ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP- The Rock Hill School District is probably the

most financially well-off district in the county. Nevertheless, the aspect of saving money apparently came as a pleasant prospect to school officials and the general public Tuesday evening.

The Lawrence County Educational Service Center board, in its first meeting as the board for the local district, approved new insurance rates with Indiana Insurance Co. for policies on the district's buildings and bus fleet.

The district will pay $59,179 for property coverage and $30,588 for fleet coverage. The total of those two policies is $89,767, a reduction of

25 percent or $30,470 over what the district paid last year for the same coverage.

Acting Rock Hill Superintendent Harold Shafer said he asked the company if the district could get better rates and the company executives came back with a better offer.

"I'm tickled," Shafer said.

So were others: the mention of saving money on insurance drew

"ahs" from the roughly 75 people who attended the meeting, and praise from board members.

"When you can save $30,000 in insurance, you're doing pretty good," LSEC board president Roland Hayes said.

The LSEC board also approved new math textbooks for middle school students at a cost of $31,745.52. Shafer said the 2005 editions cover all 27 indicators for Ohio proficiency testing.

Middle school guidance counselor Diana

Akers said the new books will be an important part of a new push to improve middle school math scores.

Akers said the math teachers are active in the county-wide math academy offered by Al Cote, director of the Ohio Appalachian Rural Systematic Initiative (ARSI) at Ohio University. Akers said the Math Academy, much like the science academy that was offered last year, gives teachers additional resources to use in the classroom.

"It help them with state standards, the different resources available for them to use - different Web sites, math organizations and periodicals to use in the classroom. This is a really good resource for teachers," Akers said. "Plus they get to meet with teachers at other schools in the county and see what they're doing. It's good networking for the staff."

Akers said a math lab for sixth graders was instituted last year, and it was successful so it is being continued this year. She pointed out that on the last state report card, the number of Rock Hill Middle School students scoring at or above the proficient level doubled over the previous year.

"We're trying to make teachers aware of every resource possible to use in the classroom, even if its new ideas," Akers said.