Dr. Denita Dowell-Reavis
The Alexander County Board of Education held its regularly scheduled meeting for December on the 10th.
Sale of Property
The board voted to sell what’s called the Old Ellendale property, a building and nearly seven acres of property that adjoins the current school off Highway 64. Crosspoint Church has been renting the space for some time and has invested in building renovations. The “old” Ellendale School was built in the 1930s and has about 24,000 square feet. The district broke ground for the current school in 2001 and the building has 63,000 square feet. Initially, the new Ellendale had 332 students with a capacity of 380; this year’s enrollment is 172.
Crosspoint offered to buy the old Ellendale and land for $905,000. With no competing offers, the board unanimously agreed to sell the property. The money will be placed in the Capital Outlay Fund Balance.
Election of Board Chair and Vice Chair
The board unanimously approved Vice Chair Matthew Reese to be the Board Chair for the 2025 calendar year.
Reese then asked the members to determine who they would like to serve as the Vice Chair. Members unanimously agreed to Joshua Dagenhart.
Honors and Recognitions
Dr. Denita Dowell-Reavis opened the meeting with a congratulatory nod to staff members who received a Public School Partnership Mini-Grant from Appalachian State University. The applicants were able to receive up to one-thousand dollars. The projects are to be geared towards Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math oriented. Appalachian’s Public School Partnership gave out more than 22-thousand dollars in these grants. Here are some of the people who were gifted for the Public School Partnership goals of collaboration, sustainability, and innovation.
Alexander Central High School, Paige Jackson and Kate Tutterow
Hiddenite Elementary, Melissa Canter
Wittenburg Elementary, Melinda Glenn, Anna Bedzinski, Zachary Richardson, and Dakota Brown
Central Office and Alexander Early College, Denita Dowell-Reavis and Mary Brown
West Alexander Middle School, Ashley Huss
ACHS, East Alexander Middle School and West Alexander, Amber Barnes
Also recognized was one elementary student for the North Carolina School Board Association Elementary School Students Poster Contest. The theme for this year’s contest was “My Classroom is a Time Machine,” and students were to draw a picture of themselves in the future, achieving their dreams and making a positive impact on the world, thanks to their education.
There were 300 entries. In the third through fifth grade category, ACS had a first place winner, Caroline Bowles who is a 3rd-grader from Bethlehem Elementary.
Lastly, the district recognized the Holiday Card Winners for this year. Our Holiday card contest is open to all students through twelfth grade.
Hiddenite Elementary, 2nd grader Gael Galarza De Leon, K-2
Hiddenite Elementary, 5th grader Kayden Cox, 3-5
West Alexander Middle, 6th grader, Beatrix Valcourt, 6-8
Alexander Early College, 12th grader, Emerson Horn, 9-12
Budget Update
Finance Officer Sharon Mehaffey gave a budget update which listed spending for the year thus far. Superintendent Dr. Bill Griffin and Ms. Mehaffey have continued to say it is a tight budget for the year. Thus far, the district has spent 38% of the various funds for the year. The district appears to be slightly below, but on pace, with the amount of spending allotted and needed for the year.
Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Bill Griffin reported that he and two board members attended the North Carolina School Board Association meeting in Greensboro last month. Also, he welcomed the newest board members, Corey McLain, Shannon Oxentine, and Jesse Bowles; the three were sworn in on December 2nd. The three new members got to work right away by joining the sitting board members on December 3rd for a board work session.
Dr. Griffin also took a moment to remember former Alexander County Schools Board Member Sally Hartis. Mrs. Hartis served on the board until 2018.
Calendar Proposals
Communications Director Dr. Denita Dowell-Reavis presented the two calendar proposals for the district. The two were based on Superintendent’s Dr. Bill Griffin’s guidance and feedback from the calendar committee at a November 21st meeting. The committee includes parents, teachers, administrators, Central Office staff, and board members.
One proposal would allow the school year to end by Memorial Day. This choice was the most supported in a review by the schools’ staff members, with 9 of the 10 schools favoring it. (Alexander Early College makes its own calendar based on the community college schedule.) The downside of the first draft is that there is only one day of banked time in case there are outages or missed time due to delays. The school system must plan for a minimum of 1025 instructional hours each year.
The second version would have the students finishing school on May 29th. This option would allow for more banked time.
Both options have the high school students taking their final first semester exams after the Christmas Holiday. Mr. Lail reported to the committee during its planning session on November 21st that his teachers wanted to try to balance the semesters by taking exams after the holiday break.
The current calendar has 77 days in the first semester and 92.5 in the second. The state law expects districts to balance the semesters as best as possible. Legislation also established that school cannot start before the last Monday in August and students can attend no later than the Friday closest to June 11th. Twenty-nine of the state’s 115 school districts started school sooner for 2024-25 school year, the current year, than what the law permits.
The board members will consider the two proposals and allow for public input. A vote is expected in January.
School Board Policies
The board unanimously approved the policy revisions presented by Chief Financial Officer Ms. Sharon Mehaffey for second reading.
Policy No. 1310/4002: Parental Involvement
The board also heard first reading for a policy and will hear it again with feedback next month.
Policy 3400 – Evaluation of Student Progress
Policy 4329/7311 – Bullying and Harassing Behavior Prohibited
Policy 4334/5035/7345 – Use of Unmanned Aircraft (Drones)
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After closed session, the district announced Jennifer Miller, who’s been serving as assistant principal at East Alexander Middle School will join Alexander Central High School as an AP. Jessica Cook, who is in her second year with the district at Ellendale Elementary as the instructional coach will become the assistant principal at East. Miller has a background in secondary math while Cook has worked as a 4th grade teacher. The employee transfers will take effect after the holiday break.