LUMBERTON — Transferring ownership of the former schoolhouse that dates back to the 1900s to the Lumbee Tribe was approved unanimously Tuesday by the Public Schools of Robeson County’s Board of Education.

The action was taken after a request was made by Gary Locklear, a Robeson County attorney who said he is among 32 American Indian lawyers and judges who would like to see the building on Caton Road preserved. Locklear said he would work to raise money to move the building to the Lumbee Tribe Cultural Center. The cost to do so is estimated at $8,500.

“We’ll raise that money,” Locklear said.

Board member Linda Emanuel requested the public schools remain in the history of the building as it is preserved. Locklear agreed to do so, but said there are a few steps to be taken before that is done. Proper documentation would have to be generated for the transfer of ownership, and the money raised.

Board member Brenda Fairley-Ferebee asked if the school district needed to consult with the Federal Emergency Management Agency before it made a decision on the building, which was damaged by recent hurricanes, namely Hurricane Matthew.

“I would say no because we’re not asking FEMA for funding for that building,” board Attorney Grady Hunt said.

Locklear said he had about $2,500 pledged already for the moving and preservation of the building.

“The tribe will accept the building. They’ll maintain it,” Locklear said.

The school board’s decision was a win for the tribe, the Robeson County Bar Association and Robeson County as a whole, he said.

In related news, board members approved a $2,140,609 grant application be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by Connie Locklear, PSRC’s director of Indian Education. The money will fund Indian Education operations.

Locklear said the Indian Education building will be repaired starting sometime in the summer using grant money expected to be released in June or July. Work on repairing the building damaged by Hurricane Florence was slowed because of COVID-19.

Also approved by the school board was its planning budget and a list of items it needs funding help from the Robeson County Board of Commissioners. The list is to be sent in to the commissioners by Saturday. Among the items on the list is a request for $2 million for school safety enhancements; $1.1 million to place school resource officers at each school; and $985,800 to help pay for teacher supplements, which are salary bonuses given twice a year.

The school board also heard a bus update from Robert Guzman, director of the PSRC Transportation Department. Guzman said the state Department of Public Instruction has conducted a bus inspection for the 2020-2021 school year.

“The closer to zero you get, the better the score,” he said.

The PSRC received a score of 28.23% for the 26 buses inspected and 23.75% for the four activity buses inspected, he said. The overall inspection score for the 2018-19 school year was 24.19%, and the state average was 36.55%. An inspection did not take place during the 2019-20 school year because of the pandemic.

Guzman commended transportation staff who have worked to deliver meals and Wi-Fi during the global pandemic.

“To have a score like that is pretty phenomenal,” he said.

A final number will be calculated after an inventory audit is conducted May 24, Guzman said. Based on what he has observed, the score could put PSRC within the top 10 in the state, or close to it.

He also said the department has received its diesel fuel for the week, and it will be able to continue providing transportation.

“We have been monitoring this situation since Sunday,” he said of the recent cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline.

Fuel is still flowing from the Greensboro hub of the Transportation Department’s supplier, Go Energies, he said.

He encouraged the public to not panic, but to buy gas as usual because demand without supply will cause prices to rise and could put a halt to transportation.

“We can’t move forward if there’s no fuel,” he said.

Guzman said the Transportation Department also will feel the effects of COVID-19 into next year because it has lost 6,000 to 7,000 miles of service to the district this semester alone, which can hinder the state’s willingness to replace buses. Buses are replaced by age and mileage, and Guzman said some buses will be given different routes to help make up for lost miles. The school system is set to get 14 new buses this year.

He said COVID-19 did allow the department to save on fuel costs and parts repairs.

A request to replace an additional 15 activity buses is in the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.

The school board also heard updates on the Exceptional Children department, which has been working on its compliance measures and action plan to improve the services to the children it serves.

“Compliance was the number one focus area within that action plan,” said Latonya Burney, director of PSRC’s Exceptional Children program.

Also on Tuesday, board members and PSRC staff recognized Hannah Middleton, an Exceptional Children’s teacher at Rowland-Norment Elementary School, as the 2021-22 Beginning Teacher of the Year; Elizabeth Lytch, a music teacher at Piney Grove Elementary School, as the Teacher of the Year; and St. Pauls Principal Jason Suggs as the 2021-22 Wells Fargo Principal of the Year.

After PSRC School Board members emerged from a closed session, they voted 9 to 2 in favor of renewing a three-year contract for Melissa Thompson, assistant superintendent of Human Resources; Robert Locklear, assistant superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Accountability and Jennifer Freeman, assistant superintendent of Student Services, Intervention and Support.

Bobby Locklear, executive director of Testing and Accountability, was named assistant superintendent for Auxiliary Services.

Karen Brooks-Floyd, assistant superintendent for Administration and Community Engagement (and formerly Auxiliary Services), was not mentioned in the contract renewal. She is still employed, but her contract was not renewed, according to PSRC School Board Chairman Craig Lowry.

Brooks-Floyd’s contract ends June 30, said Gordon Burnette, the district’s Chief Communications officer. Bobby Locklear will serve in the position when the contract expires.

Voting in opposition to the decision made after Superintendent Freddie Williamson made his recommendation were board members Vonta Leach and John Simmons.

Board members commended educators Mable Revels and Mary Prevatte for their receipt of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state’s highest civilian honor.

A moment of silence also was held at the start of the meeting for Ezekiel McKoy, a fifth-grader at Carroll Middle School who died recently in a car accident.

The meeting was recessed to May 25 at 5 p.m.