School board decides to meet once a month

The Alleghany County Board of Education voted Dec. 6 to reduce its regular meeting schedule from two meetings to one meeting per month. The board formerly met only once per month until about two years ago. Chairman Charles Joines said the board then added the second monthly meeting at the request of former board Chairman Bobby Irwin.

Board Vice Chairman David Caldwell, who made the motion for the change at the Dec. 6 meeting, said the second meeting is no longer necessary. "There's not as much going on as when we were trying to renovate three school buildings at the same time," he said. "There's not the agenda we had a year ago."

Joines also said the second meeting is not necessary. "We don't need more than a few hours once a month. We look to have shorter meetings and fewer of them," he said.

Joines said the reduced schedule will be easier on the central office staff and less expensive for the school system. He said each board member receives $35 per meeting.

Caldwell said the board could hold special called meetings if and when necessary.

The board agreed to hold its regular meeting on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m.

Board Member Steve Carpenter suggested moving the meeting to a later time to make it more accessible to the public. The board did not act on that request.

"It seems like 5:30 works best," Joines said. "We don't want to wait until 7 o'clock and be (here) until midnight." He said he is not aware of any problems with the 5:30 start time.

However, "If people complain they can't attend, we will certainly look at it....It's not chiseled in stone forever. If there's a need, we can change the time," Joines said.
 
 

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