconded the motions to add the item and to grant submission authority; the chair called for the ayes and declared each motion carried.

The board first voted to add the discussion of the needs-based capital fund to the agenda. Miss Edwards moved to add the item and Mr. Keenan seconded. Later, Mr. Keenan moved to allow the superintendent to sign the application when it is ready, and Mr. Jones seconded that motion. The board recorded the votes by voice and the chair declared both motions carried.

The board did not discuss grant specifics or project-level allocations during the brief on-record exchange. The chair noted only that the application window is open and the Oct. 3 deadline means staff would need authority to submit the application before the next meeting. The board also handled routine business at the session: approving the meeting agenda, approving a consent agenda, entering an executive session for personnel and confidential-student-information purposes, and approving the superintendent's personnel recommendations when they returned to open session.

Savannah Smith, a senior at Wallace Rose Hill High School, led the invocation at the start of the meeting. A brief member remark later thanked colleagues for honoring “Dr. O” by placing the name on a helmet, a recognition the chair attributed to Mr. Ross's efforts.

Votes at a glance: The board approved the meeting agenda (mover: Miss Edwards; second: Mr. Keenan; outcome: approved), approved the consent agenda (mover: Mr. Jones; second: Miss Edwards; outcome: approved), voted to enter executive session under general statutes for personnel and attorney-client/ confidential student information purposes (mover: Miss Edwards; second: Mr. Keenan; outcome: approved), approved the superintendent's personnel recommendations after executive session (mover: Miss Edwards; second: not specified; outcome: approved), voted to add the Needs Based Public School Capital Fund item to the agenda (mover: Miss Edwards; second: Mr. Keenan; outcome: approved), and voted to authorize the superintendent to sign and submit the grant application (mover: Mr. Keenan; second: Mr. Jones; outcome: approved).

The board did not record numeric tallies for the voice votes in the public record; minutes show members responded 'aye' and the chair declared motions carried with no on-record opposition. The board adjourned following the business.