The election of a new president and vice president of the Butler County Board of Education were the first items on the agenda for the regular monthly meeting on Thursday, Jan. 20.

Frank Thigpen and E.R. McCrory were elected president and vice president respectively by unanimous decision.

In other business, the board unanimously approved the extension of the the clerk of works position until the completion of the new Greenville High School construction project.

James Reeves has been working on-site as the school board's liaison to the contractor while the construction has been underway.

"I think he has probably saved us more money than he has cost us just by being there," commented board member Billy Jones.

In other items on the agenda, the board accepted low bids on the E-Rate 2000 project which addresses necessary technology upgrades in educational facilities.

The contracts were awarded to Gulf Coast Computer Services for network cabling in the amount of $247,481, and Pomeroy Computer Solution for internal connections in the amount of $1,106,344.44.

The board also approved a new cellular phone contract for a two-year period. The contract was awarded to Alltel, a company on the state contract list, for $974 per month. The contract will include local-only cell service to all school busses in the county, plus five phones with long distance service to accompany school trips out of town. The contract also includes a cell phone for each school principal and central office executives.

In other business, the board approved a request to advertise for bids for blinds and installation at the new Greenville High School and a call-back button system for Georgiana High School.

The call-back button system will allow for communication between classrooms and the office at Georgiana. The estimated cost for the project is $10,000.

The board also approved a request to accept the low bid for a telephone system for the new Greenville High School. The contract was awarded to GTE for $42,801.54.