BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — The Martin County Board of Education rejected bids for the Martin County High School solar panel installation project and the Middle School vestibule.

The board acted on the recommendation of Superintendent of Schools Larry James, who noted the district received only one bid on the vestibule, which was “over budget, almost double.”

The district received two bids on the solar project, with the lowest bid being $418,00.

“We were projecting about $100,000,” James said. “It came in way over budget.”

The superintendent stated he had talked with Edelen Renewables.

“He can get us $50,000 more. That is great; we appreciate it, but we still have to get closer to our number.”

James added, “The architect is going to try to get the cost down too and hopes to get more word out and get more interest in the jobs, which helps us, hopefully.”

In other business, the board discussed revising the salary schedule for FMD [Functional Mental Disability] and speech teachers.

“The FMD teachers—I recommend we give them a $5,000 stipend to keep them,” said James. “They all can transfer into elementary or special ed and leave, and no one is going into that grade level – that specialization.”

Special Education Director Dena James noted the district has had a middle school opening for two years and had managed by keeping the seventh graders at the elementary and sending eighth graders to the high school. “Our population now has gotten so large, next year, we have to have someone at the middle school,” D. James said. “We can’t accommodate those students being split between the two units.”

Superintendent James proposed giving speech teachers an additional $1,200 to make their stipend $5,000.

“If you don’t have those people, then you have a contractor, and then you’re paying mileage and other costs,” he said.