Denita Reavis
The Alexander County Board of Education held its regularly scheduled meeting for November on the 12th. The meeting opened with the pledge led by board member Ramie Robinson.
Honors and Recognition
Honors for school board members who are stepping away from the board were handled by Superintendent Dr. Bill Griffin. He recognized Brigette Rhyne from District Four for her 16 years of service on the board. The next longest serving member is Scott Bowman (District 1) who’s been a member on the board for 12 years. Finally, he recognized Ramie Robinson from District Three for his service of four years. The three chose not to run again in the 2024 elections. This is the trio’s last ACS board meeting in their role as members.
In December, at the Alexander County Commission meeting, Jesse Bowles (District 1), Shannon Oxentine (District 3) and Corey McLain (District 4) are expected to be sworn in as the newest members. The 2024 election also established that school board members in Alexander County will have to declare a political party affiliation for the next term of board elections in 2026.
The honors and recognition portion of the meeting also included presentations from the ACS Public Education Foundation (PEF) for teacher grants. All told this year the PEF is giving $13,078 to teachers and staff in the district for STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) grants. Board member Brigette Rhyne, who is stepping away from her leadership with the PEF presented the awards along with board member Ramie Robinson. The group has been awarded the gifts since 2012
Here’s a list of the winners:
Heather Weygant, Hiddenite Elementary School – $500.00 “Stem Bins”
Hope Laird, Hiddenite Elementary School – $500.00 “Free-standing Cabinet to Practice Life Skills”
Danielle Ortiz, Bethlehem Elementary School – $ 500.00 “Frog Dissection Materials”
Chris Marshall, Alexander Central High School – $500.00 “Pickleball Nets”
Cam Gant, Alexander Central High School – $500.00 “Weighted Medicine Balls & Jump Ropes
Samantha Strathy, Alexander Central High School – $480.05 “Sticker Making”
Butch Carter, Alexander Central High School – $500.00 “Ancore Adjustable Slides”
Paige Politte, Hiddenite Elementary School – $463.15 “Instruments”
Amber Barnes/Emily Fox, Alexander Central High School- $500.00 “Industry Tours/Materials/Incentives”
Aislinn Barnes, Wittenburg Elementary School – $450.00 “Generation Genius Subscription”
Amanda Marshall, Alexander Central High School – $500.00 “Cougar Connects Cooking”
Kelly This, East Alexander Middle School – $372.76 “Rock Garden”
Nikki Stevenson, Hiddenite Elementary School – $500.00 “Glow Games”
Kat Seno, Alexander Central High School – $500.00 “Button Making Machine”
Michelle Robinson, West Alexander Middle School – $500.00 “Puzzles, Mats, and Sorting Trays”
Kim Brown, Melissa Canter, Liz Cronan, Taylorsville Elementary School – $888.00 “Charlotte Motor Speedway Trip”
Paige Jackson, Alexander Central High School – $500.00 “Soil Kits, Mining Materials, Lab Supplies”
Zachary Richardson, Wittenburg Elementary School – $450.00 “Whiteboards; Dry Erase Markers”
Mary Brown & Denita Dowell-Reavis – Alexander Early College – $1,000.00 “Morehead Planetarium Field Trips”
Joseph Cornwell, Alexander Central High School – $500.00 “Ceramic Materials”
Tyler Mitchell, Alexander Central High School – $500.00 “Fishing Shirts for Competition”
Ashley Huss, West Alexander Middle School – $500.00 “Book Publishing”
Ashley Bumgarner, Alexander Early College – $500.00 “Purchase the Bill of Obligations”
Mary Brown, Alexander Early College – $472.72 “Sports Equipment”
Mandy Reid, West Alexander Middle School – $500.00 “Display Boards”
Communications Director Dr. Dowell-Reavis formally recognized Alexander Early College teacher Christy Hall for an award from the University of North Carolina. UNC World View honors a teacher each year for the Carol Tresolini Award, an effort to promote global education in communities across NC. The recipient of the award gets a scholarship to attend future UNC World View global seminars. The Tresolini award not only acknowledges the hard work and dedication of individual educators but also serves to inspire and encourage others in the field to embrace and promote global education in their own spheres of influence.
Superintendent Report
Dr. Bill Griffin reported that School Board visits to all schools in late October went well. He says it was great to see the unique qualities of each school and what the schools’ staffs have to offer.
He also reported that budget meetings at each school, he hopes, has given people more insight into the district’s income and expenditures.
Budget Update
Shannan Dennison with Anderson Smith and Wike presented the audit for the school year ending in June 2024. Dennison told the board the audit was clean, meaning that the audit team showed Alexander County Schools’ financial statements are free of mistakes. A clean audit also means the district has complied with the law and reported financial standings properly. The district has had clean audits consecutively for at least 25 years.
Another success for the district budget is that the fund balance is back up to more than one million dollars. The fund balance is much like a savings account to be used in emergencies. The district feared the fund balance would drop last year when ACS lost more than 100 students in 2023-24. The district did spend $809,000 in fund balance last year but was able to streamline to avoid further cuts. The updates allowed the district to finish the year with $1,095,984 in fund balance.
The majority of the district budget, more than 37 million, comes from the state. The county contributes more than seven million dollars to the general funds. All told, the district budget is nearly 64-million dollars.
Other factors in the district budget is the child nutrition program. The district offered free breakfast and lunch to all students in the district last year, 2023-2024. The hope was that students bought enough extras (ice cream, cookies, frappes) to help offset paying for the program. There were not enough extra purchases, which means the ability to offer free breakfast and lunch for all may go away. Ultimately, the district spent $406,000 dollars in child nutrition money to keep the free meals last year. The district would be required to run the Child Nutrition department if the funding does not grow, and if it chooses to continue the free breakfast and lunch.
Since last fall, board members, community members, and parents have been watching the district budget closely since learning ACS would lose state money due to declining enrollment. The loss in funds came at the same time a loss in revenues from the federal government for pandemic recovery. Another factor in the local budget is that state pay raises and higher health insurance costs means the district has to shoulder more costs for those staffers who are paid out of local money. Dennison also points out that inflation is affecting operations. Ultimately, ACS had to cut staff for the 2024-25 school year. Since coming onboard, Dr. Bill Griffin has met with staff members at all the schools that the district must learn to live “within its means.” Dennison commended the board and district for the prior work to right-size the overall district budget.
School Board Policies
The board unanimously approved the following policy revisions presented by Chief Financial Officer Ms. Sharon Mehaffey for first reading. Each of the nine had minor changes being made.
Policy 3620 – Extracurricular Activities and Student Organizations
Policy 4040-7310 – Staff-Student Relations
Policy 4120 – Domicile or Residence Requirements
Policy 6200 – Goals for School Nutrition Services
Policy 6430 – Purchasing Requirements for Equipment, Materials, and Supplies.
Policy 6450 – Purchase of Services
Policy 7130 – Licensure
Policy 7650 – Employee Travel and Other Expense Reimbursement
Policy 9110 – Use and Selection of Architects, Engineers, Surveyors, and Construction Managers at Risk
Mehaffey also presented a second reading for a new policy, which was unanimously approved.
Policy No. 7440 – Assignments/Reassignments/Transfers
The board also heard first reading for a policy and will hear it again with feedback next month.
Policy 1310/4002 – Parental Involvement