The county school system is &#8220days away” from purchasing the land for a new K-12 school in Georgiana, Superintendent Mike Looney told Board of Education members on Thursday night.

Looney said preliminary soil samples taken on the property on Highway 31-South have indicated no problems as it relates to future construction.

&#8220I know the citizens of Georgiana are excited,” said Looney.

The school system is also preparing to initiate millions of dollars in repairs and renovations at Greenville Middle School, McKenzie, W.O. Parmer and Greenville Elementary School, said Looney.

Looney said projects at Greenville Middle School - including a re-direction of traffic flow, new bus parking, and a correction of drainage problems - will be divided into two separate phases because of the complexity involved. Architects also have to create blueprints for McKenzie School, W.O. Parmer and GES before starting renovations because there's none to be found, Looney said.

In other business, the board:

The Board of Education received a clean audit from the Department of Public Examiners for the period of October 2005 through September 2006. Looney applauded the work of system Chief Financial Officer Sherryle O. Bennett for her help with the audit.

Recognized school library media specialists as a part of National Library Week. Honored with certificates were: Deana Roper, Georgiana High School; Jennifer Shell, Greenville High School; Claudia Lewis, Greenville Middle School; Jacqueline Thornton, Greenville Elementary School; Laura Shell, McKenzie High School; Deedra Benson, R.L. Austin Elementary School; and Gwen Gunter, W.O. Parmer Elementary School.

Recognized Lloyd Robinson, Sr., transportation supervisor, for the system receiving an excellent inspection from the state.

Started the first official evaluation process for Looney. Dr. James Wright, who attended Thursday's meeting, will be assisting in evaluating Looney.

Formally accepted the resignation of Joanne Peak (Dist. 5), effective May 31.

The procedure for replacing a board member is as follows:

Give public notice of board opening.

Invite interested citizens to submit a letter of interest to the BOE via certified letter mailed to Board Attorney Pete Hamilton no later than May 10. Hamilton will in turn share the names with the BOE at the May meeting.

Board will schedule interviews through June 10.

Board will name a replacement at June meeting.

Approved the City of McKenzie's request to lease the use of McKenzie High School's baseball and athletic field for summer recreation programs.

Personnell changes: The board accepted the retirement of Jenny Keen, English teacher at GMS; accepted the following resignations - Autumn Coleman, band director at Georgiana; Dorothea Coleman, elementary teacher at W.O. Parmer; Amelia McNaughton, speech/language pathologist at W.O. Parmer; Tammy Mixon, special education services aide at R.L. Austin.