The Moore County School Board discussed a proposal for purchasing 12 metal detection systems at its Sept. 3 work session. Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds will cover the estimated $251,126.87 security expense for middle and high school events and special circumstances. The board votes on Sept. 9 at its regular meeting.
Tracy Metcalf, director for Student Support Services, and Rodney Hardy, chief of Moore County Schools Police, reviewed the OPENGATE Weapon Detection System. It targets high-caliber weapons and explosives, is adjustable for other items, and is transportable for random checks. It can detect 2,500 people in an hour.
Their Jan. 24 investigation revealed open campuses, student pathways, and cost steered toward the popular and easily operated OPENGATE system.
School board member David Hensley said the ESSER funds expire in mid-September, and the pressure to purchase from the central office should be considered for executing future proposals to prevent time-crunching take-it-or-leave-it proposal presentations.
The board said weapon detection was a wise decision in using the last of its ESSER funds.
Under Pending Action of the meeting, the board discussed the Cooperative Innovative High School application. It seeks to serve students at risk of dropping out and those from homes with parents without a high school education.
If approved, the Moore County Schools Cooperative Innovative High School (MCSCIHS) would open for the 2025-26 school year for grades 9-13 at the Sandhills Community College campus and focus on hands-on learning in architecture, engineering, construction, education, healthcare, manufacturing, and information technology. The board discussed how MCSCIHS will partner with North Carolina State University to focus on agriculture. Learn more here.
Chair Robert Levy asked if the new high school would impact the Promise program. He said the innovative school would relieve crowding at Pinecrest High School, and the smaller school would provide a laser focus on helping at-risk students.
During Reports, the board discussed Aberdeen Elementary School traffic. There is a new road entering the school, Aberdeen police assist with traffic control, and there is a future traffic light planned. Farrell Parkway had improvements as part of the approval for the new Martin Farms Neighborhood, and it eased traffic concerns. See the visual here.
Board member Ken Benway proposed a book review for the next agenda because “The Vietnam War” by Peter Benoit, published by Scholastic Inc., carries inclusionary statements that promote inaccuracies that degrade veterans and falsify history.
“The Scholastic Inc. business model is insidious and salts its bulk book offerings with propaganda and agenda-driven materials,” Benway wrote in his slide presentation.
Board member Pauline Bruno said the book was insulting to veterans and that she had no tolerance for this material.
“It is time to purpose-build a library system focused on the specific requirements of teaching and learning the English Language Arts. All else is recreational/elective/nice to have … and costly,” Benway wrote as his last slide statement.
Hensley said the book’s passage about burning villages was after President Johnson placed a new commanding general who directed burning villages as a political statement. He said the 50-page book’s purpose was to describe the 40-year overview of wars that cited examples and praised Americans in some passages.
Benway said there was never a policy to burn villages. He said the book leaves the children’s minds with the idea that Americans are bad.
Levy said the book, aimed at a fifth grader, should not have begun with the French War as a wide overview because they needed only the basics. His concern was that the purchase consideration was not based on student instruction goals.
“If they think this is for a fifth grader, this is crazy,” Levy said.
Bruno proposed Bedford Falls and other competitors to supply school libraries.
“I don’t think we should teach the children to hate the country they live in and were born in,” Bruno said.
To hear about other topics discussed at the meeting, please click here.
~Written by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. She is the author of young adult fiction, including When the Yellow Slugs Sing and Sky’s River Stone, and a suspense, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation.
