Baseball, security on board’s agenda

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

Baseball and school security were again on the Bland County School Board’s agenda on Monday night as the governing body held its monthly meeting.
School Board member Paul Looney reported Tuesday morning that the group’s discussions included the following issues:
• The School Board voted its approval of the newest phase of the baseball field renovation project – with the stipulation that all plans must be presented to Superintendent Don Hodock before being finalized. The proposed venture includes new dugouts and a storage facility. Looney added that he understood the completion goal for the project to be before the upcoming spring 2008 season. He said the baseball coaches and other people involved with the plan have not requested funds from the School Board for this phase of the project.
• The group reiterated its support for the pursuit of additional security measures for the county’s schools, such as video cameras to monitor school grounds and an alarm system that sounds when outside doors are left open. Looney said the School Board still did not receive official price quotes for implementing the security features.
• Steve Bull with BB&T made a presentation to the School Board regarding a new governmental accounting standard for retiree benefits. Bull offered the bank’s services “to make sure we have enough money set in our account to take care of our future needs,” Looney said. For Bland County schools, the new standard primarily deals with the management of medical costs for retired employees. Looney said the School Board took no formal action on Bull’s proposal, adding that the governing body plans to investigate other price quotes for financial services concerning the benefits account before making a decision.
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .