In an eight-minute emergency meeting, the Southeastern Community College Board of Trustees unanimously voted Nov. 5 to spend $71,000 on a new playground at the college’s child development center.

According to board member and finance committee chair Joe Hooks, the $71,000 was a $15,000 reduction in price that was only available Nov. 5 and had to be acted on.

“We’ve looked at this for several years,” Hooks said. “It needs to be redeveloped as it’s not meeting basic standards.”

The entire playground will be redeveloped, Hooks said.

The money will come from American Rescue Plan funds allocated by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, SCC executive vice president Lacie Jacobs told the board. Jacobs said through those American Rescue Plan funds, the college had secured “more than enough” for the playground the previous week.

The playground has been a want of the college for years, with board members saying it’s been a two or three year process. SCC President Chris English previously asked the county commissioners to include funds for a revamped playground in his 2021–21 budget, but the county did not fund that request.

No other action items were scheduled or discussed at the meeting.

Read more on this at: https://nrcolumbus.com/scc-to-rebuild-playground-at-child-development-center/