Continuing its efforts to rid the school system of buildings it isn’t using, the school board declared Roberdel Children’s Center surplus property Tuesday night.

The move followed budget talks where board members were cautioned to prepare for funding cuts from the state when the General Assembly releases its budget later this year. Board members also declared a 25-acre wooded tract near the Ninth Grade Academy surplus.

The two properties will now be offered to county government, and can be sold if they are turned down by commissioners.

The system stopped using Roberdel Children’s Center as a school facility at the beginning of last year. Previously, it had been used as a school exclusively for the handicapped, one of the reasons Roberdel has been dubbed “The Village of Grace.”

The children’s center is now located at Cordova School, per the school system’s realignment plan, which originally designated the Roberdel building to become the new central office annex building. Upon further consideration, administrators decided it would be too expensive to repair and maintain, though.

About seven months ago, RCS Assistant Superintendent Dr. Robert Beck outlined $1 million in savings the school system could generate by divesting itself of surplus properties. At that time, the school system put its maintenance facility and central office annex on the market for a private buyer.

The school board has now gone a step even further by disposing of the Roberdel building.

“When you add all of this up - and it’s true some of it is cost avoidance rather than cash in your hand - but when you add all of this up this could save about a million dollars,” Beck told board members then.

Also at the meeting:

* RCS Director of Testing and Accountability Steve Lear presented first semester end of course testing results for high school students, explaining only Algebra I saw a significant decline because many eighth graders take the class and their grades aren’t tabulated until the end of the year. “We are in the ballpark to achieve at or above the level we did last year,” Lear said.

* Board members voted unanimously to award the bid to build the new greenhouse at Richmond Senior High to Jaderloon Company of Irmo, South Carolina. They were the lowest of four bidders for the project, at about $66,500.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 15, or by e-mail at pbrown@heartlandpublications.com.