Dr. Denita Dowell-Reavis
The Alexander County Board of Education held its regularly scheduled meeting for April on the 16th. East 7th-grader Hermione Dykes, daughter of Richard & Tasha Dykes and 8th grader, Candance Kelsoe, daughter of Crystal Kelsoe led the pledge. The two were joined by WAMS 7th-grader Zoe Houston, daughter of Scott and Heather Houston.
Listed below are the reports and actions from the meeting.
Turf Project
Facilities and Maintenance Director Chris Campbell presented details about the turf project for Alexander Central High School. The state budget, effective in October of 2023, designated $2,500,000 for turf upgrades and an eight-lane track. The new track and field will require new storm drainage. Campbell recommended that the board approve the bid for the work from Geo Surfaces, which has an office in Mooresville. The initial plan was to include a $100,000 upgrade to the field house. Campbell says the project will be ready before the first football scrimmage of the year.
Honors and Recognitions
Dr. Jennifer Hefner started with honors and recognitions for the month, which includes four students who were recognized in the SkillsUSA competition. The contest was late April in Greensboro with a focus on “preparing for leadership in the world of work.” SkillsUSA gives students opportunities to practice technical and professional skills learned in CTE classes. Alexander Central High School had students competing in Carpentry, Drafting, Electrical, and Firefighting.
Senior Bentley Gilbert earned first place in the state in Carpentry. Bentley is a senior who has been competing in SkillsUSA events for a couple years. With this first place finish, Bentley qualified to represent Alexander County and North Caroline at SkillsUSA Nationals in Atlanta later in June. Also recognized were junior Harley Grogan, who placed fifth in the state for carpentry and senior Nathan Maroulis, who received third place in carpentry. Finally, another student, Lukas Day placed fifth in the electrical construction wiring competition.
Public Comment
Public comment included two former educators who spoke positively about the benefits of public school and aligned that into state and local funding. Cindy Sellers argued that the state legislature has made cuts for more than 10 years in public schools and intends to make more by expanding, once again, private school vouchers. She says that public schools can offer arts, music, and so much more for students that private schools and home schools cannot. She said that Republican lawmakers in Raleigh are interested in money, power, and getting votes. Her words were echoed largely by former teacher and college administrator, Dr. Dianne Little. Little said that the public should know that the district had to make cuts because families with children are not moving to Alexander County. She spoke about the school board’s direction to Dr. Hefner to make staff cuts as a way to make up for a 1.4 million dollar projected shortfall for 2024-2025. She said comments in the public arena have hinted that the district needs money because of financial mismanagement; she said that claim is false. Lastly, Little challenged the board members to stand up for the public school system. Another commenter was also budget-oriented with her remarks. Mary Beth White teaches at Alexander Central High School and is a colleague of one of the teachers who is likely to lose her job this year. White said it is great to support the Career-Technical Education Department but feels students should be able to be served in a variety of areas. She also said the district and planners should look at student registrations in elective courses for next year before the staff cuts are finalized.
East Alexander Middle School Update
Principal Brett Huffman told the board about the work at East Alexander Middle School. He says the teachers have worked to create Common Formative Assessments this year to help gauge instruction. The data from the CFAs is then used to help provide students with the interventions they may need. Huffman says IReady data shows students are growing in math and reading; he says 39% of students were proficient in reading at this time last year compared to 46% this year according to IReady. He also spoke about the Teacher Working Conditions Survey, which showed nearly 88% of teachers either agree or strongly agree that the school is a good place to work and learn.
West Alexander Middle School Update
Principal Ashley Mayo presented to the board the goals and achievements for West Alexander Middle School. She spoke about growth in IReady for reading and math, which has been measurable. IReady is a program the district uses as a universal screener to determine students’ performance levels. Mayo credited the school’s intervention time for the progress. She included in her remarks thanks to the exploratory teachers (Art, Band, Career-Technical Education, etc) who have helped with clubs and school-wide goals. Mayo also talked about things the school offers to stretch students academically including Battle of the Books. Lastly, Ms. Mayo thanked her school partners, including Bethlehem Pharmacy and Village Inn Pizza, for their support.
Child Nutrition Update
Child Nutrition Director Kathy Caudle told the board that she would like to keep the free lunch and breakfast status open for all schools for next year even though the schools have not sold enough extras to keep the program afloat. The program is running at about a $100,000 deficit for the year. She says the department has enough funds to absorb the loss for one more year. The Child Nutrition Department operates separately from the school district funding and came into the year with nearly an $800,000 surplus. Caudle asked the board for the opportunity to reevaluate the free lunch program next year. The board agreed. Caudle also asked the board to approve raising the adult lunch cost from $3.00 to $3.50. Board members unanimously approved the increase.
Caudle told board members the summer feeding sites. The department is planning meal pickup at: WAMS, SLES, AEC, & SPES on Monday midday. Parents can also pick up meals at Taylorsville Elementary from 5:15 until 6:30pm. Alexander Central High School, the Splash Pad in downtown and the YMCA will have four-day delivery of meals. Lastly, she has received a grant to provide a decorative wrap on a school bus that will deliver meals this summer.
Reports from Board Committees
Superintendent Search Committee
Chairman of the Superintendent search committee Matt Reese reported that the board intends to interview six candidates for the superintendent position. Dr. Jennifer Hefner is retiring at the end of the school year. The board will interview candidates in Statesville on Friday, May 17th. The board approved on February 26th for the Masonboro Group of Wilmington to assist with the search for a cost of $18,500. The group’s timeline, submitted to the board, had said they would have a candidate selected and contracted by May 6th. Reese says due to circumstances out of the control of Masonboro that the interviews were moved out from April 29-30 to May 17, 2024.
Finance Committee
The finance committee, headed by Chair Robert Arguelles, said that the board would review the list of staff cuts at the closed session and take an official vote at the June board meeting.
Facilities Committee
Board member Scott Bowman reported that the sale of the Old Wittenburg property has slowed due to an underground fuel tank being found. The intended buyer is waiting on results to ensure that the tank has not created damage to the soil around it. If not, the sale will continue. The building’s assessed value is $1.37 million and was originally built in 1948. There is an additional lot on 1.5 acres worth nearly $34,000 at the property. Bowman also reported that the committee is getting an appraisal of the Old Headstart property for a potential sale.
Superintendent’s Remarks
Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Hefner thanked all the employees for their work for the system. The schools celebrated Staff Appreciation the prior week with treats from local civic groups, churches, and parents.
Hefner reminded the audience that the Alexander County Commission will have a public hearing on the budget on May 20th. Anyone can sign up to speak at the public hearing about the budget. The commissioners’ timeline to adopt the budget will be at a June meeting. In March at a joint meeting, Alexander County Schools had asked for $903,000 more than last year’s request to avoid cutting staff. The state projects Alexander County Schools will have about 93 fewer students for the 2024-25 school year. The loss in enrollment could lead to more position cuts. The district has already planned a reduction in force (staff cuts) for the 2024-2025 school year to account for about a $1.5 million dollar shortfall.
According to published information on the Alexander County Government Facebook page, the commissioners said at a late April work session they would give $109,612 more to the district to carry on with the Fire Academy and help fund the PreK program. That is 12% of the increase the district had asked the county to fund. Overall, Alexander County Government has proposed a budget allocation of $7,493,040 to assist in the schools’ operations for 2024-25. County leadership says the allocation to the school system has increased 40.6 percent over the past ten years while the school system has lost 21.9% or roughly 1,000 students.
Alexander County Schools get the majority of the yearly budget for salaries, benefits, instructional supplies, exceptional children services, and other needs from the state. This past year (2023-2024) the state money was $36.8 million.
Bethlehem Principal Vacancy
The board also took a 5-2 vote to advertise the vacancy in the principalship at Bethlehem Elementary School but wait to hire the principal when a new superintendent is hired. Board member Brigette Rhyne told her colleagues that the good candidates will be gone by the time a new superintendent is hired. Board member Scott Bowman agreed. The other five members said that a principal must have such a close relationship with the superintendent that hiring one before the school district’s CEO is in place would be premature.
School Board policies revision
The board considered the following first reading of policy revisions presented by Chief Financial Officer Sharon Mehaffey.
Policy No. 1310/4002 – Parental Involvement
Policy No. 1760/7280 – Prohibition Against Retaliation
The board considered and approved a policy revision presented by Board member Brigette Rhyne.
Policy No. 6420 – Contracts with the Board
Mehaffey also presented for second reading the following policy revisions, which were approved unanimously.
Policy No. 7100 – Recruitment and Selection of Personnel
Policy No. 7130 – Licensure
Policy No. 7510 – Leave
Policy No. 7520 – Family and Medical Leave
Policy No. 7730 – Employee Conflict of Interest
Alexander County Board Policies are available for review by the public at www.alexander.k12.nc.us or by appointment at the Alexander County Board of Education Office on Liledoun Road, Taylorsville, North Carolina.