Pam Pitman was unanimously chosen as chair of the Mitchell County Schools Board of Education Thursday, Jan. 8.
Pitman was one of two nominees for the position. Previous Chairman Brandon Pitman handed over the first few minutes of the meeting to the board’s attorney, John Henning, to preside over the selection of officers.
Board member Sam Blevins nominated Brandon Pitman to serve as chair. Board member Alan English nominated Pam Pitman to serve as chair.
“And, John, may I remove my name from the nomination?” asked Brandon Pitman once the nominations were complete.
“Yes, sir, you can,” said Henning.
“And Sam, I appreciate that wholeheartedly, but I’m going to remove my name from the nomination,” Brandon Pitman went on.
With only one name remaining as an option, Pam Pitman was voted in as chair 4-0. She herself abstained from the vote with a shrug.
Brandon Pitman then nominated Alan English as vice chair, and that nomination was approved 5-0. Pam Pitman presided over the remainder of the meeting.
Audit results
Adam Scepurek of the accounting firm Anderson, Smith and Wike gave a presentation on the results of the school district’s latest audit.
Scepurek said that the results of the of audit show that the district’s financial statements appear to be accurate. He noted that this kind of clean opinion does not make value judgments about whether or not the local schools are in good financial shape.
“The opinion is not whether we think you had a good year or a bad year … just that these financial statements are accurate,” he said. “It’s considered a clean, unmodified opinion.”
Temporary location
The school board met at the old Harris school building in Spruce Pine. This is where the district’s administrative offices will be housed while renovation work is being done on the regular office space in Ledger.
“This is where the central office will be for at least 15 months,” Superintendent Chad Calhoun said.
Christmas card contest
Associate Superintendent Jennifer Gregory presented the winners of the district’s recent Christmas card design contest to the board.
The winners are Sadie Calhoun of Mitchell High School, Kimber Miller of Gouge Primary School, Landrie McMahan of Mitchell Middle School and Janeiry Silva Tomas of Mitchell Elementary School.
The four Christmas-themed designs drawn by these students were reproduced on the official Christmas card sent out by the school district. Calhoun drew an image of Joseph and Mary traveling, Kimber drew a nativity scene, Janeiry drew Santa Claus with reindeer, and Landrie drew a Christmas ornament with a nativity scene on it.