CALL MEETING TO ORDER

The Board of Education of the Wilkes County Administrative Unit conducted a regular meeting in the Arnold and Becky Lakey Boardroom on Monday, December 2, 2024, at 5:30 PM at 613 Cherry Street North Wilkesboro, North Carolina 28659.

Present for the meeting were Chairman Mr. Randall "Rudy" Holbrook; Vice-Chairman Mr. Kirk Walker; and Board Members Mrs. Joan Caudill, Dr. Donna Cotton, and Mrs. Jammie Jolly. Also attending were Superintendent Mr. D. Mark Byrd; Assistant Superintendent Dr. Westley Wood; Chief Academic Officer Mrs. Callie Grubb; Chief Finance Officer Mr. Seth Prevette; Chief Technology Officer Mrs. Julie Triplett; Director of Pre-K and Elementary Education Mr. Jeffrey Johnson; Director of Child Nutrition Mr. Marty Johnson; Director of Secondary Education, Athletics, and School Safety Mr. David Johnson; Director of Exceptional Children Mrs. Jennifer Blankenship; Director of Maintenance Mr. Richard Shephard; Director of Facilities and Construction Mr. Bergie Speaks; Director of Student Services Mrs. April Marr; Director of Testing and Accountability, Cultural Arts, 504, and Title I Dr. Dion Stocks; ELS Coordinator Mrs. Lori Holguin; Executive Director of Federal Programs, Career and Technical Education Dr. Joe Bullis; AIG Coordinator Mrs. Angie Lamb; Public Information Officer Mrs. Morgan Mathis; and Executive Administrative Assistant Mrs. Loretta Shumate.

Guests in attendance were Boomer Ferguson Elementary School Principal Dr. Candie Greer; C.C. Wright Elementary School Principal Mrs. Delaina Jones; Moravian Falls Elementary School Principal Dr. Mike Weddington; Mountain View Elementary School Principal Mrs. Katie Reeves; Roaring River Elementary School Principal Mrs. Danielle Dowell; Traphill Elementary School Principal Mrs. Carol Cleary; Central Wilkes Middle School Principal Mr. Ebenezer Lancerio; North Wilkes Middle School Principal Mrs. Litta Belk; West Wilkes Middle School Principal Mrs. Kristine Kennington; West Wilkes High School Principal Mrs. Amanda Pruitt; Wilkes Central High School Principal Dr. Heather Freeman; Media Representative Mr. Jule Hubbard; and Media Representative Mr. Ed Racey.

Chairman Mr. Randall "Rudy" Holbrook called the meeting to order.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

On a motion by Mr. Kirk Walker, seconded by Mrs. Joan Caudill and duly carried, the agenda was approved as presented.

SUPERINTENDENT'S WELCOME AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Chairman Mr. Randall "Rudy" Holbrook recognized Superintendent Mr. D. Mark Byrd for the Superintendent's Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Byrd stated, "Chairman Holbrook, Members of the Board, as we return from Thanksgiving break, the month of December is an exciting time to work in schools, as we see a lot of excitement among students and adults. So, before I go any further, let me make sure to wish everyone in the room a Merry Christmas and a peaceful holiday season. If you are still looking for that perfect gift for someone, don’t forget the value of your time, attention, and efforts, as those will mean more to many than you can ever imagine!"

"Tonight, we need to celebrate one of our own, as Dr. Joe Bullis will be retiring effective January 1, so tonight is his last board meeting unless he just wants to attend for fun. While I've known Joe for a lot longer, he and I started teaching and coaching together in 1995 so it is extra special for me to get to be here when he retires. I know he has been successful in numerous roles in the past thirteen years in our Central Services department, so let's give him a round of applause and wish him our best in retirement."

"I would like to point out that I recently saw where US News and World Report ranked Moravian Falls Elementary as the 20th best Elementary School in NC out of more than 1400 elementary schools. While we are proud of all of our schools, I couldn’t help but think of how proud Mr. Dan Biesak, who we lost last December, would have been of the school’s success. Celebrating this school's success is a great way to honor Mr. Biesak and I know it would have meant a lot to him."

"Roaring River Elementary School will be recognized at our State Board meeting on Thursday for receiving the Northwest Region's Science of Reading Champion for Change Award, and in January Mrs. Grubb and our Instructional Services Department will be recognized at the State Board meeting for their work with our Literacy Intervention Plan. These recognitions reminded me of what a great year Wilkes County Schools has had in 2024, and as we move past Christmas and into the new year, we should all be proud of what our students and staff accomplished this year. Let's celebrate them to end the year and all work together to make 2025 an even better year for Wilkes County Schools."

"Please stand and join me for our Pledge of Allegiance."

RECOGNITION OF GUESTS AND GOOD NEWS

Science of Reading Champion for Change Award

Superintendent Mr. D. Mark Byrd recognized Assistant Superintendent Dr. Westley Wood to announce the Science of Reading Champion for Change Award winner. The Science of Reading Champion for Change Award is given by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to schools and districts that have shown exemplary leadership in using data to improve student outcomes through literacy strategies.

Congratulations to Roaring River Elementary School Principal Danielle Dowell, who was awarded the Northwest Region Science of Reading Champion for Change Award on October 31. This distinguished honor recognizes Mrs. Dowell's exemplary work in shifting a literacy system that aligns literacy strategies through the use of data-driven decisions and processes that are impacting exemplary outcomes.

Under Mrs. Dowell's guidance, Roaring River Elementary School has made remarkable progress, achieving notable improvements in student growth and academic performance. The school successfully exited "school improvement" status after just one year, and exceeded growth in 2023-2024. This achievement includes securing the highest growth rate in the district among all elementary schools, and increasing proficiency by 10%.

2024-2025 Appalachian State University Public School Partnership Mini-Grant Winners

Superintendent Mr. D. Mark Byrd recognized Assistant Superintendent Dr. Westley Wood to announce the 2024-2025 Appalachian State University Public School Partnership Mini-Grant Winners. The Appalachian State University Public School Partnership Mini-Grants are intended to build relationships between Appalachian State faculty members by engaging in collaborative projects that are connected to internships, student teaching, professional development of educators, and/or student learning. The funding is used to expand or refine existing efforts or to begin new initiatives.

After reviewing all applications from our region, the Public-School Partnership (PSP) Mini-Grant Committee chose to fund twenty-nine selected projects from fourteen district partners at a total of $22,251.17 this year. Funding was based on project alignment to PSP goals of collaboration, sustainability, and innovation. Congratulations to the following grant winners from Wilkes County Schools:

Ralph Sutton, Ann Fanatico, Brandon Turlington, Jacob Shepherd, and Jody Freeman, West Wilkes Middle School and West Wilkes High School - $975.33 for West Wilkes Middle School Greenhouse Initiative

Lori Dillard, Millers Creek Elementary School, Mount Pleasant Elementary School, and Boomer Ferguson Elementary School - $811.15 for Integrating Literacy Instruction Standards through Math by the Book

Jailen Lancerio, Jason DeHart, and Kristen Metz, Wilkes Central High School - $993.71 for Multimodal Magic: Storytelling and Information Building Through Graphic Novels

Dr. Heather Freeman and Cindy Fowler, Wilkes Central High School - $957.00 for Cultivating a Growth Mindset Culture in the High School Setting

Wilkes County School Marching Band Highlights

Superintendent Mr. D. Mark Byrd recognized Assistant Superintendent Dr. Westley Wood to recognize the Wilkes County Schools Marching Bands. Wilkes County Schools celebrates the outstanding musicians and directors at each of our high schools. Students all over Wilkes County began preparing for the marching band season as early as July by participating in band camp. Their hard work then continued into fall classes with weekly afternoon rehearsals and weekend competitions. We would like to take a moment to recognize the hard work of our band programs and their directors. We will highlight some of the accolades from the 2024 Marching Band Season.

East Wilkes High School

The East Wilkes High School Band is directed by Daniel Rash along with Drum Major Phebe Eller and Shelby Springfield. Their 2024 Field of Show was titled "The Grid."

The band competed in three marching band competitions this fall. The Marching Cardinals were awarded a total of eleven trophies that were one 2nd place trophy and ten 3rd place trophies. The band earned awards for General Effect, Marching & Maneuvering, Class Rank, Drum Major, and the Spartan Cup Award from South Caldwell's competition.

Congratulations to the East Wilkes Marching Cardinals on a great season.

North Wilkes High School

The North Wilkes High School Band is directed by James Robinson, II and led by Drum Major June Meyerhofer. Their 2024 Field Show was titled "The Fate of the Wicked" and was a musical twist on the Greek myth of Medusa.

The band competed in three competitions and placed in the top three a total of seven times in various categories, including Color Guard, Drum Major, and Percussion - a category that had not received any awards at North Wilkes in several years.

Congratulations to the North Wilkes Marching Vikings on a great season.

West Wilkes High School

The West Wilkes High School Band is directed by Matthew Dauer and led by Drum Major Eden Johnson. Their 2024 Field Show was titled "BEYOND!"

The band completed in three band competitions, hosted the Wilkes County Band Exposition, and was awarded a total of twenty-three awards with fifteen 1st place, six 2nd place, and one 3rd place. Trophies were awarded for Music, General Effect, Visual Ensemble, and Overall Band in 1A.

The band also earned awards in 1st place Overall in Classes 1 & 2A for Music, Percussion, and Drum Major.

Congratulations to the West Wilkes Marching Blackhawks on a great season.

Wilkes Central High School

The Wilkes Central High School Band is directed by Gage Simmons and led by Drum Major Hope Ortiz. Their 2024 Field Show was titled "Heist!"

The band competed in four competitions and was awarded a total of twenty 1st place and two 2nd place trophies. Trophies were awarded for Marching, Music, General Effect, Drum Major, Percussion, and Color Guard at all four events. The band also was recognized for 1st place Overall in Class 1A at all four competitions.

The Eagles were named 2nd place Grand Champion for classes 1-2A at the East Surry Marching Band Invitational.

Congratulations to the Wilkes Central Marching Eagles on a great season.

Congratulations to our band members, directors, and all the parents who made this a successful season for our students.

FOCUS ON THE CURRICULUM

English as a Second Language Collaborative Initiatives

Focus on the Curriculum was presented by ELS Coordinator Mrs. Lori Holguin. Mrs. Holguin provided a review of Wilkes County Schools' current enrollment of Multilingual Learners (MLS) and the initiatives being introduced to help foster collaboration between content teachers and ML teachers, including Feedback Walkthroughs, the Resource Hub, Diffit, Professional Development opportunities, and our partnership with Appalachian State University.

Our current 2024-2025 situation is that we have had an influx of Multilingual Learners in recent years and classroom teachers struggle to meet all of their diverse needs. Some problems we are facing are accountability, language barrier, and limited resources. The good news is that Wilkes County Schools has created a plan to address all of these concerns through coaching, partnership with Appalachian State University, and additional resources.

Coaching is where we see our biggest impact. Our Multilingual Learners (MLS) spend 1-5 hours a week with a Multilingual Learner (ML) teacher working on language acquisition standards. MLS spend approximately 30 hours with a content teacher in a classroom, learning the content standards. For growth on ACCESS, the annual language assessment, the student must be using language in the content classroom. For growth on content, the student must be learning the language related to content standards and must have ML support for scaffolding and differentiation in the classroom.

The ML teacher conducts classroom walkthroughs once per semester. ML gives feedback and coaching comments to the classroom teacher. The classroom teachers list concerns, comments, and needs for ML teachers. They discuss the best way to address the needs and concerns of the classroom teacher. ML Coordinator and Principals meet to discuss the feedback.

Professional Development (PD) is provided at the school and district level to support the ML teachers. Online PD is listed on our Resource Hub for all Wilkes County School employees. Presenters from the Department of Public Instruction and NC State are scheduled to provide PD for teachers and administrators.

There are collaborations beyond Wilkes County Schools like Appalachian State University, UNC Charlotte, and NC State Extension. Appalachian State University partnership provides benefits like Mini-Grants, teacher borrower cards, and Makerspace. UNC Charlotte has internships for MLs and NC State Extension provides free science professional development for ML teachers.

There are also additional resources available to ML teachers. These include ML Resource Hub, Diffit Pilot, and District PD provided by ML teachers.

FACILITY UPDATES

Construction Updates

Facility updates were presented by the Director of Facilities and Construction, Mr. Bergie Speaks. Mr. Speaks gave an update on current track renovations, ESSER/HVAC projects, and construction. Mr. Speaks stated that the rubberized tracks at Wilkes Central High School and North Wilkes High School are completed. The track at North Wilkes High School is having to be repaired because of deer damage. These rubberized tracks will be marked soon. ESSER projects are winding down. Bids for bleachers at East Wilkes High School and North Wilkes High School are underway. All 1950 gym floors have been refinished now. Wilkes Central High School had their first successful ballgame in their new gym. Everything went great!

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Chairman Mr. Randall "Rudy" Holbrook asked if anyone had signed up for Public Comments. No one signed up to speak.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

On a motion by Mrs. Joan Caudill, seconded by Mrs. Jammie Jolly and duly carried, the Minutes for November 4, 2024, were approved as presented.

ACTION ITEMS

Personnel Report

On a motion by Mrs. Joan Caudill, seconded by Mr. Kirk Walker and duly carried, the Personnel Report was approved as presented.

Melissa Bare – Custodian – North Wilkesboro Elementary School
Retirement effective – January 1, 2025, with 24 years and 4 months of service

Joe Bullis – Executive Director of Federal Programs and Career and Technical Education – Central Services
Retirement effective – January 1, 2025, with 30 years and 1 month of service

Robin McGrady – Teacher – North Wilkes High School
Retirement effective – February 1, 2025, with 26 years and 4 months of service

Out-of-State/Overnight Field Trips

On a motion by Mr. Kirk Walker, seconded by Dr. Donna Cotton and duly carried, the following Out-of-County/Overnight field trip was approved as presented. The planned dates are listed below.

Low-Performing School Improvement Plans

On a motion by Mrs. Jammie Jolly, seconded by Dr. Donna Cotton and duly carried, the Low-Performing School Improvement Plans were approved as presented. Schools identified as low-performing (receive a school performance grade of D or F and school growth of "met expected growth" or "not met expected growth") must develop an improvement plan that specifically addresses how the school will improve both the school performance grade and the school growth score. Schools must also notify parents of the low-performing status. Boomer Ferguson, C.C. Wright, Mountain View, Traphill, and West Wilkes Middle are identified as low-performing schools.

Their school improvement plans are housed in an online tool called NCStar and were presented at the November meeting.

Raz-Plus Renewal

On a motion by Mrs. Joan Caudill, seconded by Mrs. Jammie Jolly and duly carried, the Raz-Plus renewal was approved as presented. Raz-Plus, a product of Learning A-Z, is a comprehensive online literacy platform that supports our core curriculum and the Science of Reading. The platform includes foundational and comprehension resources as well as decodable texts and high-interest books. This platform is currently used in all Wilkes County elementary schools and is an integral part of our Literacy Intervention Plan.

The total cost for a two-year renewal will be $98,208.00 and will be funded with PRC085 funds that are earmarked to support literacy at the elementary level.

Wilkes County Schools' Summer Success Plan 2024-2025

On a motion by Dr. Donna Cotton, seconded by Mr. Kirk Walker and duly carried, the Wilkes County Schools' Summer Success Plan for 2024-2025 was approved as presented. The Department of Public Instruction has approved that all districts may administer the End-of-Grade (EOG) and End-of-Course (EOC) tests during summer school. The scores from the tests will be included in the proficiency calculations for school accountability within the current accountability year.

Wilkes County Schools has elected to provide a summer school program called, "WCS Success Academy," immediately following the last day of school. It will extend the school year for qualifying students by up to four days.

Revision of Board Policy 7510, Leave of Absence

On a motion by Mrs. Jammie Jolly, seconded by Mrs. Joan Caudill and duly carried, the Revision of Board Policy 7510, Leave of Absence was approved as presented. The revision of Board Policy 7510, Leave of Absence was presented for discussion on November 4, 2024. Our current policy requires leave to be taken in increments of half days, however, North Carolina State Board of Education policies allow leave to be taken in the units earned if approved by the local Board of Education. It is recommended that our local policy be revised in order to allow increments in leave to be taken in hours. This would benefit both the district and employees.

Other modifications to the policy as noted are needed in order to be compliant with leave policies of North Carolina State Board of Education. 

DISCUSSION AND REPORT ITEMS

2025-2026 Academic Calendar Draft

Discussion and Report Item regarding 2025-2026 was presented by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Westley Wood. The calendar committee met on Monday, November 18th and developed a proposed academic calendar for the 2025-2026 school year. This is a 164-student day academic calendar that meets statutory requirements. North Carolina general statute allows the start of school to be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26, 2025.

The recommendations of the committee are being presented for your consideration.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Chairman Mr. Randall "Rudy" Holbrook made the following announcements:

December 18, 2024 – Early Dismissal

December 19-20, 2024 – Optional Workdays

December 23, 2024 – Annual Leave

December 24-26, 2024 – Christmas Holidays

December 27, 2024 – Annual Leave

December 30-31, 2024 – Annual Leave

January 1, 2025 – New Year's Holiday

January 2, 2025 – Optional Workday

January 3, 2025 – Required Workday

NEXT BOARD MEETING

Chairman Mr. Randall "Rudy" Holbrook announced the next board meeting to be January 6, 2025. This meeting will be held in the Arnold and Becky Lakey Boardroom located at 613 Cherry Street, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina beginning at 5:30 PM.

MEETING ADJOURNMENT

On a motion by Mr. Kirk Walker, seconded by Mrs. Jammie Jolly and duly carried, there being no further business, the Board adjourned at 6:13 PM.