By Colleen Thomas
On February 24th, Rotarians met for a delicious classic country lunch of fried chicken, mash potatoes, and green beans with salad, mini pastries and drinks. After lunch, there were a few club announcements before the start of our program. This week’s program was organized by Club Member Lowell Chesborough and presented by Deen Lancaster.
Deen Lancaster has been a member of the school board since January of 2013, and is a life long member of Gilchrist County. He has a background in system engineering, and moved back to Trenton after finishing school and has worked in the real estate business ever since. He spoke briefly about the school board finance standing and budget system, then stated a few facts about the board itself that people may not have known before such as; The school board does not hire and fire, and they do not pick the principal. That is the responsibility of the superintendent. The board simply gives a stamp of approval. They tend to have their hands tied with those type of things.
Right now, the biggest item on their table is dealing with the new elementary school being built in the county. It will in fact be a public school, not a private school, and will not affect current taxes or cause increase, contrary to rumors in the community. Currently, they are in the process of finding a contractor. As asked by a member, they also currently plan to open day one with grades K – 5th, but pre-K is still being debated due to federal reasons. Overall, everyone is excited about the new school and the club hopes to hear more updates soon!