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School officials approve calendar for 2005-06 school year
By Derek Hodges
School board members Monday (Jan. 24) approved a calendar for the 2005-06 school year that puts the first and last days later than in previous years.
The new schedule, approved during a board meeting at Smokey Mountain Elementary School, will bring students back to class Aug. 25.
Summer will begin for students on June 6, unless inclement weather requires them to make up time at the end of the year. If all potential make-up days are filled, schools will dismiss for the summer no later than June 9.
The calendar includes 15 teacher workdays, 13 possible make-up days and six early release days. Additionally, there are 10 holidays and 10 days designated as annual leave days for teachers.
The new calendar, which was partially shaped by legislation passed recently by the N.C. General Assembly, puts exams for the fall semester in January, a situation that some educators wanted to avoid, said Superintendent Sue Nations.
"Unfortunately that was just the way it worked out. There was no way to get around it," Nations said at a previous meeting.
The calendar is the product of the work of several months and many different people, Nations told board members.
The motion to approve the calendar, made by board member Thurza McNair, passed unanimously.
While there was no objection to the calendar, Tina Willard, who has several children in Jackson County schools, said she is troubled that there is no policy requiring attendance from students past the age of 16.
"I stand before you a very concerned parent," Willard said.
Willard said that teachers at Smoky Mountain High School told her 17-year-old daughter that she was no longer required to attend class because of her age.
"She doesn't need to be told, 'You can quit whenever you want to,'" Willard said. "We're setting our kids up for failure.
"I'm holding up my end of the bargain, I'm sending my kids to school," she said.
Willard requested that parents be notified when their children don't show up for class, no matter what the student's age.
Willard said her passion on the issue is increased by the fact that she wants to become an elementary educator in Jackson County.
In other business Jan. 24:
• Five receive certification: Five teachers were recognized for receiving National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification. They are: Sharon Davis, Cullowhee Valley; April Bryson and Renee Stillwell, Fairview; Ella Wright, Smokey Mountain Elementary; and Debra Woods, Smoky Mountain High.
• Day care facility proposed: Fairview Principal Dennis Proffitt presented a proposal to board members for the creation of a day care at the school.
The center would serve primarily county school employees, who would pay $300 per child each month for the service. Proffitt estimated that the center would be able to serve 20-24 children.
Admission into the program would be on a first-come, first-served basis. Any openings not filled by the children of school employees would be opened to the public at a cost of $500 per child per month.
The program would be housed in the building formerly used by the pre-K program at Fairview, which was shut down when Title I funding for the program was discontinued. Leftover furniture from the pre-K would also be used, Proffitt said.
Proffitt estimated the program would generate about $60,000 per year and would require the same amount to cover the costs of operation.
He said he was requesting the board's approval to move forward, as well as an agreement that the county will pay for start-up costs for the program.
Board member Ali Laird-Large said she was concerned about committing county funds when there was no estimate of the program's initial costs.
Proffitt said he would be able to provide board members with a figure at their February board meeting.
Nations said she was concerned about what would happen with Mountain Projects, which currently runs a similar program. Proffitt said he was unsure how the new program would affect Mountain Projects.
The proposal will require board approvl, which will come no earlier than the board's February meeting, before it moves forward. That will allow time to check with Mountain Projects, Nations said.
"They've been a good neighbor to us and I'd like to be a good neighbor to them," she said.
• Cherokee language courses: Terry Clark, principal of SME, said that the school is beginning a pilot program for teaching the Cherokee language.
There is no one official way to teach the language, so the school has been participating in a study of possible instruction methods. They have received a $9,000 grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation to start the program.
• New nurse: In cooperation with the Jackson County Department of Public Health, Dana Ashe has been hired to serve the schools as a nurse. She will work three days each week at SME and two days at Scotts Creek.
• New courses: Steve Jones, director of school improvement, presented a proposal to offer new courses in cosmetology and hotel restaurant management at SMHS in conjunction with Southwestern Community College.
Also, Tinnie Salzano, secondary curriculum coordinator, presented a proposal for two new courses to help high school students who have trouble with reading.
Students are occasionally promoted to high school grade levels because they have spent too much time at lower grades, though some of those students are still unable to comprehend basic reading, Salzano said.
Her proposal for two courses, one called ACCESS and the other called Advanced ACCESS, would teach reading comprehension and analysis abilities.
Because course information will be printed before the next board meeting, action was required on both issues, and both passed unanimously.
• Roofing contract approved: Board members voted to approve a bid for $23,500 from Upstate Roofing and Sheet Metal Inc. of Gaffney, S.C., for replacing the roof at CVS.
The bid includes work to fix leaks, regravel the roof and complete other basic repairs.
• Policy amended: The board's policy on parental involvement was amended. Three minor changes were made to the policy, an effort to bring it up to date with new standards brought about by "No Child Left Behind" legislation, Nations said.
• Field trips approved: Blue Ridge sixth-graders to Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., and the Tennessee Aquarium March 14-16; Blue Ridge and SMHS 10th-12th-grade New Century Scholars to Bluff City, Tenn., for caving, Feb. 8; SMHS 10th-12th-grade New Century Scholars to Bluff City for caving, March 22; CVS eighth graders to the Outer Banks and Raleigh, April 18-22; SMHS varsity cheerleaders to Atlanta for cheerleading competition regionals, Jan. 30; and SMHS 21st Century Scholars to Cades Cove, Tenn., for camping, March 18-20.
• Personnel: New employees, listed by school, include:
CVS – Jennifer Nieder, after school program; Shirley Kool, remediation tutor for reading and math (remainder of year).
Fairview – Linda Carter, reading tutor (part time); Leigh Ayling, art teacher (part time); Beverly Hendrick, remediation tutor; Jennifer Hart, remediation tutor.
SMHS – Stephanie Hennessee, science teacher; Linda Buchanan, guidance secretary.
School of Alternatives – Sarah Ferguson, part-time school social worker (remainder of year); Patricia Davis, teaching assistant (remainder of year).
Retirements and requests for split contract were approved for Phyllis McDowell, assistant manager of food services, SME; and Winston Reed, transportation director, bus garage.
Resignations were accepted from:
Blue Ridge – Barbara Holden, teacher's assistant.
CVS – Elizabeth Smawley, after school program assistant.
Scotts Creek – Pamela Snyder, after school program assistant.
SME – Dwayne Wiggins, boys basketball coach.
School of Alternatives – Jennifer Jenkins, teacher assistant.
SMHS – Valerie Yurkovich, science teacher; Jerri Szlizewski, guidance secretary.
Substitute teachers approved included Amy Mathis, Stephanie Carson, Sara Glotzbach, Joseph Germain, Cassie Proffitt, Michael Marsh, Amber Elder, Jesse Norman and Carabeth Overcash. Sandy Frizzell was approved as a cafeteria substitute.
Approved as non-staff coaches were:
Fairview – Tim Burleson and Terry Dills, assistant baseball coaches; Jennifer Morgan, head softball coach; Drew Lancaster, baseball (volunteer).
Blue Ridge – Harvey Baumgarner, varsity boys basketball (volunteer).
CVS – Allison McAdam, softball.
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