During the Cherokee County Board of Education meeting held Wednesday afternoon, Superintendent Mike Welsh announced that all school children will be receiving FREE breakfast and lunch during the upcoming school year. There will NOT be a need for any application nor will income qualifications be required.

Mr. Welsh also announced the School System received funds to cover all school supplies for all students for the ’23-’24 school term; parents and guardians WILL NOT have to be concerned with the purchase of school supplies for children.

Another good news announcement was made by Welsh about a grant for which the Board had applied.  He called on Sarah Richardson, who wrote the grant for the board, to explain the amount and exactly what it’ll cover.  Richardson explained the amount approved is the maximum of $400,000.  She said there are many things that it will be used for, but first, it will allow the school system to hire another counselor so the system will have a counselor at each campus. She said this is from the Favored Community Act.

A “Stakeholders Resource Center” will be set up inside the older building on the campus of Centre Elementary School.

Another thing is an extra layer of support and appreciation to teachers and staff in the form of incentives and wellness components.

Welsh also informed the board that the 3rd graders’ reading scores are remaining steady OR have increased slightly.  He noted that the score from the Cherokee County 3rd graders is currently #3 in the state among the 67 county systems.  He said this is very good, but that the system is continuing to work to improve the reading on grade level scores.