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The Alexander County Board of Education held its rescheduled meeting for December on the 15th. The meeting opened with the pledge led by board member Jesse Bowles.
Honors and Recognitions
Dr. Denita Dowell-Reavis opened the regular meeting with a celebration of the annual Holiday Card contest. Students from across the district are invited each year to create a holiday or winter-themed card. Judges from Central Office and Alexander County employees choose the winners. They are:
Hallie Rowe – 2nd grade – HES
Raelyn Rowe – 5th grade – HES
Cali Mullens – 8th grade – WAMS
Angelique Jeorgie Carico – 12th grade – AEC
Each student receives a gift card, copies of their actual card to send during the season, and their framed card as a memento of their artwork.
School Calendar
The school board approved a proposed calendar for the 2026-27 school year. The first day for students is August 24th and the last day is May 27th. The calendar includes several workdays at the beginning of the school year for teachers, so they can be paid for 215 days total, a state expectation. More notable than the calendar itself are the time changes for the schools’ operations. Moving forward, elementary students will start school at 8am and be released at 2:55pm. This cuts the elementary school day by about 15 minutes each day. Prior to the change, the elementary students were expected on campus from 8:15am to 3:25pm. Superintendent Dr. Bill Griffin has acknowledged that families will need to make adjustments based on the new times, but said that he was not aware of other school districts where elementary students had such a long school day; therefore, he suggested the day be a bit shorter.
Times for middle schools and the high school are also changing. Students will be on campus at East and West from 7:35am till 2:35pm. At Alexander Central, students will report from 8am till 3pm.
Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Bill Griffin asked for a moment of silence to remember the recent victims of violence. In particular he mentioned a fatal stabbing at a Forsyth County High School last week. Dr. Griffin’s former boss, Dr. Don Phipps is the new superintendent of the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools. Since the stabbing, Phipps is making moves to have more metal detectors in schools in an effort to prevent more attacks.
School Board Chair/Vice Chair Elections
The Alexander County School Board elected Josh Dagenhart to be the chair and Jesse Bowles as vice chair for 2026. Matt Reese has served as chair with Josh Dagenhart as the vice chair for 2025. The chair is in charge of reviewing the board meeting agendas with administration and conducting the monthly meetings.
School Board Policies
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Alisha Cloer presented a second reading for four policies which were approved unanimously.
Policy 1740/4010 – Student and Parent Grievance Procedure
Policy 1750/7220 – Grievance Procedure for Employees
Policy 2125/7315 – Confidential Information
Policy 3220 – Technology in the Educational Program
Cloer asked the board to approve a new policy that bans cell phones during instructional time in accordance with state law that goes into effect in January. Due to time constraints, the board needed to act with only one reading. The board approved the policy unanimously. Alexander Central High School and the Alexander Early College were already complying with the state law by having students place phones in a pouch or locker during instructional time. Districts across the state that already had cell phone bans during the school day or who have implemented the new state law aggressively report bullying and social media problems at schools are down.
Policy 4318 – Use of Wireless Communication Devices
Cloer also presented proposed revisions for 12 policies which will stand for a month while the public and board members have time to review for comment.
Policy 1310/4002 – Parental Involvement
Policy 3210 – Parental Inspection of and Objection to Instructional Materials
Policy 3320 – School Field Trips and Excursions
Policy 3510 – Religious-Based Exemptions from School Programs
Policy 3620 – Extracurricular Activities and Student Organizations
Policy 4120 – Domicile or Residence Requirements
Policy 5024/6127/7266 – Emergency Epinephrine Delivery Systems
Policy 5070/7350 – Public Records-Retention, Release and Disposition
Policy 6125 – Administering Medicines to Students
Policy 6340 – Transportation Service/Vehicle Contracts
Policy 7100 – Recruitment and Selection of Personnel
Policy 7820 – Personnel Files
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Board Member Anthony McLain was not present for the meeting.