by KENYA SMITH/INTERN
kenya.smith@tidewaternews.com

COURTLAND
The Southampton County Public School Board assembled on Monday at the Wigwam for its organizational and regular meeting. During the first part, the members re-elected the following candidates for four positions of the school board:

• Chair – Dr. Deborah Goodwyn

• Vice Chair – James Pope III

• Clerk – Dr. Gwendolyn Shannon

• Deputy Clerk – Lavern Artis

The board continued to the regular session, and the first item of business was the 2018 graduation update. This year, 156 students graduated, which included 10 associate degree graduates, 78 honor graduates, six projected summer graduates, 147 who completed career and technical education programs, and two full Virginia cosmetology license recipients. It was also noted that the class of 2018 had a total of $5.8 million in scholarships and award offers.

Then, the school board approved seven action items including the propane gas bid, in which Parker Oil Company will be the supplier for the 2018-2019 school year. Facility usage requests from Celerity Cycling and Nottoway Elementary were also granted. The board also OK’d a request from Courtland Health and Rehabilitation Center that will provide transportation for patients in case of a disaster or an emergency.

SCPS Instruction Director Kellie Gillette presented the instructional report for July. The first item on the report was the list of the following grants that SCPS received:

• Show Me How to Shine – $22,500

• Headed for a Better Life – $30,000

• Southampton Technical Career Center – $35,000

• Southampton Technical Career Center – $5,000

• Total: $92,000

Another item that was mentioned was the summer reading program called Books by Mail. The students that are selected to participate in Books by Mail receive five mailings of books and activities to help them improve their reading. Books by Mail is serving 167 students in grades K-2.

Gillette also reported on the number of students that enrolled in summer school for this year:

• Elementary – 115

• Tidewater Regional Governor’s School – 10

• 21st Century – 80

• Southampton High School – 37

The student enrollment report was presented near the end of the meeting. The total number of students that enrolled for May and June was 2,816, which included 127 pre-school and 14 special education pre-school students.