Clay County Schools Board of Education met June 29 with an agenda of recognition, reports and action taken by the board approving the Summary of Budget Resolutions and Amendments for the school fiscal year presented by Chief Financial Officer Shelley Hollingsworth. The board also approved the 2026/27 Insurance Summary and a 2026/27 Interim Budget Resolution that Hollingsworth presented during the meeting.
The nine-page insurance summary covered Errors and Omissions and General Liability Trust Fund Coverage with N.C. School Boards Trust; the new carrier for Automobile Liability and Physical Damage listed Employers Mutual Casualty. The summary showed a savings of $5,777 over last year with a new carrier for property insurance, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.
Cyber Liability carrier is Tokio Marine HCC. Workers Compensation Coverage for all employees is paid with Local, Federal, Special Revenue Fund 8 and School Nutrition funds. Hollingsworth said that there was no significant change in coverage for student accident.
Catastrophic athletic accident insurance for middle and high school students changed in the 2022/23 school year when a Memo of Understanding with the State Board of Education and the General Statutes could no longer provide catastrophic insurance to member schools. Beginning with the 2022/23 athletic year (July 1), schools were responsible for providing their own catastrophic insurance coverage for their athletes. The schools current carrier is Mutual of Omaha.
“Overall, with two carrier changes there is about $14,000 in savings for the 2026-2027 school year,” Hollingsworth said.
The Interim Budget Resolution for fiscal year 2026/27 stated, “Be it resolved by the Clay County Board of Education, that interim appropriations be made available for the purpose of paying salaries and the usual and customary expenses of Clay County Schools for the period beginning July 1, 2026, until adoption of the 2026/27 Budget Resolution pursuant to N.C.G.S. 115C-434. Interim appropriations so made and expended shall be charged to the proper appropriations in the Budget Resolution.” The board passed the resolution with a majority vote.
A six-page Summary of Budget Resolution and Amendments provided revenues and expenditures of the State Public School Fund, Local Current Expense Fund, Federal Grants Fund, Capital Outlay Fund, School Food Service Fund and Other Specific Revenue Fund:
• State Public School Fund Revenues, $13,915,491.35; Expenditures, $13,915,491.35
• Local Current Expense Fund Revenues, $2,259,397.57; Expenditures, $2,259,397.57
• Federal Grants Fund Revenues, $1,034,044.12; Expenditures, $1,034,044.12
• Capitol Outlay Fund Revenues, $37,780,446.34; Expenditures, $37,780,446.34
• School Food Service Fund Revenues, $1,286,470.18; Expenditures, $1,286,470.18
• Other Specific Revenue Fund, $3,196,611.17; Expenditures, $3,196,611.17
Superintendent Melissa Godfrey gave recognition to the Clay County Schools Maintenance Director Stephen Lyvers and his team for excellence on a project they performed on their own time, and the work of refinishing the floors in the Rock Gym. Godfrey said they did more than the usual.
Hayesville High School Women's Soccer Coach Mike White recognized Emily Garcia as an outstanding All-Conference player. White said that Garcia was a defensive player and in the spring season had 40 steals, 20 block shots and 20 tackles.
“She was busy,” White said. “She's also a real leader, a real asset to the coaching staff. She worked with new players on the field, who to cover, where to cover, who to look out for. That's what the game is all about.”
Hayesville Middle School Principal Dr. Tiffany Clapsaddle recognized Erin McCoy. McCoy was named Participate Learning-Teacher of the Year.
End of the year data reports were in, and Hayesville Primary School Principal Heather Plemmons reported to the board and public present on student progress in 2025/2026. Plemmons said that the school uses two data pieces, STAR Reading and Math, and mClass, a phonics based reading diagnostic.
STAR data showed students meeting or exceeding benchmark in literacy and an increase from 54 percent to 60 percent during the school year. Sixty-seven percent of students demonstrated typical or high growth from fall to spring. More than two-thirds of students met or exceeded expected growth with 33.2 percent achieving high growth and 34.5 achieving typical growth. In math, 76.1 percent of students demonstrated growth: Kindergarten, 89 percent achieved typical or better growth; First grade, 63.2 percent achieved typical or better growth; Second grade, 74.2 percent achieved typical or better growth.
Comparison's in mClass from Beginning of Year to End of Year for kindergarten showed exceptional progress growing from a composite score of 22 percent to 83 percent. Every kindergarten subskill ended the year with over 70 percent of students scoring on or above benchmark expectations. First grade demonstrated the greatest growth in Oral Reading Fluency with a 42 percent increase from BOY to EOY. Second grade's strongest area of performance was Oral Reading Accuracy with 79 percent of students scoring on or above benchmark.
End of the Year preliminary data was available for Hayesville Elementary School and showed overall achievement up by 6 percent over last year. Hayesville Middle School showed an overall increase in math scores from 60.7 percent to 61.7 percent; overall reading, a slight decrease.
Overall achievement at Hayesville High School was up 4.8 points with an outstanding increase in the graduation rate from 6.2 percent to 93 percent. In all four schools the district overall proficiency increased 1.6 percent.
Included during the board meeting, Career and Technology Education intern Anna Gibson, gave a presentation on her health internship. Gibson aspires to a career in the nursing field.
The new Hayesville Intermediate School which is under construction received approval of change orders presented by Godfrey.
The next regular board meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 27.