The Orangeburg County Board of Education began its monthly meeting Tuesday by observing a moment of silence in memory of longtime board chairman Chester A. Ray Sr., who died earlier in the day after a lengthy illness.

"I'd like to express my gratitude to his service to Orangeburg County," board member David Coleman said.

"In 1997 when the schools were consolidated, it was a very critical time and the proper leadership of the county board was very important at that time. There was no precedent to follow," Coleman said.

"I was very pleased as a district administrator at that time (superintendent of the former District 4) that Mr. Ray properly interpreted the statutes and fully comprehended the role of the county board; for that we owe him immense gratitude," Coleman said.

Board members gave reports on the South Carolina School Boards Association's annual convention held earlier in the month. A major topic was the proposed Put Parents in Charge legislation.

Lucille Lee said Rep. Ronnie Townsend of Anderson County talked about the reasons parents should not support this legislation. The bill was described as being a tax scam, or tax project, that would really not provide many actual benefits to school districts or children.

Lee said that it's "the governor's bill" and many senators and representatives are against the legislation. She said Townsend supports parents in their decision to send their children wherever they would like, but warned against supporting a bill like this.

"In my opinion, the South Carolina School Boards Association is not being outspoken enough opposing this bill," Vernon Stephens said. "I think there is still a lot of work to be done for the SCSBA to get education issues on the forefront in South Carolina."

Chairman Jerry Lewis agreed and said that since the governor has brought this bill up, there has been a lot of discussion and other ways of looking at education.

Sheila Hughes said she knows there are no quick fixes, but proposed that there should be some recommendations as to what South Carolina is going to do to bring the state up from being the lowest on many scales when it comes to education.

Stephens said Orangeburg County and its local districts were well recognized during the SCSBA meeting, with several of the members being commended for their level of achievement in education including Melvin Crum for 30 years of service as a local school trustee.

As recommended by Elizabeth Inabinet, CPA with McGregor & Co., the board approved the January distributions of revenue from the countywide school property taxes. January is traditionally a big month for tax collections.

A total of $2,918,580.83 was collected for operations and will be distributed as follows: $850,139.71 to Consolidated 3, $817,701.44 to Consolidated 4 and $1,250,739.68 to Consolidated 5. For capital improvements and debt service, $692,197.28 was collected and will be distributed as follows: $286,794.65 to Consolidated 3, $162.810.27 to Consolidated 4 and $242,592.36 to Consolidated 5.

In other business:

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