Dr. Denita Dowell-Reavis
The Alexander County Board of Education held its regularly scheduled meeting for January on the 9th. The meeting opened with the pledge led by board member Anthony McLain.
Honors and Recognitions
Communications and Testing Director Dr. Denita Dowell-Reavis recognized Carter Payne on behalf of the district for placing first in the instrumental category this summer at a National Beta Club Convention. Payne played a patriotic medley in front of judges and a crowd of 5,000.
The next student honored just recently graduated from ACHS but represented the school and district over the summer in a Skills USA competition. Bentley Gilbert finished second in the nation building a miniature house. Bentley is working already at a construction company in Hickory. The district also thanked Josh Bowles, who is the carpentry teacher and the SkillsUSA advisor.
Several students were recognized for their participation at the FFA State Convention this summer. Jude Bumgarner, Bradley Hendren, Garrett Jolly, & Mason Sink won first place in the Gator Wars. The students had to diagnose a piece of equipment and fix it in a timed contest. One emphasis was to make sure they were working with the equipment safely and wearing all their protective gear.
Also, at the FFA convention, Tyler Kerley, Colt McKee, Isaiah Rice, Weston Rogers won third place competing as the agriculture mechanics team.
Lastly, Dixie Smith placed third in a FFA event for running her own business and creating a unique application for the contest. Smith raises and sells Australian Cattle Dogs and asks those who buy the dogs from her business to contract with her to bring the animals back within a year if the dog and the family are not well-suited. Her award is due largely to 1,700 hours she invested in the project.
The district also recognized Officers Chasity Hamby and Mike Millsaps for completing their School Resource Officer training. It’s the highest certification an SRO can achieve. It requires 400 additional hours of training. Officers are required to do in-service hours every year similar to teachers Continuing Education Units. The regular hours are NOT allowed to be included in the SRO certification. Some of the classes include ethics, mental health first aid, and verbal Judo. The certification normally takes several years to complete.
Facilities and Maintenance
Facilities and Maintenance Director Chris Campbell reported to the board about the turf and track project at Alexander Central High School’s football stadium. While the project has been delayed because of weather and more rain than is typical in July, he expects it to be finished next week. He reported, according to his measurements, the Taylorsville area has had 19 inches of rain in the past 21 days. As he reported, the turf started going down on the field on August 13th. The football project is being paid for by a state grant set aside for athletic projects. Campbell also showed a video of a time lapse project at the football field that shows the progress. He says that the football team will be able to play on August 23rd for their first home game.
Campbell also reported that the Sugar Loaf Elementary School project is nearing completion. Campbell expects that the money not used from constructing a gymnasium will be used for a media center remodel. The 5.3 million dollars of upgrades at Sugar Loaf are being paid for by a state lottery grant. That money is to be used on building projects and construction and cannot be moved to other funds.
Lastly, he reported that the tennis court renovations have been delayed by very hot weather and rainy weather. The refinishing of the courts and the materials are not able to be completed in the heat. He believes the courts will be ready for practice next week. These renovations are also being paid for by grant funding.
Child Nutrition Updates
Child Nutrition Director Kathy Caudle reported to the board she has applied for the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) status for all schools in the district. That means for the second year in a row all students can receive free breakfast and lunch. She says that the Child Nutrition Department did have to dip into money given during the pandemic to sustain the CEP status this year. Due to low participation, the department spent about $300,000. Caudle says the department has enough funds to continue the program this school year (2024-25) and will reevaluate in June.
She is encouraging her cafeteria managers to work with principals to bolster school lunch participation. Students can also get three items from the cafeteria line such as fruit, vegetable, and milk even if they bring lunch from home. This program is called “Pick Three.”
Finally, Caudle reported that her department has been giving out about 6,000 meals a week during the summer months. Parents are able to pick up 14 meals, a breakfast and lunch for seven days for each child. She says that she hears from parents each Monday that they appreciate the summer feeding program.
Budget Update
Chief Finance Officer Sharon Mehaffey reported in a finance update that the state is predicting that the district will have 128 fewer students than in 2023-2024. She also says the state has cut four staff positions and six months of CTE employment. Meantime other portions of funding, such as low-wealth funding and at-risk spending gained dollars.
Mehaffey reported that the district’s fund balance is about a million dollars, which is about where she predicted it would be. The district is going through a regular annual audit this week and auditors should have the report ready in the next few months.
Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Bill Griffin reported to the board about the administrative retreat earlier this month. Principals, assistant principals, and directors heard from legal experts and motivational speakers as they set the tone for the year ahead.
Next, Griffin reminded the board about the state’s view on testing results for Kindergarten through third graders. State school superintendent Catherine Truitt told the State Board of Education earlier this month that Alexander County has some of the highest scores in the state for young readers.
Also, the state high school athletic association is honoring Alexander High School for being an “Ejection Free School” for the 2023-2024 school year.
Griffin gave another reminder including several upcoming dates. For example, the opening session will be on August 20 at 9am in the auditorium for all staff. The district will also honor the “Of the Year” winners at that time.
Lastly, buses and student drivers will be on the roads starting August 26th, our first day of school.
School Board Policies
The board unanimously approved the following policy revisions presented by Chief Financial Officer Ms. Sharon Mehaffey after second reading.
Policy No. 6125 – Administering Medicines to Students
Policy No. 5023/6128/7268 – Emergency Administration of Naloxone
Mehaffey also presented a first reading for a new policy, which was unanimously approved.
Policy No. 8340 – Insurance
Policy No. 6125 – School Finance Officer