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Polk County Schools board meeting, date not confirmed yet

38 min

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Polk County board makes Feb. 16 and March 13 student days after 7 missed days 26:00

  • An auditor reported an unmodified audit with no findings for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2025, but said the general fund balance of about $100,000 needs to be much higher, and the board approved the audit 6⁠-⁠0. 10:12
  • The board approved the field trips and a budget amendment, each by a 6⁠-⁠0 vote. 21:41
  • The board approved a revised school calendar that turns two required teacher workdays, Monday, February 16th, and Friday, March 13th, into student days after schools missed 7 consecutive days of instruction because of weather. 26:00
  • The board also voted 6⁠-⁠0 to go to NCDPI with a proposal for 5 remote days. 32:29
Item by item (11)
  1. Opening and approval of minutes 0:02
    • The board considered the January 12th, 2026 board minutes. 3:02
    • The minutes were approved 6⁠-⁠0. 3:21
  2. Elementary student presentation 3:21
    • A first grade teacher from Sunnyview Elementary said students learned about the seasons in science and presented a play called The Snowman. 3:29
  3. Annual audit presentation 7:27
    • An auditor said the district received an unmodified report, the cleanest report available, and had no findings for any federal or state program for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2025. 7:32
    • The auditor attributed the low balance mainly to rising costs and declining funding. 7:32
    • The auditor said the general fund balance was about $100,000 and that a district of its size probably needs somewhere around $1.5 million. 8:08
    • The board approved the audit 6⁠-⁠0. 10:12
  4. Educational grant recognition 10:16
    • A speaker said the educational grant awards up to $1,000 to an educator to help with continuing education and announced this year's recipient, who will use it to attend a conference. 10:31
    • The recipient, a teacher, said the award would help extend educators' education. 11:28
  5. Curriculum-aligned elementary field trips 12:15
    • A district staff member said the district wrote a grant to the Polk County Community Foundation, which funded field trips aligned with the Arts and Letters curriculum for kindergarten through 5th grade, and noted buses cost $4 a mile. 14:09
    • The early literacy specialist described trips for each grade, including the Greenville Zoo for first grade and Hart Square Village for 4th grade. 14:54
    • Asked whether every grade level goes at the same time, a staff member said limited bus drivers led the district to send two schools on one day and the other two on a second day. 18:44
  6. High school field trip requests 19:50
    • A staff member presented three trips: a high school FFA trip May 3rd through 8th to a national land judging competition in El Reno, Oklahoma, an FFA poultry judging event in Raleigh March 30th through 31st, and a HOSA state conference in Greensboro March 25th through 27th. 20:09
    • The board approved all three field trips in one motion, 6⁠-⁠0. 21:41
  7. Budget amendment 21:36
    • A finance staff member said the amendment included $5,000 in additional state revenue from a hygiene grant and $120,844 in additional federal revenue, most of it a 21st Century installment. 21:51
    • The staff member said Fund 8 included safety grant money the state had finally sent, used for items such as locks and safety equipment. 23:19
    • A speaker said safety grant requests have not been open during a transition and there is no timeframe for when they will reopen. 24:45
    • The budget amendment was approved 6⁠-⁠0. 25:48
  8. Revised calendar and remote learning 25:47
    • A district staff member said schools missed 7 consecutive days because of weather, with a total of 8 for Saluda, and proposed making February 16th and March 13th student days, bringing the total to 1,048 hours against a 1,025-hour state minimum. 26:00
    • A staff member said the state allows up to 5 remote learning days, Polk County is one of 3 traditional districts without that option, and a plan would go to NCDPI for approval in June for next school year. 30:06
    • Rick N. Covil moved to accept the calendar and to push forward remote days if suitable, then returned to a motion for the calendar only. 31:39
    • The board approved the calendar 6⁠-⁠0 and also voted 6⁠-⁠0 to go to NCDPI with a proposal for 5 remote days. 32:29
  9. Old and new business 32:54
    • Asked how the cell phone pouches were going, a staff member said there had been very little feedback and it appeared to be going very well at the high school. 32:57
    • No new business was raised, and the chair noted optional board training offered by NCSBA. 33:37
  10. Public comment 33:37
    • A speaker at public comment said one of the district's buses was clocked doing 45 into 25 and that the speaker reported it. 35:18
    • The chair said speakers are limited to 3 minutes and that the limit must be applied consistently. 37:19
  11. Closed session 37:40
    • The board considered a motion to go into closed session to discuss personnel. 37:48
    • The motion carried 6⁠-⁠0. 37:58

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Who spoke

Who spoke

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Video: posted by the district as “Polk County Schools BOE Meeting - 2/9/26”