IRMO, S.C. — In a Monday night meeting, the Lexington-Richland District 5 school board started looking at their district's future as this school year wraps up.
The conversation started with the Superintendent relaying students' ideas for what they want to see before they head off to their college or career paths.
“They're planning an event called 'Before You Go, You Need to Know', this is a life skills inventory, and we're going to be looking for volunteers," said Dr. Akil Ross.
The district board also discussed the future of the grading scale that will change in the next two school years.
“Grades aren’t about what you’ve earned but what you’ve learned,” said Anna Miller, Chief of Academics.
A committee of selected staff within the district will be researching how to create a consistent grading policy throughout the district over the next year. The committee will also seek parent and student input as they craft the new guidelines.
A yearlong conversation also continued at Monday night's meeting as the district also voted to part ways with JAG, the auditors that performed the procurement audit over the last year.
“It's an opportunity for us to heal... JAG has contributed to some type of division within our district," said board member Kevin Scully. "We're going to hear a request to increase our millage, and some board members want to terminate the contract of the first auditor in years to find significant material procurement issues that cost this district millions of dollars," countered board member, Catherine Huddle.
As the district decided to part ways with its financial troubles of the past, it also looked at its $232 million budget for the upcoming school year, which included discussion about salary increases and a possible tax increase as well.
The district will continue budget discussions in their next meeting on May 22.
