Beaufort County school board ratifies personnel report, hires Beaufort Middle principal and OKs Bluffton land‑swap amendment

A majority of the Beaufort County Board of Education approved three actions following an executive session at its July 8 meeting, adopting a personnel ratification, hiring a new middle‑school principal and authorizing further work on a land swap with the Town of Bluffton.

The board first voted to accept the superintendent's ratification of the personnel report. The motion was moved and seconded; a board member asked whether anything unusual was in the ratification report and staff answered there was not. The motion passed by voice vote, with the chair announcing the motion carried.

The board then voted on the superintendent's recommendation to hire Jennifer Murillo as principal of Beaufort Middle School. "I move that the Board of Education accept the superintendent's recommendation to hire Jennifer Murillo, principal of Beaufort Middle School," a board member read aloud. The motion was seconded and carried after a roll‑call voice vote; at least one board member recorded a dissenting "no" during the roll call.

Finally, the board considered a proposed land swap with the Town of Bluffton concerning the Willow Run parcel. The initial motion authorized the superintendent to finalize the Town of Bluffton Land Swap Amendment to exchange approximately 11 acres from the Willow Run parcel for roughly 23 acres owned by the Town of Bluffton adjacent to Willow Run. A board member asked that the board receive the final agreement before it becomes effective; staff replied they "do intend to bring the final motion to you next time" and welcomed adding that language. A motion to amend the authorization to explicitly require staff to bring the finalized agreement back to the board for final approval was offered, seconded and approved; the amended motion was then approved by the board.

Chair (presiding officer) called each matter and oversaw the votes. The meeting minutes and official motions list the motions and the final outcomes; the board recorded absences during the initial executive‑session vote. The superintendent's office will carry out the approved personnel ratifications and the superintendent was authorized to continue negotiations and document final terms for the Bluffton land swap, subject to returning the final agreement to the board for a subsequent vote.

What happens next: staff will process the personnel ratification, the superintendent will coordinate completion of the hiring paperwork for Jennifer Murillo, and district staff will finalize the land‑swap paperwork and return the final agreement to the board for formal approval at a future meeting.