Wallace Educational Forum, also known as the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s central office building, is one step closer to groundbreaking.

Not only did the school board officially approve the name during its meeting Monday night, it also approved the final paperwork for the district and the county to close on the property Thursday.

The board spent a long time talking about the name at work session two weeks ago. The contract for the land swap with Lee and Mona Lisa Wallace stipulated that the building be named only after the Wallace family.

Chairman of the Board Josh Wagner, Dr. Richard Miller, Susan Cox, Jean Kennedy and Chuck Hughes voted in favor of the name, while Vice Chair Dean Hunter and Travis Allen voted against.

The board also voted to approve the agency and lease agreements, a resolution of approval and a memorandum of lease – four documents that allow the school board to carry out the project and define the lease agreement between the school system and the county.

All board members except Allen voted to approve the documents.

“I can’t support any vote for a central office,” Allen said, claiming that he feels there are more pressing needs than a central office within the district.

The board also approved long-range facility, land use and paving studies to be done by three different firms.

“We discussed the need for a long-range facility plan at our work session,” said Assistant Superintendent of Operations Anthony Vann.

Collectively, the projects will cost $93,000 and will be paid for out of the district’s capital outlay fund balance.

In Vann’s proposal, the long-range facility plan would be done by SFL+a, the architectural firm the board hired to work on the Knox Middle School project, for $45,000; the Institute for Transportation Research and Education would handle the land use survey for $18,900 and Davis-Martin-Powell would perform the paving study for $29,000.

The paving study wasn’t included in the board’s talks earlier this month, but Vann said he “thought it best to include all major needs” while addressing other long-term needs.

“We need to have this in place so we can have some good conversations with our commissioners,” he said.

Hunter asked if the projects were sent out to bid.

Vann explained that since each of the studies is under $50,000 individually, the school system can approve the services without seeking approval from county commissioners. No bids were needed for the studies because they are services rather than construction projects.

He also said that starting the bid process now could put the school system back up to two months and that the process wouldn’t be included in this budget year.

Hunter replied that he was “never in favor” of doing projects like this without asking for bids first.

“Getting on with it is very important,” Miller said, adding that having the studies completed “further stabilizes what we really need to do in the future rather than flying by the seat of our pants.”

Miller moved to approve all three proposals, which was approved 4-3. Miller, Hughes, Kennedy and Cox voted in favor, while Hunter, Wagner and Allen opposed.

In other news, the Board of Education:

• Unanimously approved the name, “The Carter Building,” for its building in the 110 block of N. Long Street in Salisbury that houses a warehouse, along with the district’s maintenance and technology departments. The building used to be Carter Furniture, and was donated by the Carter family to the school system.
• Accepted a $5,955.37 bid from Camcor, Inc. to purchase audio and video equipment to broadcast the board’s meetings. The equipment will upgrade the board’s audio equipment and includes a video camera to record the meetings, which will then be uploaded to YouTube. The purchase comes with an additional $671.30 installation fee. District technology employees will be paid overtime to edit and upload the video. The board voted approved the bid 5-2, with Miller and Cox opposing it.
• Approved policies regarding medical and family leave, visitors to schools, personnel files, suspension and discipline of classified personnel, nonrenewal for non-career status teachers, Plans for Growth and Improvement of Licensed Employees and evaluation of licensed employees.
• Approved the school assignment policy which clarifies athletic wait periods for choice schools and academies, as well as adds academic, attendance and behavioral expectations for students deciding to attend a choice school. The policy led to discussion on athletics and recruiting, which the board decided to address at a later time.
• Discussed the intended use of the 10 minutes of instruction time added to each school day. A final decision on how to make up snow days will be announced next week, Superintendent Dr. Lynn  Moody said.