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COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
Superintendent's resignation leaves school board with work to do By Justin Jarrett
One of the biggest points of contention among a divided Beaufort County Board of Education has been removed from the equation. Now it’s time for board members to work on their deeper issues. The Board of Education accepted Superintendent Jeff Moss’s resignation Tuesday, May 15, effectively ending a tenure marked by numerous successes but marred by controversy. Moss’s last day with the district will be July 31, at which time he will be paid an amount equal to his 2017-18 salary of $220,000, plus other benefits including his contractually earned annuity of $44,000 and payments for benefits and unused leave days.
Beaufort County Superintendent Dr. Jeff Moss, seen here meeting with the student advisory council at Bluffton High School, tendered his resignation Wednesday, May 16. His last day with the district will be July 31. Moss’s tenure was marked by positive growth in the district but also marred by controversy.
“This was a necessary step for the district to move forward, and I’ve
said that for years,” board District 2 representative David Striebinger
said. “It’s not the only step we need to take, but it’s a necessary step. This is our first step. Now we need to follow through. The board has to change the way it acts. We don’t have Dr. Moss now to hold up as the problem. Now we have to come to grips with the fact that we’re the problem.” If the board’s first meeting following the announcement is any indication, that might not happen right away. District 4 representative Joseph Dunkle, a member of the board’s so-called “minority bloc” that has long opposed Moss and sparred with the board’s officers, left the board’s special meeting Thursday and posted a live video to Facebook complaining
We have a total of 23 teachers, aids, and social workers. All have been trained on what to do and when to do it.” —Ann M. Feltner, principal at St. Peter’s Catholic School
that the officers had taken it upon themselves to determine the procedure for selecting an interim superintendent without consulting the board at large. “It’s still two-thirds of the officers that we tried to remove a few months ago that I feel are failing at their leadership, and clearly they’re demonstrating that again,” Dunkle said in the video filmed from his car. “The officers run the show. The officers make the decisions. The officers set the agenda. … I feel like I have no say … So many times I walk into these board meetings and feel like it’s game, set, match.” Although Striebinger is also part SEE BOARD, PAGE A6
BHS student earns lofty scholarship It’s not quite a one-in-a-million opportunity, but Beaufort High School senior Chris Hoogenboom can claim an honor that only a tiny fraction of high school seniors earn. Hoogenboom is among only 2,500 high school seniors nationwide who will receive a prestigious National Merit Scholarship, the Beaufort County School District announced last week. Hoogenboom plans to attend Vanderbilt University to study physics and is considering possible careers in physics or engineering.
Robles donates life-saving Jacob kits to St. Peter’s Catholic School
BY BOB SOFALY Pictured above left: Amy Hamilton, left, ties a tourniquet around the arm of Jessica Green while training with the new Jacob kits Wednesday, May 16, at St. Peter’s Catholic School. Dave Robles, center, donated 11 kits to the school. Above right: Fire Marshall Will Vaigneur of the Lady’s Island/St. Helena Fire Department checks off all 11 Jacob kits.
No one ever expects their seat belt will be tested. No one ever expects their air bags will be deployed on their way to school. But those devices are there, ready to be used if needed, because they might save a life. The same logic applies to Jacob kits – trauma kits named after Jacob Hall, a student who was killed by a school shooter in the Upstate in 2016. The kits contain tools like a tourniquet, medical gloves, bandages, tape, scissors, and gauze that can be used to treat victims in the event of a shooting. St. Peter’s Catholic School in Beaufort now has 11 of the potentially life-saving kits, thanks to the generosity of retired U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Dave Robles. Robles, a parish-
EXTRAORDINARY RNs Beaufort Memorial Hospital RNs honored with DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. PAGE A5
ioner of St. Peter’s Catholic Church and combat veteran with multiple tours of duty in Vietnam, has seen war wounds and knew he had to help. “I saw the kits in a newspaper article and called up Lt. Dan Byrne of the Burton Fire Department, who contacted the Lady’s Island/St. Helena Fire Department and got the ball rolling,” Robles said. “We got it covered and here we are now.” The kits were delivered on Wednesday, May 16, with the LI/SH Fire Department providing training on how to use the kits, as well as how to survive an intruder or active shooter event. SEE KITS, PAGE A6
FUN IN FROGMORE Frogmore's Lowcountry Store hosts this month's Island Girls Night Out event. PAGE B3
Chris Hoogenboom
“Chris is an outstanding student and an outstanding representative for Beaufort High School,” said Superintendent Jeff Moss. “We couldn’t be prouder of him.” About 1.6 million students in 22,000 high schools entered the National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as juniors, which served as an initial screening of program entrants. About 15,000 students were named as finalists, representing less than 1 percent of the nation’s seniors. National Merit Scholars are selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors who appraise a substantial amount of information submitted by the finalists and their high schools — their academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.
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