Minutes - October 16, 2019
Classified Staff Advisory Minutes
October 16, 2019
Members of the Classified Staff Advisory Committee met on Wednesday, October 16, 2019. The following members were in attendance: Tina Woody, Troy Elementary; Teresa Sheffield, Green Ridge Elementary; Toni Kellis, East Montgomery High School; Cathy Horne, Mt. Gilead Elementary; Penny Brown, Candor Elementary; Mandy Georgepul, Montgomery County Early College; and Irma Robledo, Central Office. Not present: Beth Hall, Star Elementary; Brenda Livingston, West Montgomery High School; Delores Mauldin, East Middle; Christy Shepherd, Page Street Elementary; Maria Johnson, MLA; and Bobbie Jo Bruton, West Middle.
Welcome/Celebrations
Dr. Ellis welcomed all in attendance. He reviewed the goal of the committee, to share information from the meeting with other classified staff, and to share information with us. Questions will always be taken prior to the meeting, and there will always be a question and answer session during the meeting. This would include those sent in prior to the meeting and any that arise before or during the meeting. Answers will also be honest. He hopes to bring an understanding on issues that may arise. He also thanked everyone for serving on the committee.
Dr. Ellis shared an article on Mrs. Robledo highlighting her family and their commitment to education.
Candor Elementary is very excited to have Mr. Robledo as their principal!
Candor Elementary has stories being read every week they are sharing on Facebook. Troy Elementary is also doing this.
Enrollment Numbers
There was a charter school opened this year. At one time the numbers for that school was in the 70s. When they opened they had 49 students. Currently, we have gotten 6 or 7 students back from that school.
Our numbers are down. One contributing factor is the fact that we graduated a large class from East Montgomery and had a small kindergarten class entering last year. Had it not been for this and losing students to the charter school MCS would have shown growth. This indicates that the marketing that we have been doing over the course of the year is paying off, as well as the things we are doing with the Early College. Our goal is to grow kids, the charter schools’ goal is to grow enrollment. From an article in the MH this year we see that students at Uwharrie Charter had a -14 growth, meaning that students are regressing. We do a great job in pushing our students to grow!
The issue arises that our budget is set based on the count of students on the 10th day. So, when students return after the 10th day the previous school they came from keeps the money. This causes an impact on our budget. We did have to make some cuts. We received some extra money from the state for enhancement to help with those cuts. We also just received a $1.8 million grant to help offset those cuts. Hopefully you will not be able to tell much about these cuts. Most have been teaching positions that we did not fill. We feel good about the budget at this point. We have a good fund balance to also help with any cuts. We always cut positions, not people.
Supplements
In the spring of this past year Dr. Ellis brought a plan to the board to increase teacher supplements. The plan was to increase the supplement by 25% over a two-year period. Thanks to a private donation we were able to increase the supplements by 25% this year.
Classified supplements are $100. The goal is to double that in the spring of next year to $200 for the 2020-21 school year. A recommendation will go to the board in the spring. We want to make sure that whatever we do, that it is sustainable.
Consolidation Update
From the construction side there are some concerns. The CTE building was supposed to open in August. It still is not complete. It is supposed to open now in January. We could let the contractor cut corner in order for the building to open on time, however we are not going to do that! Our goal is to have the best possible facility for our students and taxpayers for the next 50 years. The bigger concern is that the high school is scheduled to be done in March, and with one building being behind 4 months it is of great concern that the high school may also be behind. The school must be opened in August. Time is definitely a concern.
Aside from the schedule it is a beautiful building that will be state of the art. It will definitely be a building that our students and the community will be proud of!
There will be an open house for the CTE building in January. We hope to have the governor at the open house.
Katie Hursey will work on setting up a tour for this group for the next meeting.
Tracy Grit addressed the group to discuss the transition work that has taken place this year. The vision and goal to put the athletic teams together this year has been great. A committee was developed that includes students, parents, teachers and principals. The goal of the committee is to bring the schools together. We have a great partnership with MCC. They have taken over some of our CTE programs and are teaching those courses for our high school students. We have restructured our middle school schedule to include more CTE opportunities. Another thing that has spun out of the committee that has been presented to the BOE for approval is that all students will graduate with having taken at least one community college class. In addition, we have been able to negotiate 2 plus 2 agreements meaning all of the community college classes taken would transfer to the university. We have the possibility for 13 agreements this year. Another goal is to educate the community on all of these curriculum changes. We have been doing this by sharing information through football programs and at other sporting events. We are trying to break down any barrier for our students that would prevent them from going to college.
Ultimately our new high school will promote economic development, and we will continue to educate the community about how beneficial it will be.
Lots of great things are happening in our school system! That is a testament to all of the great staff we have working together to help achieve these goals.
Questions
Do you know what will happen to the old high schools? No. Ultimately it goes back to the county and they will make the decision. They would like someone to have it that is willing to invest a lot of money to update them. The true value of the buildings is in the infrastructures of the buildings. The focus is on economic development. Honestly, those buildings will probably not be there long.
Several comments were made praising the Early College for the great job they are doing in preparing students for postsecondary education.
Will teachers at both schools have a job? Will they have to reapply? Yes, they will have a job. There will be less teaching positions, but it will be done through attrition. No one is going to lose a job. There will be two SROs at the new school plus the one at MCC.
Will there be new positions that are currently at the schools now? It is very possible. The BOE has made it clear that no one will lose their job with the merger!