(OLNEY) The Richland County School Board of Education had its regular monthly meeting for March last night in Olney. The Board : first held a public hearing on the proposal to sell bonds not to exceed $9 million for the purpose of altering, repairing, and equipping school buildings and facilities, and improving school sites : approved the February financial report with the bills worth $1,743,110 : approved the purchase of two canopies for the Elementary School worth a total of $135,812 : approved the various bids associated with the construction of the District’s New Athletic Building : amended the 2025-2026 school calendar setting the RCHS graduation for Sunday afternoon, May 17th, at 3:00, the RCMS promotion for Tuesday night, May 19th, at 6:00 at RCHS, the final day for student attendance on Wednesday, May 20th, and a teacher’s institute day for Thursday, May 21st : approved changes to the respective Student Handbooks for each District School : approved the District’s 2026 Summer Maintenance Project List : heard an update on State Testing at each school : heard an update on the Athletic Complex construction : noted no changes will be made with hourly and annualized pay for District support staff : and in personnel – approved the four year retirement notice for RCHS Principal Jeff Thompson at the end of the 2029-2030 school year and the three year retirement notice for RiseUp Teacher Ty Nohren at the end of the 2028-2029 school year – approved resignations effective immediately for Keith Redman as RCMS 8th Grade Boys Basketball Coach and from John McLaughlin as RCHS Boys Assistant Soccer Coach – approved resignations effective at the end of the 2025-2026 school year for RCES Teacher Isabella Troester, RCHS History Teacher Collin Gilreath, JROTC Instructor Jeff Ludwig, and Part-Time Special Ed Assessment Diana Hagan – accepted resignations also from RCMS Custodian Tina Harting and RCHS Custodian Scott Hahn – for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year, approved the transfer of Carly Page from RCMS Teacher Assistant to RCMS Special Education Teacher, hired McKenzie Henson as RCES Fourth Grade Teacher and Micah Pottorff as RCES Nurse – hired Dane Hawes as Part-Time Transportation Secretary and Rob Flanagan as Behind the Wheel Driver Instructor – approved Dennis Conley, Dalton Utley and Taylor Pickens as volunteers for RCHS Baseball : approved the rehiring of all current administrative personnel, all licensed staff, and all educational support staff for the 2026-2027 school : and approved a 5% wage increase for the 2026-2027 educational support staff : the next regular monthly meeting for the Richland County School Board is April 15th, 2026.
