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Cape Hatteras Secondary’s media center may be ready for student use before the end of the school year.

The media center roof was heavily damaged from flying debris and wind from Hurricane Dorian.

On Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, the Dare Board of Education approved a contract to fix the damaged roof and another contract for purchase and installation of new carpet and furniture.

The new roof will be metal and match the newly installed metal roof over the school’s gymnasium. The bid winner is Muter Construction Company, Inc. of Zebulon, with a cost of $146,500. Engineering fees for design and project coordination are $21,000, bringing the total roof replacement cost to $167,500.

The furniture contract was added to the agenda. A school-based committee worked on the color and furniture selection. The manufacturer is Mien Furniture Corp. of Grand Rapids, Mich. The vendor is Brame Specialty Co., Inc. with offices in Rocky Mount and Wilmington. The contract price is $248,057.94.

Dare Schools Superintendent John Farrelly reported that $500,000 in federal government restart funding was allocated to the media center project.

The school board unanimously passed a resolution requesting the General Assembly to pay a civil penalty judgment of $729.7 million.

North Carolina schools are recipients of fines and forfeitures levied in the state’s courts. The state improperly withheld certain fines and the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the state owed the public schools that money, but there is no way to make the state pay the judgment.

This past week was School Bus Driver Appreciation Week. Bus drivers in Dare County received extra praise for their work delivering students safely home on Friday, Feb. 7. Flooding came quickly, said Farrelly. Some bus drivers drove extra routes during the emergency.

Carolina College Advising Corps members Lauren Shumpert and Tania Gavino-Lopez presented an update on the program in Dare County high schools.

A new substitute teacher training program was introduced by Sandy Kinzel, assistant superintendent. The program will move to online training. The new program will run all year, smoothing out hiring. The current system is twice per year offerings of Effective Teacher Training through College of The Albemarle.

A number of budget amendments were approved in the consent agenda allocating state funds to performance bonus funds, school safety grant, CTE expansion grant funding and allotment for benefit payouts. The amendment “also accounts for a decrease in state funding due to charter schools.”

Recognized at the start of the meeting are the following Cape Hatteras staff and students:

Dare County Teacher of the Year: Justin Paxton, Cape Hatteras Secondary art teacher

Dare County Principal of the Year: Beth Rooks, principal at Cape Hatteras Secondary School

Employee of the Year for Cape Hatteras Secondary: Colleen Frye

Tar Heel Teacher of the Week: Jessica Polk, math teacher

Recycling program grant recipient: Clay Tiderman

Grant recipient: Evan Ferguson for a sustainability project, funded by a $1,000 grant from the Dare County Education Foundation

Cape Hatteras Secondary Assistant Principal Annette O’Neal

Outstanding Band Program: accepting the recognition were Conner Tawes and Kristiana Distel

District Bands Members: Elizabeth Mulder and Clara Oden for grades 9-10; Kristiana Distel for grades 11-12.

For exceptional courage and bravery and for rescuing a friend from a perilous situation during a recent duck hunt: Matthew Buetner.

READ ABOUT MORE SCHOOL NEWS AND EVENTS HERE. 

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