by Jackie Nunnery
HEATHSVILLE—The quarterly joint meetings between the Northumberland board of supervisors and school board were supposed to forge better communication and cooperation. If the meeting on Wednesday, August 3, is any indication, there is more work to be done to make that a reality.
Board of supervisors chairman Richard Haynie opened the discussion not by addressing the intended subject of the meeting—the quarterly budget and questions previously submitted to the school division—but by directing assistant county administrator Drew Basye to “read a statement.” The statement was actually a portion of the minutes from the June 13 school board meeting in which Gayle Sterrett made a motion to conduct all communication between the boards through written correspondence only….