Board Briefs

A summary of action taken by the Vance County Board of Education

November 9, 2015
Vance County Schools Public Information Office

District Improvement Plan Receives Required Board Approval

The Vance County Board of Education at its regular monthly meeting approved the
District Improvement Plan that must be submitted to the N.C. Department of Public
Instruction. The plan is required by the state, because more than half of the local
schools earned a School Performance Grade of D or F for the 2014-2015 school
year. The plan includes three main goals. These goals are: all schools will earn a
School Performance Grade of C or higher for this school year; all schools will meet
growth or exceed growth as determined by EVASS for this school year; and the district
graduation rate will increase from 77.5 percent to 83 percent for this school year. The
plan also includes three strategies and several action steps to achieve each goal.
Strategies for the first goal call for the district to: build leadership capacity through
professional development and district support; implement targeted Professional
Learning Communities in all schools; and provide bona-fide summer school for
identified students following state guidelines to extend the learning environment. The
second goal includes strategies to: create a District Support of Schools in Transition
(DSST) Team in order to provide targeted support to all schools; make data driven
decisions to improve student performance; and provide targeted professional
development for classroom teachers. The three strategies for the final goal are to: offer
a credit recovery period during the school day in traditional high schools in order for
students to catch up on credits; develop recovery systems in order for students to keep
up in current courses; and identify students who can participate in the school systems
Transition Academy which requires state minimum credits for graduation.

Board Awards Contracts, Approves Elimination Of Unused Mobile

Units
Board members also approved three recommendations from the Building and
Grounds Committee. The board voted to award the contract to H.G. Reynolds of
Henderson, for the construction of a new multipurpose room at Carver Elementary
School. H.G. Reynolds was the lowest bidder for the contract. Construction is expected
to begin within the next several weeks. A recommendation also was approved to award
the contract to N.C. Sound for security equipment to be installed on doors in all local
schools. N.C. Sound was the lowest bidder for the contract. The cost of the project will
be $202,000. Finally, board members approved a recommendation from the committee
to declare as surplus property 12 mobile classrooms that are no longer used at schools.

The mobile classrooms to be eliminated include four units at Aycock Elementary, four
units at Zeb Vance Elementary and four units at Eaton-Johnson Middle. This will be the
first phase of a project to eliminate unused mobile classrooms in the school system.

Five Assistant Principals Will Be Transferred To Other Schools

Following review by the boards Personnel Committee, board members received
information on the transfer of five assistant principals to other schools, effective
November 30. Justin Wrenn, who has been the assistant principal at E.M. Rollins
Elementary School, will become a third-grade teacher at Dabney Elementary School.
Nowell Brooks, an assistant principal at Henderson Middle School, will be the assistant
principal at E.M. Rollins Elementary School. Iris Dethmers, the assistant principal at the
STEM Early High School, will be the assistant principal at L.B. Yancey and Zeb Vance
elementary schools. Mark Lawhorne, who has been the assistant principal at Western
Vance High School, will become the assistant principal at STEM Early High and an
assistant principal at Northern Vance High School. Kerri Morrison, an assistant principal
at Southern Vance High School, will become an instructional coach with the Curriculum
and Instruction Department at the Administrative Services Center.

Personnel Recommendations Receive Board Approval

The board approved recommendations for employment for Sarah Brewer, an EC
teacher assistant at Zeb Vance Elementary; Arnetra Terry, a part-time literacy coach at
Zeb Vance Elementary; Stanley Hawkins, assistant womens basketball coach at
Northern Vance High; and Sharan Drumgold, a substitute bus driver for all schools.
Resignations approved by the board were from Jessica Canning, second-grade
teacher, Aycock Elementary; Mechiel McAdam, second-grade teacher, Aycock
Elementary; Kelly Guill, fifth-grade teacher, E.M. Rollins Elementary; Lanisha Daye,
assistant principal, L.B. Yancey Elementary; Noelle Dixon, third-grade teacher, L.B.
Yancey Elementary; and Robin Hudson, English teacher, Northern Vance High.
Retirements were accepted for Diane Baggett, cafeteria assistant, Clarke
Elementary; Jeanetta Jennings, first-grade teacher, L.B. Yancey Elementary; and Jane
Satterwhite, school nurse, E.O. Young Jr. Elementary.
Two requests for leaves of absence also were approved.

Upcoming Board And Committee Meetings Are Scheduled

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Vance County Board of Education will
begin at 7 p.m. on Monday, December 14, 2015, in the Administrative Services Center
on Graham Avenue in Henderson.
Upcoming meeting dates for the boards committees are as follows:
Building and Grounds Friday, November 20
Community and Business Relations To be determined
Curriculum Friday, November 20
Finance To be determined
Personnel Monday, December 7
Policy To be determined