The regular monthly meeting of the Yancey County Board of Education was held in the gymnasium of Burnsville Elementary School on Monday, February 19, 2024.
Orr Building Update
Superintendent Kathy Amos reported that she had met with members of the YCS Facilities team and Josh Young from Young & McQueen to review plans for the new building. The new building expansion will be 6,000 sq ft to house our carpentry, heavy equipment and electrical classes.
Stadium Project
Mrs. Amos reported that Mr. Derek Murphy had met with Stan Cook, Jeff Silvers and MHHS principal Daron Williams to solidify plans for the ADA updates to the stadium. Mr. Silvers will provide an itemized cost of the remaining preparation and site work to be done before YCS can move forward with the next phase of construction.
CRMS/BES/BRES
Mr. Wes Presnell reported that YCS will meet with Harper General Contractors next week to begin the value engineering process and continue to finalize design plans.
Welcome & Pledge of Allegiance
Chairman Edwin Fortner welcomed everyone to the meeting. Students from Burnsville Elementary led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Good News
School Bus Driver Appreciation Month
Mrs. Amos expressed her gratitude to all of the YCS bus drivers and bus monitors who work every day to transport students to school and back home safely.
MHHS Wrestlers
Mrs. Amos congratulated the following students for their outstanding performance in the conference matches: Braxton Batchelor placed 1st in the 215 lb weight class, Elijah Pate placed 2nd in the 113 lb weight class, and Andrew Carpenter placed 3rd in the 126 lb weight class.
ESL – Parent Liaison
Mrs. Amos thanked Mrs. Danise Melecio for her dynamic work with YCS’s Spanish speaking community. Mrs. Melecio does a wonderful job in helping these families be part of the YCS family.
Teachers from Ashe and Avery Counties
Mrs. Amos reported that different people from all over the region and state are hearing about the great things happening in YCS and are eager to see for themselves. Most recently teachers from Ashe and Avery Counties visited the Science department at MHHS due to the fact that our 8th grade science and high school Biology scores have been among the highest in NC for the past 3 years. Superintendent Updates
NC Middle School and High School Computer Science Requirement
Mrs. Amos reported that YCS is continuing to work on complying with the new computer science requirements. At the middle school level, these are being met with new Project Lead the Way and CTE courses. At the high school level, YCS will request a waiver for the first year. Mrs. Amos stated that Mrs. Rene Hughes does a fantastic job with all of these classes and we will continue to see what courses can be implemented to ensure there are enough sections available to our students that will meet this computer science requirement.
NC EC Funding Model
Mrs. Amos stated that EC Director Margie Stebbeds is following the discussions as the General Assembly goes through their short budget session.
2024 myFutureNC Attainment Profiles
Mrs. Amos has shared these with the Board; she will review them more in depth to identify areas of focus including future PreK expansion in YCS.
Yancey Leadership Education Day
The Yancey Leadership Education Day sponsored by the Yancey County Chamber of Commerce will be Monday, February 26. The event will begin at Blue Ridge Elementary, move to Cane River Middle, and finish at Mountain Heritage High. This day will bring local business leaders together to highlight the great things happening with YCS facilities, programs, testing statistics and teachers.
YCS Pre K and Kindergarten Registration Day
The registration day for PreK, Kindergarten and any student new to Yancey County Schools will be Wednesday, April 10, 2024 from 1:00pm to 6:00pm at the Burnsville Town Center.
Old Business
Electrical Issues at MHHS
Mr. Wes Presnell reported that they are actively seeking solutions to this issue and investigating the best course of action.
New Business
NC New School Accountability Model
Dr. Heather Cox reviewed the proposal for a new school accountability model. In the past, each school has received one letter grade that measures growth and performance. The proposed model that will be presented to the NC Board of Education would assign four letter grades in the following categories: Academics, Progress, Opportunity, and Readiness. This new model would consider factors such as school climate, chronic absenteeism, graduation rate and program availability to students.
YCS Attendance Report
Director of Student Services Kristin Buchanan presented an attendance report from the past three school years. The county-wide attendance rate has steadily increased over the past three years and we are very close to returning to a pre-COVID attendance rate. Principals have done a great job in providing incentives to students such as spirit sticks, bulletin boards that measure each class’s attendance, coupons to Texas Roadhouse, hands on activities and fun academic field trips.
Public Input
Karin Rolett spoke.
NCDPI School Safety Grant Award
Mrs. Amos congratulated Dr. Heather Cox on receiving a Safety Grant in the amount of $300,000. Dr. Cox has kept a list of needs from each school and stated that priorities are a county-wide master key system and more cameras in identified areas.
NCDOT Pilot Program
Mrs. Amos reported that Mr. Jeremy Dotts will be the lead consultant across North Carolina for a pilot program which will facilitate and recruit 9th through 12th grade high school students for career opportunities with NCDOT. Mr. Dotts was the first to accept the program in the summer of 2023 and has become a model for the rest of the state.
Board Chairman Comment
Chairman Fortner expressed his desire to support YCS faculty and staff, and to help our community and individuals needing mental health assistance, in any way possible. He thanked Mrs. Kristin Buchanan for the many services she has facilitated for YCS.
Mental Health Services Update
Mr. Fortner welcomed Mr. Jamie Stewart, whose agency provides behavioral mental health services. YCS is exploring a possible partnership with Mr. Stewart to provide services to elementary and high school students.
Informational Items
The next regular meeting of the school board will be held on Monday, March 18, 2024 in the gymnasium of Micaville Elementary School. Work Session will begin at 5:30 pm, followed by the Regular Meeting at 6:00 pm.
PUBLIC INPUT – To sign up for public input, please call 828-682-6101 ext. 102 by 3:00 pm on the day of the meeting. A sign-up sheet will also be available at the meeting location from 4:00-5:50 pm prior to the meeting.
