The Richmond County Board of Education said farewell to a pair of outgoing board members and a pair of retired elementary schools Tuesday’s board of education meeting.

Vice Chairman Tom McInnis was the odd man out of the field of five in the May election of school board members that sent Irene Pittman Aiken and Joe Richardson to the board. Member Cathy Wilson chose not to seek reelection.

During her pre-meeting invocation, member Pam Easterling choked back tears as she asked for guidance “as the board moves in a new direction.”

“These two people are dedicated public servants that have given all that could be asked of anybody during their terms on this board,” Chairman Ken Goodman said.

Those in attendance stood to clap for McInnis and Wilson after the comment.

Easterling said she didn’t know McInnis or Wilson before serving with them on the board of education, but commented on their integrity.

She said the two brought distinctive personalities and talents to the board.

“(McInnis) takes those orders and questions everything,” Easterling said. “He reads in between the lines and the fine print and the fine print that’s not even there, and asks the tough questions that have saved the county taxpayers thousands of dollars.”

She said she recalls instances when the board faced a difficult decision and Wilson would say she had to pray about it before deciding her vote.

Board member Bruce Stanback commented on the “special talents” each member brought to the board, and board member Ed Ormsby commented on the board’s “strength in diversity.”

Board member Wiley Mabe also voiced his appreciation of the outgoing members.

“I have enjoyed serving,” Wilson said. “It’s been an honor and a privilege. Regardless of what we do, whether it be building buildings or purchasing books for the classroom, the main thing is the children of Richmond County and what’s best for them.”

McInnis called his time on the board “an exercise in Democracy.”

“We have met, we have deliberated, and we have talked about issues,” McInnis said. “For all the young people out there in the audience, this is an exercise in Democracy when we sit together, get together and differ in opinion ... but at the end of the day, it’s about what is best for the majority of students of Richmond County Schools ... My only regret is that we didn’t get more done for the children of Richmond County.”

A public hearing was held about the closing of Cordova Elementary and Rohanen Primary schools as Kindergarten through fifth grade facilities. Only one member of the public offered comment.

Cordova Elementary second grade teacher Wayne Webb told the board his decision to retire after this year was based, in part, on the closing of Cordova, where he’s taught for nearly 30 years.

Webb is known throughout the county for his support of Read Across America, a program that seeks young readers through the works of the popular author Dr. Suess.

“I taught my whole career at Cordova, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Webb said after the hearing. “The one thing I do ask is that they keep the name Cordova when the children from Roberdel come there. I understand they need a bigger facility, and I’m excited about the new East Rockingham school, but I feel that’s a tradition that should be kept.”

Webb also asked the “Soaring Comets” awards given out every report card period be kept as well.

In the meeting, the board voted unanimously to close the schools for K-5, and students of both schools will attend East Rockingham Elementary on Chalk Road outside Rockingham next year.

Cordova will house the Roberdel Children’s Center next year, and the board hasn’t made a decision on what to do with Rohanen Primary.

The board then settled in to hear recommendations for the school system’s Career and Technical Education curriculums compiled and voted on by members of the business and social communities of Richmond County with educators from the district.

“We found very quickly that the jobs of the future are going to require both a technical and an academic background,” Career Technical Education Advisor Charles Perry told the board at the outset of his presentation.

He told the board the group agreed on several recommendations for the program, including exploring additional teaching methods, connecting business leaders with educators and parents, developing a marketing campaign for technical curriculums, embedding academic literacy into technical courses and other recommendations.

“If we do the same thing we’ve always done - we’ll get what we’ve always gotten, and that’s not good enough for this generation, and it’s not going to be good enough for the next generation,” Perry told the board. “Children learn in different ways than when you and I were going to school, and we oftentimes take away the tools they learn best with at the doors of the school.”

He pointed to forming academies, or specialized pathways and degrees, in the individual high schools, as well as further utilization of “virtual school,” or classes over the Internet, as possible reforms to institute.

Board member Ed Ormsby commended Perry on his work with the project, as well as those who contributed from the community, as did RCS Superintendent Dr. George Norris.

The board then voted to accept the next item on the agenda, a comprehensive plan for the school system’s Academically and Intellectually Gifted programs, unanimously, with no discussion.

Also at the meeting:

The board was presented with a bus maintenance report from the state which found the only problem in the system is making sure everybody signs in and out everyday.

“Buses were in excellent condition again this year,” one page of the report reads.

The board voted unanimously to repeal a policy which required “summer remediation,” or summer school, be offered to students who failed end-of-grade or end-of-course testing.

This summer will be the second year the school system has offered non-traditional, “summer enrichment programs,” as opposed to old-fashioned summer school. This year, the catalogue of offerings expanded to include 12 programs of varying lengths of time for varying ages of students.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.