Suber is ‘the man for the job’

By Andrew Wigger

awigger@civitasmedia.com

Kaitlyn Gentry, Mallory Pitts and Justin Busby have been awarded the Bennie D. Bennett Teacher Education Scholarship. At left is Jody Hamm, chairman of the Newberry County Board of Education, and at right is Jim Suber, who was named superintendent of schools.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_DSC_0566.jpgKaitlyn Gentry, Mallory Pitts and Justin Busby have been awarded the Bennie D. Bennett Teacher Education Scholarship. At left is Jody Hamm, chairman of the Newberry County Board of Education, and at right is Jim Suber, who was named superintendent of schools. Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer

NEWBERRY COUNTY — Jim Suber was officially named superintendent of the Newberry County School District following a unanimous vote by the school board on Monday night.

“Mr. Chairman, I proudly move that we appoint Mr. Jim Suber as the superintendent of Newberry County School District,” Board member Ike Bledsoe said in making the motion.

Suber was named interim superintendent during the April board meeting after Superintendent Bennie Bennett was killed in a wreck April 16.

“We are pleased to have such a leader to take the reins of the District in the absence of Mr. Bennett. We have complete confidence that Mr. Bennett has groomed him for this day, not this suddenly of course, but Mr. Bennett put a team in place for this District, not only to continue, but to succeed and we feel very confident that Mr. Suber is the man for the job,” Chairman Jody Hamm said.

Suber said he was pleased to accept the position, adding that he was pleased with the confidence the board has shown him, the staff and their ability to lead.

“I didn’t want it to happen under the circumstances it happened under, but I told multiple people that Mr. Bennett has prepared us for the moment to move forward in leadership positions,” Suber said. “Not only do we have programs and people in place, but he has given us the responsibility to move forward and to create a positive learning environment for our students, and that is what we plan to do.”

In other business, the board approved the first reading of the 2016-17 budget. The revenue for the new budget is $52,537,856, which is an increase of $2,361,705 over last year’s revenue budget of $50,176,151.

“The Legislature is still in session and has not finalized their budget therefore these revenue projections may change,” said Susan W. Dowd, chief financial officer of the Newberry County School District.

The total proposed expenditures for the 2016-17 budgets are $52,537,856, which leaves a surplus of $108,635. Dowd recommended that the district leave that surplus in a contingency fund so if any needs arise when the new school year begins they will have the funds available.

Projected expenditure increases for this coming fiscal year include $168,910 for bus driver salaries, $50,000 for two additional classroom assistants, $250,000 for three additional certified positions based on classroom enrollment, two related arts positions, $100,000 for health insurance, $40,000 for technology equipment repair and replacements costs, and $67,000 for contractual obligations increase.

In other business, the board:

• Approved first reading of the statewide uniform 10-point grading scale that will go into effect in August.

• Authorized the superintendent to apply for available federal, state, foundation and other special funded programs for fiscal year July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017.

• Recognized three students for receiving the newly named Bennie D. Bennett Teacher Education Scholarship. To qualify, a senior must plan to major in education, have a 3.0 grade average, an SAT score of at least 850 on Math and Verbal or an ACT score of at least 18. The student must plan to attend a four-year institution and present two teacher recommendations.

The students were Kaitlyn Gentry of Mid-Carolina High School, Mallory Pitts of Mid-Carolina High School and Justin Busby of Newberry High School. Gentry plans to attend Lander University, while Pitts and Busby plan to attend Newberry College.

• Recognized three Mid-Carolina High School students for being selected to attend the South Carolina Governor’s School. Kenna O’Brien will attend the Arts and Humanities Academy Summer Program in Visual Arts, Reed Studer will attend the Arts and Humanities Academy Summer Program in Visual Arts and Josie Moore will attend the Arts and Humanities Residential High School Program in Dance.

• Recognized Tyler Duncan of Newberry High School for his performance in track. He came in first place in the 800m, 1600m, 3200m at the Region and Upper State Track meet. At State, he placed first in the 3200m and second in both the 1600m and 800m. He earned one gold and two silver medals, which puts him on the All State and All Region for those events.

• Recognized Tyrone Etheredge of Newberry High School for his performance in track. He placed third at the State Track Championship in the 400m hurdles, earning a bronze medal and making the All-State team for that event.

• Recognized Shamara Tolliver of Newberry High School for her performance in track. She placed first in the 200m and third in the 100m at the Region Track meet held at Memorial Stadium in Columbia. Due to her top four placement at the Regional Meet, she won a place to compete in the State Meet in these two events. She placed eighth in the 100m and sixth in the 200m at the State Track and Field Meet.

• Recognized Patrick Griffith of Newberry High School for his performance in golf. He shot an 83 in the region golf tournament which qualified him to represent Newberry High in the AA State Golf Match. Ninety-one golfers participated in this tournament where a team and an individual state champion were named. Griffith finished 47th overall.

• Recognized Mac Werts of Newberry High School for his performance in tennis. He was selected to the Region III AA player of the year by the coaches of Region III. Having been selected as the player of the year, he was invited to play in the South Carolina High School League individual state tennis tournament where he finished fifth out of 16 of the best AA players in South Carolina. He was selected as the recipient of the Sportsmanship Award. He finished the regular season with an undefeated record at 12-0.

• Recognized Newberry High School’s Ryne Huggins for his performance in baseball. He was selected to the South Carolina Baseball Select team this year and will represent the best senior players in South Carolina in Carey, N.C., this summer. Huggins was also selected to the South Carolina All-State baseball team this year.

• Recognized Newberry High School principal Vance Jones as being named the State Principal of the Year for Class AA by the S.C. Athletic-Administrators Association.

• Recognized the Office of Finance for winning the Association of School Business Officials International’s Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting. The District has received the award for 19 consecutive years.

Reach Andrew Wigger at 803-276-0625 ext. 1867 or on Twitter @ TheNBOnews.