Brandon Tester | Daily Journal file photo
                                In a teleconference on Tuesday, Richmond Community College Trustees will hear an update on the construction of the Robinette Building in downtown Rockingham.

Brandon Tester | Daily Journal file photo

In a teleconference on Tuesday, Richmond Community College Trustees will hear an update on the construction of the Robinette Building in downtown Rockingham.

HAMLET — The Richmond Community College Board of Trustees and Richmond County Board of Education will hold their respective regular meetings on Tuesday.

Neither meeting will be held in person. The RCC Trustees will use a call-in format with no video for their meeting at noon, and the school board will meet on a video teleconference at 5 p.m.

The agenda for the RCC Board of Trustees meeting includes an update on the construction of the Kenneth and Claudia Robinette building in downtown Rockingham, as well updates on construction and renovation projects on RCC’s Hamlet campus.

The Robinette Building will house Leon Levine School of Business and Information Technology. Classes are scheduled to take place in the new building this fall. At last month’s board meeting, RCC President Dale McInnis shared that the latest report from the contractor indicated that the building would be turned over to the school on June 19.

If that date holds up, RCC will have access to the new building about three weeks from now.

Other items on the RCC Trustees’ agenda include updates from the Budget, Finance and Investment Committee on the federal CARES Act as well as the state budget. RCC already received an allocation of $1,993,968, with $996,884 of that money earmarked for student aid and an equal amount earmarked for institutional expenses. Late last month, the college distributed some of its CARES Act money to eligible students enrolled in the 2020 spring semester. Students eligible for the one-time funding were those enrolled in a face-to-face class that transitioned to online or students who were in a face-to-face class that was paused due to the campus closure.

School board to take action on academic honors

The Richmond County Board of Education on Tuesday will vote on whether to change the school system’s academic honors format from the valedictorian/salutatorian to the Latin honors system.

Under the Latin honor system, high school graduates in Richmond County would have the chance to earn cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude distinctions, depending on the quality of their GPAs. Colleges commonly use the Latin honor system.

The change was recommended by Kate Smith, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, during last month’s school board meeting. Smith noted that academic policy changes sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic made the school system’s already-tight competitions for salutatorian and valedictorian awards even more difficult to decide.

In other business, the school board members will hear an update about Richmond County’s Career-Technical Education (CTE) program.

A live stream of the meeting will be accessible online at https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/248188437

Smith said the Latin system “recognizes the academic accomplishments of more students.”

Reach Brandon Tester at [email protected] or 910-817-2671. Follow him on Twitter @BrandonTester.