The Greenville Board of Education met Thursday to discuss new additions as well as new policies.

The Board announced that Kate Lewis would join the Greenville School system teaching sixth grade at Greenville Middle School.

It was also announced that students who had not passed the exit exam would not be stripped of the privilege of walking at graduation.

This had been a heated topic of discussion for many weeks. However, a 3-2 vote by the board put the issue to rest.

Prior to the vote Boardmember Linda Cook-Hamilton spoke out in favor of the students.

&uot;We have these students for 12 years and it is our job to prepare them for the examination,&uot; said Hamilton. &uot;Until the rest of us are penalized for our failures the students should not be the scapegoats.&uot;

Dan Yancey, principal of Greenville Middle School made a presentation geared toward eliminating this problem.

Yancey spoke of how different students may have different learning patterns.

Yancey felt that it was the educational systems job to adapt to these needs to best serve the students.

&uot;Last summer at a meeting we broke down test scores into subgroups for the many different types of students,&uot; said Yancey. &uot;We broke down the data and looked for data and patterns. Across the board in every area the economically disadvantaged students scored anywhere from 26 to 34 percent lower on these tests.&uot;

However, Yancey did see a light at the end of the tunnel.

&uot;I feel that we can find a way to teach to the needs of these students,&uot; said Yancey. &uot;By doing this we can better prepare the students when test time comes.&uot;

The Board also had two very positive announcements.

After much work it was determined that the JROTC program would continue.

The program had gained a great deal of support and in the end it paid off.

The Board also announced this year’s teachers of the year.

(n)Linda Rogers W.O. Parmer Elementary Teacher of the Year’

(n)Kenneth Hall Greenville Middle School Secondary Teacher of the Year

(n)Rachel Burleson Georgiana High School Teacher of the Year

(n)Mavis Padgett McKenzie High School elementary Teacher of the Year

(n)Henrietta Presley McKenzie High School Secondary Teacher of the Year

(n)Nancy Hartley Greenville Middle School Elementary Teacher of the Year

(n)Linda Jarzyniecki

Greenville High School Teacher of the Year.

Hartley would win the overall county award for elementary teacher of the year while Jarzyniecki would take the secondary honors.

County spelling bee winners were also recognized.

Kevin Patel was the sixth grade winner at Greenville Middle School. Lydia Page was the alternate winning the fifth grade contest at McKenzie High School.

The Board will next meet on March 11.