Wilkes County Schools

Skip to main content
Mobile Menu
District
Public Notice
2018-19 Board Meeting Minutes » September 10, 2018

September 10, 2018

Summary of Board Minutes

September 10, 2018
 
The Board of Education of the Wilkes County Administrative Unit met in a regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, September 10, 2018 in the Arnold and Becky Lakey Boardroom at 613 Cherry Street, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina 28659.
 
Present for meeting were Chairman Mr. Randall “Rudy” Holbrook, Vice-Chairman Ms. Sharron Huffman.  Board Members Mr. Darren Shumate, Mr. Kirk Walker, and Ms. Leslie Barnes. Also present were Superintendent Mr. D. Mark Byrd, Associate Superintendent Ms. Anna Lankford, Executive Director of Personnel Dr. Westley Wood, Chief Technology Officer Ms. Julie Triplett, Chief Finance Officer Mr. Seth Prevette, Director of Development Mr. Dennis Huggins, Director of Athletics and Healthful Living Mr. Chris Skabo, Director of CTE Mr. Wayne Shepherd, Director of Child Nutrition Mr. Marty Johnson, Director of Student Services Ms. April Marr, Director of Maintenance Mr. Bergie Speaks, Director of Testing and Accountability Dr. Donna Cotton, Director of Exceptional Children Ms. Jennifer Blankenship, and Public Relations Officer Ms. Morgan Mathis. Executive Administrative Assistant Ms. Carolyn Triplett was absent.
 
Prior to calling the meeting to order, Chairman Mr. Rudy Holbrook recognized Board Member Mr. Darren Shumate to lead the Invocation.
 
On a motion by Ms. Huffman, seconded by Mr. Shumate and duly carried, the agenda was approved as presented.
 
Chairman Mr. Randall “Rudy” Holbrook recognized Superintendent Mr. Mark Byrd for the Devotion and Pledge of Allegiance.

Superintendent Mr. Mark Byrd along with Dr. Westley Wood, Executive Director of Personnel recognized the New Assistant Principals for 2018-2019 school year. We are excited and look forward to the tremendous impact these individuals will have at their school and in the community.

They are as follows:

Ms. Takiyah McCathern  – Assistant Principal assigned to Millers Creek Elementary and Wilkesboro Elementary

Ms. Katie Reeves – Assistant Principal assigned to Millers Creek Elementary School

Ms. Jennifer Sorel – Assistant Principal assigned to West Wilkes High School

Mr. Robert “Mike” Weddington – Assistant Principal assigned to Central Wilkes Middle School

Congratulations and best wishes to our new Assistant Principals!

Superintendent Mr. Mark Byrd along with Dr. Westley Wood, Executive Director of Personnel recognized the New Principals for the 2018-2019 school year. All three of these leaders model the student first, servant leadership philosophy that we expect from all of our administrators. We congratulate the following:

Ms. Beth Hubbard – assigned to Boomer-Ferguson Elementary School (second year)

Mr. Jason Llewellyn – assigned to C. B. Eller Elementary School

Ms. Amanda Pruitt – assigned to West Wilkes High School

Superintendent Mr. Mark Byrd along with Dr. Westley Wood, Executive Director of Personnel recognized the 2018 North Carolina Governor’s School attendees. The Governor’s School of North Carolina is a five and one-half week summer residential program for intellectually gifted high school students, integrating academic disciplines, the arts, and unique courses on each of two campuses. The curriculum focuses on the exploration of the most recent ideas and concepts in each discipline and does not involve credit, test, or grades. The following students represented Wilkes County at the 2018 North Carolina Governor’s School summer session:

Wilkes Central High School

Chelsie Jarvis attended Governor’s School West at Salem College in English.

Carrie Lowe attended Governor’s School East at Meredith College in Social Sciences.

Congratulations to Ms. Chelsie Jarvis and Ms. Carrie Lowe!

Superintendent Mr. Mark Byrd and Associate Superintendent Ms. Anna Lankford along with Director of Student Services, Ms. April Marr presented the HOPE Award. Our school counselors, school nurses, and school social workers support the work of our teachers, administrators, and other school staff. Their work is essential in our schools as they help address the social, emotional, and health needs of our students and their families so that our schools can be places for optimal teaching and learning to occur. Thus, the HOPE Award was created to recognize those whose sole professional focus is helping other people excel. We are pleased to recognize the two candidates who were nominated for this award from the 2017-2018 school year. Board Members were invited to attend a reception following the business meeting in the Stone Center.

2017-2018 Nominees for the HOPE award were: 
 
Lee Ann Minton – retired School Counselor from Millers Creek Elementary School
Jeannie Stinson – School Counselor from West Wilkes Middle School
 

The Winner of the HOPE Award was Jeannie Stinson. Congratulations to Mrs. Stinson!

Focus on the Curriculum was presented by Associate Superintendent Ms. Anna Lankford. Ms. Lankford presented the Board data information regarding School Performance Grades. All grades are based on 80% proficiency and 20% growth with a 15-point grading scale. Elementary and Middle School is based completely on EOG scores in ELA, Math, and Science. High Schools have several indicators: EOC’s (Biology, Math 1, and English II), ACT/WorkKeys, Math Course Rigor, and Cohort Graduation Rate. In 2017-2018, Wilkes County Schools had four schools to exceed growth, twelve schools to meet growth, and six schools that did not meet growth. In 2017-2018, our school performance grades were as follows:

  • One school with an A – Wilkes Early College High School;
  • Seven schools with a B – North Wilkes High, West Wilkes High, C.B. Eller, Mulberry, Moravian Falls, Ronda-Clingman, and Traphill;
  • Thirteen schools with a C – Boomer-Ferguson, C.C. Wright, Central Wilkes Middle, West Wilkes High, West Wilkes Middle, Millers Creek, Mount Pleasant, North Wilkes Middle, North Wilkesboro, Roaring River, West Wilkes Middle, Wilkesboro Elementary, Wilkes Central High; and
  • One school with a D – Mountain View (low Performing School).
 
Our five year graduation rate 89.4% was up 1.4 percentage points. Wilkes County Schools met participation rates in all tested areas for subgroups with 100%!
Chairman Mr. Holbrook asked if anyone had signed up for public comments. No one had signed up.
 
On a motion by Mr. Walker, seconded by Mr. Shumate and duly carried, the minutes for August 13, 2018 were approved as presented.
 
On a motion by Ms. Barnes, seconded by Mr. Shumate and duly carried, the Personnel Report and Blue Sheet were approved as presented.
Blue Sheet

Resignation(s) and/or Retirement(s)

Dennis Scheuermann – Teacher Assistant – Roaring River Elementary School

Retirement effective January 1, 2019 with eighteen years and three months of service

Renee Wiles – Teacher – East Wilkes Middle School

Retirement effective – January 1, 2019 with twenty-nine years and six months of service

On a motion by Ms. Huffman, seconded by Mr. Shumate and duly carried, the Out-of-County/Overnight field trips was approved as presented.
 
School Group Destination Dates
West Wilkes High School Yearbook Staff
Orlando, FL
 09/21/2018-09/24/2018
North Wilkes High School Selected Athletes/NCHSAA
Cary, NC
 10/26/2018-10/28/2018
Wilkes Central High School Marching Band Cary, NC 11/03/2018-11/04/2018
All High Schools Upward Bound Chapel Hill, NC 11/09/2019-11/10/2019
North Wilkes High School Honors Chorus
Stevens Center
Winston-Salem, NC
 11/10/2018-11/11/2018
Wilkes Central High School Honors Chorus
NCMEA Convention
Winston-Salem, NC
11/10/2018-11/11/2018
North Wilkes High School Selected Athletes
SASI Winter Retreat
Black Mountain, NC
 11/17/2018-11/18/2018
Wilkes Central High School Chamber Chorus
Biltmore House
Asheville, NC
 12/16/2018-12/17/2018
Wilkes Central High School Chorus Group
Wingate University
Wingate, NC
 01/25/2019-01/26/2019
Wilkes Central High School Chorus Group
Mars Hill University
Mars Hill, NC
 02/01/2019-02/02/2019

On a motion by Ms. Huffman, seconded by Ms. Barnes and duly carried, the new Return to Work policy was approved as presented.

On a motion by Mr. Walker, seconded by Mr. Shumate and duly carried, the Disposition of Surplus Items were approved as presented. (See attachment one)
On a motion by Mr. Shumate, seconded by Ms. Barnes and duly carried, the Exceptional Children’s Contract for Cynthia Bruton was approved as presented. This is for part-time speech language therapy services.
On a motion by Ms. Huffman, seconded by Mr. Walker and duly carried, the Exceptional Children’s Department Contract Amendment with the Public Consulting Group Inc. for 2018-2019 was approved as presented. 
On a motion by Mr. Shumate, seconded by Ms. Huffman and duly carried, the Exceptional Children’s Department Memorandum of Understanding for Watauga Opportunities, Inc. was approved as presented.
On a motion by Mr. Shumate seconded by Ms. Barnes and duly carried, the State Public School Fund was approved as presented:
 
State Public School Fund Increase $1,428,373.00
On a motion by Mr. Walker, seconded by Ms. Huffman and duly carried, the Budget Resolution for all fund sources was approved as presented.
 

Chairman Mr. Holbrook had the following announcement:               

  • September 24, 2018 Required Workday
 
Chairman Mr. Holbrook announced the next meeting to be October 1, 2018. This meeting will be held in the Arnold and Becky Lakey Boardroom located at 613 Cherry Street, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
 
On a motion by Ms. Huffman, seconded by Mr. Shumate and duly carried, there being no further business, the board adjourned at 6:32 p.m.