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Blue Ridge needs better funding, parents tell school officials
By Emily Elders
Several Blue Ridge parents took advantage of school officials’ recent visit to take them to task for what they perceive is a funding imbalance at the K-12 school.
During Monday’s (Sept. 18) school board meeting, which was held at Blue Ridge, parents presented petitions for BRS improvements they say are needed.
BRS Athletic Booster Club member Myra Bumgarner told board members that more funds are needed for athletic facilities. The playground, outdoor basketball courts, and soccer fields are in need of maintenance and repair, said Bumgarner. Additional needs include lighting for the softball and baseball fields and research into building a practice gym for the school, which has to share athletic practices among both middle and high school teams.
She also requested a large sign naming the school at the entrance to its campus.
“Most of the other schools in the county have new signs, with landscaping around them, at their entrances,” Bumgarner said. “Blue Ridge needs one just as badly as they did.”
Jim Nichols, father of seventh-grader Jordan Nichols and the school’s baseball coach, took the podium to address the need for a deaf-educator at BRS for his son. “Jordan’s speech therapist and translator do a great job, but the county is required to provide an equal education for him, and that means hiring a deaf educator,” said Nichols.
Other issues Nichols raised, both on a typed handout and in his remarks, included the state of the BRS library, school lunches, and maintenance and renovation of several areas of the school.
The library, according to Nichols, holds 9,044 books, approximately 40 percent of which are outdated, and is lacking in technological advances that would make it easier for students to study there. He also cited the gym, the old high school wing and the playground as areas that need additional funding.
In other business Sept. 18:
– Assistant Superintendent Steve Jones told board members of the importance of promoting school bus ridership during the coming week. Next week is the state count of students riding school buses in Jackson County, which determines how much funding the school system will receive for maintenance and repair of its buses, he said.
– Blue Ridge fifth-grade music students presented patriotic selections in honor of the recent commemoration of Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
– At the recommendation of finance officer David Steinbicker, board members voted unanimously to approve an indemnification agreement with the N.C. Community Foundation, a non-profit which handles the school’s $75,000 yearly grant from the N.C. Dept. of Juvenile Justice. The board’s attorney, Paul Holt, was not present at the meeting, but Steinbicker said he had approved the agreement, which states that the foundation is not fiscally responsible for actions the school system takes with the money.
Board members also unanimously approvevd the adjusted pay scales for non-certified employees that Steinbicker presented, and amended the budget to reflect a purchase order for $400,419 to cover the cost of six new school buses. The state funds the purchases, but requires the school systems to carry the accounting on their own books, Steinbicker said.
– At the recommendation of Superintendent Sue Nations, board members unanimously approved policies on citizenship and character education, beverage vending sales and a revision to the board’s random drug screening policy.
The citizenship and character education policy decrees state-mandated recognition of Constitution and Citizenship Day (Sept. 17) and requires lessons in keeping with the curriculum about this holiday and Memorial Day.
The policy also requires that both United States and North Carolina flags be displayed in each classroom when available and that time be set aside for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, though any student may decline participation.
The beverage vending sales policy sets the rules that contracts between vendors and schools must abide by, determining when and where soft drinks may be sold and to whom.
After approval, Nichols raised a question about whether the beverage policy applied to all grades of BRS. Nations clarified that the policies are grade-specific and will be applied to the K-12 school as such.
Revisions to the drug screening policy set the goals of the code, including education, prevention, and assistance, and determined when and how the tests shall be applied. The tests are randomly generated and must cover 25 percent of an athletic team’s members. After testing, the results are disclosed to the principal, athletic director, coaches and parents, with appropriate procedures following.
Nations also presented four field trip petitions, two for Smoky Mountain High School, one for New Century Scholars and one for Scotts Creek, all of which were approved unanimously.
After a closed session, board members approved several personnel actions:
– Retirement of Linda Fish, secretary, Smokey Mountain Elementary.
– Resignations from Susan Clark, media coordinator, SMHS; Lynn Dillard, exceptional children’s program; Stephen Jones, health occupations instructor, SMHS; Kim Sutton, food services, Fairview; and Angie White, teacher, Smokey Moutain Elementary.
– Hiring of Angela Chambers, 21st Century Scholars tutor, SMHS; Lynden Childers and Patricia Gunter, child nutrition assistants, Scotts Creek; Sue Rice and Debbie Whitaker, child nutrition assistants, Blue Ridge and Cullowhee Valley, respectively; James Dehart, interim maintenance electrician; Angie Lovedahl, curriculum coordinator, Central Office; Matelyn Lunsford, after school and summer camp assistant, Fairview; Donna Murphy, Ruth Porter and Daisy Talbert, cafeteria substitutes; Miranda Spangler, third-grade teacher, CVS; Jill Starling, ECP teacher, BRS; and Samantha Waldroup, after school counselor, CVS.
– Substitute-teacher recommendations for Barbara Cabe, Joseph McIntosh, Erin McKinney, Melanie Storie and Lesli Williams.
– Coaching recommendations for Rocky Benfield, assistant soccer, Fairview; Clarence Dean, middle school soccer, BRS; Tracey Pressley, assistant middle school volleyball, BRS; and Marvin Schade, head baseball, SMHS.
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