ELIZABETHTOWN — The Bladen County School Board met for their monthly meeting on Monday to discuss Tar Heel School construction project updates and approved discussions on improvements for the ‘23-24 school year. The Tar Heel project is progressing on time and the first phase is slated to be completed by December. The mechanical and piping throughout the building have undergone testing with positive results. The water tanks will arrive on schedule and the construction team will begin to install them in July.
The Board found time to discuss a solution to get AIG (Academically or Intellectually Gifted) programs on the same accord through all four middle schools and they have suggested getting parent engagement before proceeding to vote. No changes will be made to the AIG curriculum at this point but once more information is gathered from each school, then the necessary adjustments will be made. The goal is to get more teachers around the county AIG certified to accommodate their students. Also, the goal is to get the same resources across the district to limit any disparities between schools.
The Board approved the motion to discontinue the uniform policy and voted to revise the dress code for the next school year. They took community consideration into account before doing away with the uniform policy. The Board approved discussion of the budget for a new tennis court and a repaved track for East Bladen High. Concerns for the current track’s safety were put into question by a couple of board members and this caused a debate for funding to complete this project.
East Bladen needs money to expand and rubberize their current track but the board won’t have a budget for the track until 2024. The board would like the tennis court renovations to begin this July before the start of the Fall season. Opinions were split on the motions to approve the timetable to discuss the repaving of the track to 2024 and discussions will continue next month.