New Hanover County is seeking residents to apply for several boards and committees, offering opportunities for community members to take part in local government. The Board of Commissioners announced that applications are open for positions on the following groups: New Hanover Community Endowment, Adult Home Care Community Advisory Committee, Board of Examiners of Electricians (Independent Electrical Contractor), Board of Mechanical Examiners (Class I Journeyman Mechanic), Commission on African American History, Heritage, and Culture (Civil Rights Community), Health and Human Services Board (Dentist), Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (with openings for At-Large, Business Community, Faith Community, Juvenile Defense Attorney, Under Age 21), Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee, and Tourism Development Authority (Vacation Rental Properties Owner Manager with 100+ units).
Applicants must live in New Hanover County. Applications are available at the Board of Commissioners Office at the New Hanover County Government Center or by calling 910-798-7149. They can also be found online at the county’s boards and committees web page at https://nhcgov.com/188/Boards-Committees. The deadline to apply is August 29, 2025; appointments will be considered at the September 15 meeting.
In recent educational data from the county’s school districts, less than one-third of senior students who took the science portion of the ACT in the 2022-23 school year were deemed ready for college. Specifically, out of 1,816 seniors tested in science, only 547 students—or about 30.1%—met college readiness benchmarks according to state figures (source). Junior students performed similarly: among 1,888 juniors taking science ACTs that year, just over a quarter—514 students or roughly 27.2%—were considered college-ready (source).
For reading skills measured by the ACT during that same period among seniors in New Hanover County schools, approximately 43.8% met college readiness standards; this means out of 1,816 seniors tested in reading comprehension sections of the exam last year, only about four in ten demonstrated proficiency expected for college-level work (source). Among juniors taking this test section during that time frame—out of a total group size similar to their senior peers—41.3% were judged ready for higher education studies (source).
Math results showed comparable trends: only about three out of every ten senior test-takers met math readiness criteria on their ACT exams last year (539 out of 1,816 students) (source). For juniors assessed on math skills through this standardized test during that academic year—a slightly larger cohort than seniors—32%, or just over six hundred students out of nearly nineteen hundred tested reached benchmark levels indicating preparedness for post-secondary mathematics coursework (source).
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