Salary study update, draft code of conduct before Sumter school board on Monday

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A districtwide salary study update and a draft presentation on a new code of conduct will highlight Sumter school board's next meeting on Monday night.

Monthly financial reports and committee reports are also listed on Sumter School District's Board of Trustees' agenda, which was posted Friday by a district staff member for the general public.

For the board, this will be its first look at a full-scale salary study of all positions to include teachers, staff and administrators that is being conducted by an independent consultant. The final report will be completed later this spring.

Superintendent William Wright Jr., in his first year in the district, has already said employees' salaries in many focus areas are not competitive with regional averages and study findings will hopefully assist him and the full board in making improvements.

Like many districts across the state and nation, Sumter has dealt with numerous vacancies across employee classifications amid the fallout from COVID-19.

The comprehensive study is the first time that the district has conducted one since consolidation in 2011, when two districts in Sumter became a single, countywide district.

Regarding a new code of conduct, the district is looking for it to be in place for the start of next school year for students on Aug. 3.

Like all board-related meetings, the meeting is open to the public, and the public is invited to attend. However, because it's the board's monthly work session, public participation is not on the agenda.

Monday's meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the district office, 1345 Wilson Hall Road.

For those not physically attending, the district continues to broadcast meetings live on YouTube.

Anyone wanting to attend the meeting virtually can do so via YouTube Sumter School District Board Meeting and the district's Facebook page, @SumterSCSchools.

OTHER BOARD NEWS

The new school board's Finance Committee, under new Chair Daniel Palumbo, has changed its initial meeting date to Tuesday, April 4, at 5 p.m. at the district office. The committee was originally scheduled to meet this upcoming week.

The board's Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Committee, under Chair Bonnie Disney, will have its first meeting on Thursday, April 6, at 9 a.m. at the district office. Committee meetings are also open to the public and broadcast virtually on YouTube.