Snow Hill - On Monday, December 19, 2022, the Greene County Board of Education held their first meeting with its new members. As is done after every election, the board “reorganizes” itself by electing Chairman and Vice Chairman. This year was the first time in a long time that Pat Adams would not be chosen to serve as the board chair as she lost her seat in the general election.

The board welcomed new members, Mason Dyer and Darius Shackelford, to the board. Joey Rackley was nominated and elected as the Chairman of the Board. Following Chairman Rackley taking the gavel, the call was made for nominations for Vice Chairman. Mason Dyer (new board member) nominated Brandon Johnson to serve in that capacity. Mr. Shackleford also put forth a nomination for long time board member Teresa Batts. By a vote of 3-2, Brandon Johnson was elected Vice Chairman of the board.

Following the invocation, Mr. Rackley opened the floor to comments between the community and board members. Mr. Dyer thanked the community for their support and expressed a desire to work with everyone in the best interest of the students. Mr. Shackleford also spoke and reminded the board of to “keep in mind the diversity of the county” when making decisions. He also expressed a desire to work together as a board and use “data to drive our decisions.”

Following the board member comments, Dr. Frank Creech, GCS Superintendent, called Astrid Nava, District PIO, to come to the podium to recognize the monthly student spotlight awards. The students for this month’s spotlight were from West Greene Elementary School. Each student had been nominated by a teacher at the school and was received a certificate from Dr. Creech. 

Nova also recognized this month’s Employee of the Month, Assistant Principal of West Greene Elementary Anya Mattingly. She was nominated by a teacher at the school who expressed her gratitude for the ever present Mattingly. The nomination spoke about Ms. Mattingly’s dedication to the school, students, parents, and the staff. Ms. Mattingly received a certificate and a small gift in recognition of her being named December’s Employee of the Month. 

Dr. Creech then shifted focus from individual recognition to school recognition. He shared, “The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction recognizes schools for different achievements. This year, several schools from Greene County were recognized by the state for their hard work.” Dr. Creech then called the principals of each school forward to receive a certificate of recognition. Greene Early College High School was recognized for an outstanding graduation rate of 96% during the last school year. Greene Central High School and West Greene Elementary School were both recognized for Meeting Academic Growth during the previous school year. 

Cathy Williams, District Instructional Accountability Supervisor, then presented some minor policy changes to the board, focusing on the Code of Ethics for School Board members and updated immunization requirements for school entry. Neither policy changed, but was updated to match the new legal language that was updated by the state. Each month board reviews policies from their policy manual rotating as required by law. 

The next Greene County Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 30, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the Tech Center.  The January 23rd meeting was canceled.