Homeroom

Beaufort County students haven’t been served "pink slime," officials say.
The filler, which is called "lean, finely textured beef," is made of beef trim, which is heated and spun quickly to remove fat and then treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration say the product is safe, but that didn’t stop public outcry against the use of the product, especially in USDA school lunch programs.

The Beaufort County Board of Education will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the County Council Chambers at 100 Ribaut Road, Beaufort.

Agenda items include a vote on a proposed military academy program at Robert Smalls Middle School. Click here for the full agenda.

Lice outbreak reported at Bluffton school
Students at M.C. Riley Elementary School have an unwelcome visitor: head lice. Nits — tiny lice eggs — have been found on 60 students, and two students had live lice in their hair, principal Adrienne Sutton said.

The school sent home a letter last week with the news, and tips on how to screen and treat children for lice. All children at the school were also screened for lice on Friday.

Yesterday, I got a bit of a treat. I met 17 young men who are students at Hilton Head Island High School at Jos. A Bank and saw them fitted for a blazer. For many of them, it was their first.

Outstanding Beaufort County School District high school seniors were honored at a districtwide banquet Thursday night.
The 26 seniors were recognized for their academic achievement at the annual Senior Scholars Banquet. According to a district news release, the students had to meet three criteria to qualify:

• Maintain a 3.5 GPA.
• Rank in the top 10 percent of their class.
• Earn at least an 85 average in each quarter in all of their courses.

The Royal Live Oaks Academy of Arts and Science selected its first student body in an enrollment lottery this week.

The school, which is part of the S.C. Public Charter School District, will be located in Hardeeville and enroll about 400 students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. Because it's part of the state charter school district, it is open to any student in the state.

For math teachers and enthusiasts, March 14 is a special day — Pi Day.
Pi, the symbol for the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter, is equal to about 3.14 — at least that’s the easiest way to round it. The actual number continues infinitely without repeating.
Math teachers around the county have some special activities planned to celebrate the day. Many include a focus on math lessons and sampling delicious pies. Here’s just a slice (Ha! OK, done with the puns) of what’s in store for Beaufort County students today:

The Riverview Charter School board of directors voted Monday to approve a two-year lease of Shell Point Elementary School, beginning in August.

But the board made one major change to the contract proposed by the Beaufort County School District. The Riverview board deleted references to "occupancy caps" — a clause that would have limited the number of students the school could enroll and the number of classes per grade the school could have throughout the term of its lease.

The Technical College of the Lowcountry's Enterprise Campus Authority and Area Commission will meet beginning at 8 a.m. in the MacLean Hall board room on the Beaufort Campus on March 20.

Their agendas are as follows:
Enterprise Campus Authority — 8 a.m.

• Approval of February meeting minutes
• Review of enterprise campus formulation progress
• Other Business

Area Commission meeting — immediately following the Enterprise Campus Authority meeting

• Consent agenda, which includes February minutes

Beaufort County School District Superintendent Valerie Truesdale says she is "is not a candidate" for the vacant job as superintendent of Greenville County schools.
According to The Greenville News, candidates for the job are being interviewed this week, and three finalists are expected to be named Thursday.