Derik Vanderford|Daily Times During Monday's school board meeting, four principals were presented with certificates in recognition of their schools receiving Palmetto Gold and Palmetto Silver awards. Pictured left to right are school board vice chair Kim Bailey, Foster Park Elementary School Principal Barbara Palmer, Lockhart Schools Principal Betsy Trakas, Buffalo Elementary School Principal Melissa Inman, and Sims Middle School Principal Rickey Connolly.

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UNION — Monday evening’s meeting of the Union County Board of School Trustees began with the recognition of four schools.

Superintendent Dr. Kristi Woodall and Director of Secondary Education Cindy Langley presented certificates to principals in recognition of their schools receiving Palmetto Gold and Palmetto Silver awards. Those recognized included Foster Park Elementary School Principal Barbara Palmer, Palmetto Gold; Buffalo Elementary School Principal Melissa Inman, Palmetto Silver; Lockhart Schools Principal Betsy Trakas, Palmetto Silver; Sims Middle School Principal Mickey Connolly, Palmetto Silver.

The Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards Program was established by the Education Accountability Act (EAA) of 1998. As an important part of the education accountability system in South Carolina, the awards program is designed to recognize and reward schools for attaining high levels of absolute performance, for attaining high rates of growth, and for making substantial progress in closing the achievement gap between disaggregated groups.

Following the presentation, Langley recommended the board approve a field trip for a special education class at Buffalo Elementary to participate in a fishing rodeo at Foster Park in May. The trip was unanimously approved.

In other business, Finance Director Lynn Lawson presented the board with the monthly budget report. Lawson said as of April 16, the total revenue was $18,983,329, of which 27 percent was from local taxes and sources, 72 percent was from state sources, and the remaining 1 percent was from federal sources. Lawson said the report showed nothing unexpected.

“The breakdown is consistent with what we see month to month, year to year,” Lawson said.

After action items on the agenda were taken care of, the board went into Executive Session to discuss one contractual matter and two personnel matters. Look for more information about action taken following the executive session as it becomes available in The Union Daily Times or at www.uniondailytimes.com.

Staff Writer Derik Vanderford can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 29, or by email at dvanderford@civitasmedia.com.