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School leaders OK building plan
By Derek Hodges
County school leaders have updated their five-year building plan, and it calls for work at three of the seven schools.
The plan – which was presented to school board members Jan. 23 by Assistant Superintendent Steve Jones – is based on a facility needs assessment completed by school officials and mandated by the N.C. State Board of Education. It calls for renovations and/or additions at Cullowhee Valley, Fairview and Smoky Mountain High schools.
Jones said the survey sent by the State Board is not an adequate representation of the facilities that may actually be constructed because it is too generic. He said it can be helpful as a guideline, however.
“It does not consider your actual circumstances. For instances, they don’t consider topography or your actual buildable area. You can’t match it to reality,” Jones said after the meeting.
According to the document, the work needed and estimated cost includes:
Cullowhee Valley – Updating and renovation of air conditioning system to serve several classrooms. Estimated cost is $28,500.
Fairview – Addition of 10 class rooms for kindergarten through third grade and furnishing of the new facility. Estimated cost is $2.3 million.
SMHS – Additions include new facilities for the arts and physical education. Those new spaces include a gymnasium and auditorium, which school officials have been planning for several years. Renovations include updating and expanding the air conditioning system. Estimated cost is $171,000 for renovations and $4.58 million for additions, for a total of $5.14 million.
The new plan was approved unanimously.
In other recent business:
Unscheduled session
School officials have decided to hold class on Monday, Feb. 27, which was scheduled to be a teacher workday. The session is being held as a make-up for a day missed due to inclement weather.
Fire inspection
Jones told board members the annual fire safety inspection of the schools was completed recently. The facilities have been improved in 11 of the 12 ways the fire inspector recommended during last year’s inspection, Jones said.
“It was a very good report,” Jones said. “The inspector was very impressed.”
Proposed field trip
Several educators presented a plan to take members of the Smokey Mountain Elementary Student Council, Beta Club and New Century Scholars program on a field trip to Washington, D.C.
The trip will provide the students, more than 30 of whom expressed interest, a chance to explore the nation’s capital in an educational setting, said SMES Principal Terry Clark.
The teachers contacted a local tour company and were given an itinerary and an estimated cost of $360 per student for the three day trip. That cost covers all but two meals, transportation, hotel stay and professional tour guides.
School board Chairman Ken Henke said the students and their parents should be warned that, if the security level in the capital is compromised at the time of the trip, the visit would be cancelled.
The proposal will be brought to the board as a formal field trip request in the coming months, Clark said.
Field trips
Board members approved several field trips. They include: Blue Ridge School and SMHS New Century Scholars to Bluff City, Tenn., for caving on Jan. 24; Fairview eighth-graders to Raleigh, Asheboro and the Outer Banks May 8-12; and SMHS 21st Century Scholars to Orlando, Fla., for a YES education program April 7-11.
Personnel
School officials have made several personnel decisions recently.
Resignations were accepted from Kristy Whitaker, ECP teacher’s assistant, and Blair McKee, middle-grades math teacher, both at SMES.
Frances Brown, Christy Pruett, Tim Blekicki, Rochelle Mau and Rebecca Vickers were approved as substitute teachers.
Tony Sellers was hired for maintenance at the Central Office. Other new employees, listed by school, include:
Blue Ridge – Maureen Hydaker, part-time social worker.
CVS – Stephanie Bryson, part-time SOS site worker.
Scotts Creek – Tammy Lowe, interim Title I teacher.
Fairview – Joseph McIntosh, after-school worker; and Doris Ray, maternity leave fill-in for Eleanor McCauley’s classes.
SMES – Michele Galloway, teacher’s assistant.
SMHS – April Riser, English teacher; and Rochelle Mau, math teacher.
School of Alternatives – Bill Wallace, part-time teacher for substance abuse/recovery class; and Susan Reynaud, part-time Spanish and remediation tutor.
Approved as non-staff coaches at Blue Ridge were Justin Kaylor, head middle-grades baseball, and Michael Sistare, assistant middle-grades baseball.
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