The Neelyville School Board met last night for their regularly scheduled monthly meeting. During the congregation, board members addressed questions concerning the EPA bus grant, the upcoming Christmas break, minor school repairs and student achievements.
During a zoom conference, call board members conversed with Richard Davies, spokesman for Lion Electric.
“I caution people, don’t think it’s more than what it really is because it’s a simple process. I tell people beyond what’s underneath the hood, it’s a school bus and that’s all it is,” said Davies.
One board member addressed concerns about flooding and water issues saying, “We have quite a few flooded roads around here. How do they handle the water?”
“You’re probably referring to battery packs. Our battery packs are sealed inside of AC,” said Davies. “And we also have sensors inside the battery packs to monitor those situations.
“We’ve never had an issue where water was a situation with the performance of the battery packs.”
A Lion Electric spokesman has recently deployed them throughout the United States according to Davies. “So this is another, I don’t want to say challenge, but maybe a learning curve in terms of the performance of the vehicle in your region.
“We don’t anticipate issues,” said Davies, “But again, the warranty will cover it if there is.”
The board voted to begin taking bids on the electric bus options available.
The school board election is still currently open. “We have three spots open,” said Neelyville Superintendent Heather Black.
She went on to praise the JAG program saying, “JAG is doing a great job, our JAG students actually wrapped your Christmas presents this evening, they wrapped the gifts for all of the staff members as well as part of their community service for the month of December, so we greatly appreciate that.”
Elementary Principal Amy Courtney said, “Everybody’s gearing up for Christmas, the kids are excited, getting a little wild. We have our Christmas parties this Friday as well as an incentive day for kids who haven’t had any office referrals or bus tickets for this quarter, then they will get to watch the movie in the gym before the Christmas party.
“Life 360 provided lunch for all of the campuses Tuesday, Sloan Parker brought in Fazzoli’s for the entire district, so we really appreciate him bringing that to everyone,” said Courtney.
At the recent Veterans Day Assembly, there were two murals that were made out of rice.
“They’ve been invited to present those murals at the capitol building, Senator Bean again is helping us represent our school...and he’s really helping us promote our school, and when we do good things he shows his appreciation,” said High School Principal Justin Dobbins.
He went on to praise Neelyville’s cheer squad and their recent achievements. “This past weekend cheer squad placed second in their state competition. We had four girls — Lora Ainley, Livvy Isom, Brooklyn Piroli and Maddie Lumby made the All-State Cheer Honors, big things for those girls. Fall softball — they finished 29-5, won the district tournament, and got beat in the sectionals 3-2, the all-state honors came out for that with Jade Crosswhite (on) second team All-State, and Dixie Cloud and Reese Dobbins were first team All-State. so those were big honors.
“Just trying to get to the end of the semester, it’s been a grind, but it has probably been the best most normal semester we have had in a few years,” he finished.
Over Christmas break, the library roof will be replaced due to some leaking. Other minor repairs and maintenance were discussed as well as the intention to purchase new security cameras for the district.
The January board meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26.