The Colleton County School Board conducted a virtual meeting on Tuesday April 21, opening with a moment of silence in remembrance of seven-year-old Gabi Richardson.
Gabi recently passed away, after battling a long illness. She attended Cottageville Elementary School. Interim Colleton County School District Superintendent John Tindal expressed sorrow at the loss of Gabi and urged prayers for the family. Janis Headden, principal at Cottageville, plans to have a special ceremony in the fall for Gabi’s teachers and friends to remember and honor her.
The meeting continued with Board Chair Patricia Simmons responding to questions sent in by parents. Angie Bryant asked what the plans were for the rest of the school year, and Dixie Hickman asked if the class of 2020 was graduating on time this year. Simmons responded that the board and staff were working diligently to have an answer to the school year situation. “We are trying to decide what we can do at this time, but right now we are still dealing with the fallout from the coronavirus and we just don’t have an answer. We are all hurting here, and we feel the pain that everyone is going through,” said Simmons.
Board member Tim Mabry said that the the school board discussed the situation and hopes the county would be able to have a graduation ceremony for the students and parents. William Bowman responded that graduation plans were not the responsibility of the board, but was a decision that rested on the high school. Supt. Tindal assured everyone that an answer will be forthcoming, because all realized graduation was the highpoint of a student’s academic career.
Assistant Supt. Cliff Warren presented next year’s 2020-2021 school calendar which was adopted. That calendar, based on the law and responses to surveys sent out, can be found on the district’s website. The calendar meets the guidelines of the law written prior to COVID-19.
Tindal stated that he was happy with the virtual learning program with students. “Learning is continuing; it’s just a different methodology,” he said. “Our number one priority is keeping everyone safe, and students are safer at home. This is also a wonderful opportunity for parents to understand what teachers go through in a typical day at school.”
Tindal also congratulated Food Services for all of its hard work in preparing meals for the students of the county. He said the Colleton County Commercial Kitchen was responding to the district’s need for assistance in continuing the food delivery program by preparing meals and taking some of the burden from the district food service personnel.
Grant money provides funding to the Commercial Kitchen’s summer feeding program, headed by Matt Mardell and Eartha Cunningham. Extra funding was available to prepare meals and help deliver them to outlying schools, which took a tremendous financial strain off the school district.
Tindal said that in the recent tornados, Cottageville Elementary School’s roof was damaged resulting in leaks in five kindergarten classrooms, the music classroom and one additional classroom, along with a leak in the third-grade hallway. The district will need to look at replacing the entire roof in the future.
At the Adult Education facility at 609 Colleton Loop, the wind blew the roof off the building. No damage was detected inside. Tindal believes that insurance will cover replacing that roof.
The wind also blew off 80% of the roof on the Floyd Buckner Building, the former district office location. The building belongs to the county and, fortunately, most of the school district’s belongings had already been removed.
