Pierce made the announcement at today's Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce State of the Community luncheon at Halifax Community College.

Pierce said the meeting will be held at The Centre on the HCC campus at 6 p.m. on September 19 and will be facilitated by the University of North Carolina School of Government.

Planning of the meeting has been ongoing, Pierce said following the luncheon. Last month Commissioner Vernon Bryant lobbied the board to look at the report, which has not been reviewed since its release last October.

Pierce, without elaboration, said there was some initial unwillingness to have the meeting and there were some scheduling problems with the school of government.

Pierce said the Evergreen Solutions report — filed on the county's website as Operational Improvements in Halifax County Schools — will be used as a guide in the initial meeting. “The end results will be down the road. We've got to get the dialogue going.”

Pierce, who is a proponent of school merger, said one of things he would like to see come out of the talks, as early as next school year, is consideration of a consolidated alternative school for students who find themselves in trouble, which he sees as a way of trimming the costs of running three alternative schools. “Initially, I'd be happy with an alternative school.”

He sees the end result of these talks, which he hopes will be a continual discussion, as being tied to the merger issue. “My interest is in every child getting an equal education and the way I see it happening is with one administrative unit. The Halifax County school system needs help. We need to get the money where it's needed.”

Roanoke Rapids Graded Schools Superintendent Dennis Sawyer, who also attended the luncheon, said, “I'm really looking forward to dissecting the report and applying its recommendations to make us all better.”