New year, new members for school board

From Staff Reports

The Darlington County School Board Jan. 14 swore in two newly elected board members and two members who were re-elected to new terms.

Flanked by members of his family, new school board member Richard Brewer is sworn in Jan. 14 by Clerk of Court Scott Suggs.

New members Richard Brewer (District 5, Darlington) and Leigh Anne Kelley (District 1, Darlington) were sworn in by county Clerk of Court Scott Suggs. Kelley replaces Billy Baldwin; Brewer replaces Maureen Thomas.

New school board member Leigh Anne Kelley is sworn in by Suggs.

Suggs then swore in Wanda Hassler (District 7, Hartsville) and Thelma Dawson (District 3, Darlington), two returning board members who were re-elected without opposition.

Meeting for the first time in the new year, the board elected member Warren Jeffords as its new chairman. Jeffords succeeds Jamie Morphis, who had served for two years. Dawson was chosen the board’s new vice chairman.

Board members praised Morphis’ service as chairman. “It was a yeoman’s task you took on for those two years,” Hassler told him.

In other business, the board OK’d separate $159,000 contracts for consulting firm Mead and Hunt to complete required inspections and materials testing for new elementary schools being planned for the Lamar and Hartsville areas.

Also during the Jan. 14 meeting, the board honored a number of Darlington County students for academic and artistic achievements.

Re-elected school board member Thelma Dawson is sworn in by Clerk of Court Scott Suggs.

Ten county students earned spots in the S.C. Music Educators Association All-State Chorus.

From Hartsville High School: Raeva Bali, Larissa Berger, Diaz Jones, John Ropp, Lee Saxton, Leland Sexton, Jeniya Smith, Jakob Thompson and Logan Vlachoyannis. From Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology: Landen Allen.

Re-elected school board member Wanda Hassler is sworn in by Suggs. Photos by Bobby Bryant

Nine students in the Darlington County School District earned the designation of “maximum raw scorer” on the S.C. Ready Test. They are: Louis Joseph Baltz, Carolina Elementary; Abigail Marie Thomas, Carolina Elementary; Broden Kennedy Hurd, Carolina Elementary; Peyton Gabriella Mendiola, Spaulding Elementary; Billy Carl Moore, North Hartsville Elementary; Shreeji Kartik Patel, North Hartsville Elementary; Adamaris Minghui Lei, St. John’s Elementary; Jacob Edwin Kiker, Darlington Middle; Ashley Niu, Hartsville Middle.

Four students achieved perfect scores on the S.C. Ready Test: Gianna Emilia Bambery, Darlington Middle, English/Language Arts; Stella Grace Tew, Hartsville Middle, English/Language Arts; Grayson Bailey Wint, Hartsville Middle, Math; Jonathan Jordan, Spaulding Middle, Math.

Two students from Darlington Middle, Jakayla McKenzie and Landon Cooke, earned the designation of “maximum raw scorer” on the S.C. PASS test.

Author: Stephan Drew

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