SALISBURY — When the Rowan-Salisbury School Board convenes on Monday, its members will consider accepting a bid for the demolition of Knox Middle School.

A memo to the school board from the superintendent, Dr. Kelly Withers, and chief operations officer, Dr. Jamie Durant, indicated that after being instructed to begin the bidding process for the abatement and demolition of Knox Middle School during a September meeting, an advertisement for bids were published online and in print. 

“We received (5) qualified bids and sealed bids were opened on Nov. 28, 2023,” the memo said. “Custom Demo submitted the lowest responsible bid at $687,448.”

That bid led to the school systems recommendation to approve the contract for the abatement and demolition of Knox Middle School with Custom Demo in the amount of $687,448. 

The school board will also consider approval of language changes in district policy. A memo from Withers, and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Sajata Latten indicates that changes will be made to the following sections: 4335-Criminal Behavior; 6120-Student Health Services; 7300-Staff Responsibilities; 7410-Teacher Contracts; 7422-Chief Officer Contracts; 7425-School Administrator Contracts; 8325-Daily Deposit;, 4333-Weapons; Bomb Threats, Terrorist Threats, and Clear Threats to Safety; and 3420 Student Promotion and Accountability.

According to the memo, “The following updates to policies are presented for Board of Education consideration as the following updates are either: (1) required by law to be addressed in policy or (2) must be updated to ensure the policy reflects current state board policies (ex. updating language and/or updates to legal citations). These policies are in alignment with the N.C. State Board of Education Policy Manual.”

In the student health services change, language is added outlining the inclusion of a school system mental health plan. In the staff responsibilities section, a line is added that reads, “All employees shall … (6) support parents in effectively participating in their child’s education and never encourage or coerce a child to withhold information from a parent.”

For a full list of the policy changes, go to the Rowan-Salisbury School Board website and follow links in the agenda for the Jan. 8 meeting.

During the meeting, the board will also consider a proposal to purchase cases for the 2024-2025 school year. The purchase is for 1,500 iPad cases to be deployed to kindergarteners and 1,400 iPad cases with keyboards to be deployed to rising 9th graders. The cases are the same cases that RSS currently uses for these grade levels.

The board will also consider a request from an individual to purchase an 1,800-square-foot piece of property located on St. Luke’s Church Road (East Rowan High School). According to a memo from Withers and Durant, the individual is offering $5,000 for the property. The intended use of the property is for a community extension of Braunville Estates and a potential driveway access for an additional home. Additionally, the individual stated they will provide a mulched access trail to Scotland Lane for students to utilize when running the neighborhood loop.

The Rowan-Salisbury School Board meeting will take place at the Wallace Education Forum, located at 500 N. Main Street in Salisbury, at 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 8.