School board

tables Title I plan
By Caroline Monday
cmonday@mountaintimes.com

The Watauga County Board of Education met Monday, May 12, for its monthly meeting. The board decided to wait to make a decision on the Title I plan for upcoming school year, but did approve several new measures.

Title I director Janice Hensley presented the 2008-09 application to the board, to approve to be sent to the state department of education, a process required to receive state funding.

Title I is a program serving disadvantaged children to help reach high academic goals. Funding for this program is based on the percentage of students who are eligible for the free lunch program and other economic indicators.

Board member Ron Henries was concerned that Hardin Park was slated to receive less funding per child than other schools in the county. He said the lower amount of funding would not meet the school’s needs.

“I can’t support this funding the way it’s presented,” he said.

Hensley said the funding was based on a formula, which incorporates the number of financially disadvantaged students a school has. She explained that Hardin Park has a lower percentage of such students.

The board voted to table action on the plan, and Hensley will file an extension request for the application to accommodate further discussion.

Ly Marze presented the board with the county manager’s counter proposal to the school system’s proposed budget for the 2008-09 school year. She said the county manager proposed a current expense budget of $11,342,370, an amount $14,623 less than requested.

Marze said this amount was relatively small and those expenses could be absorbed through other funding sources.

The board will meet with the commissioners on May 27 to discuss the budget, but the board members seemed satisfied with the amounts recommended.

Director of physical operations Dennis Ray came before the board requesting a change in plans for the renovations of the Valle Crucis and Bethel cafeterias. After hearing bid estimates on the project, Ray concluded that the funds allotted for these two projects were not adequate.

He asked the board to allow just the Valle Crucis cafeteria to be worked on this year, with Bethel waiting until next summer. He said the estimates for the changes at Valle Crucis came at about $65,000 and those for Bethel came in at roughly $45,000.

The board voted to approve the change in plans.

The board also approved an increase in meal prices. In the coming school year, breakfast will be increased 10 cents and lunch 15 cents.

Associate superintendent Billie Hicklin reported on the progress of the committee working a new class schedule for Watauga High School.

She said the committee has decided to pursue a modified block schedule, but has not yet decided on a specific version of that schedule.

WHS principal Angela Quick said this schedule change would allow the school to meet academic requirements placed on the students, while still being able to offer the extensive arts, technical and career programs it currently has in place.

In a final action, the board voted to join a lawsuit, being led by the Raleigh firm Tharrington Smith.

The N.C. Supreme Court decided in a 2005 trial that public schools are entitled to a variety of administrative fines collected by state agencies, a decision based on the state constitution. These fines include parking fines collected on university campuses.

The parties involved are currently in the process of deciding who will receive how much money, based on the fines collected between 1996 and 2005, when the legislature passed a statute that these fines should go toward a school technology fund.

WCS would join the plaintiff at the request to do so by Tharrington Smith.

The law firm is looking to strengthen its negotiations by including school systems where there are UNC schools or weight stations, weakening the defendant’s argument that the money should only go toward select school systems.