Stadium, new officers on school board agenda Tuesday

School trustees Billy Blackwell and Donnie Lee Smith are the frontrunners to be the new school board chairman, sources have said.

New officers will be elected as part of a school board reorganization at Tuesday's school board meeting at 7 p.m. in the district office. Sandra Greene has held the position of chairperson since she was re-elected in 2004 following a 4-year absence from the school board.

New school trustee Amanda Knowles will join incumbents Mike Ellis, Barry Bailey and Lindley Auton in being sworn in for 4-year terms.

Other topics on the agenda include a building program update, the school board's public participation policy and a closed session to discuss a contractual matter.

The Freedom of Information Act requires a specific reason for going into executive session. Under the FOIA, personnel and contractual matters are not considered a specific enough explanation for a public body going into executive session.

In regular session, the building program will include an update on the Gaffney High football stadium. Bids came in nearly $3 million above the original estimate of $5.5 million.

The apparent low bidder Farley Associates of Indian Land submitted a bid of $8,333,000 to build a new 10,000- seat stadium between the district office and Gaffney High.

School trustees will consider revising their public participation policy which requires 48 hour written notice from individuals and prior board approval to speak at board meetings. The policy limits speakers to 10 minutes.

A public comments period had routinely started board meetings since it was added by new board members following the November 1998 elections. The purpose was to provide an open forum in which concerned parents and residents could address board members about education issues.