Board of education updated Monday on progress
By Marcia Barnes
Staff Writer
The regular Board of Education meeting came to order with an agenda of announcements, recognition, reports and a budget resolution on Monday. Superintendent Melissa Godfrey also reported that progress on the new Hayesville Intermediate School has been slowed by a continuation of findings underground at the construction site.
Godfrey said that she wanted to share what she often hears, “I don’t see a building going up, so what’s happening?”
“The driveway that goes up from the bus garage to behind the rock gym has been regraded. We have a retention pond here that the engineers have accepted. There was a boiler underneath the auditorium that served the rock gym and also the middle school. We have redone the air conditioning and heat in the rock gym and relocated our boiler temporarily to serve the middle school.
“There was an old septic tank that had to be removed and that will be filled in,” Godfrey said. “We were planning on removing one 10,000 gallon oil tank and found out there were two. We did not know that there was a second one back there. That second one had 8,600 gallons of contaminated fuel that had to be pumped out and removed.”
Godfrey said that she was very thankful that there was no contamination in the soil and that the picture did not do justice to how large the tank was. She said that there has been significant work on water lines and storm drainage, a retaining wall was dug, mud mat poured and rebar set on site. Godfrey completed the report in adding that significant work is going on to relocate power.
Further reports given included recent misinformation posted on social media. Godfrey clearly pointed out that the National Anthem has not been banned and that prayer in school has not been banned. “Students do have the right to pray,” Godfrey said.
As regards to Title 9, the Federal Law applicable to school systems which has long provided protection against discrimination based on sex, Godfrey said that this is an ever changing landscape and currently 26 states have pending law suits.
“We prioritize the well-being of all our students. Safety is always our top priority,” Godfrey said.
Karissa Teague, Hayesville Elementary School Principal presented school performance data for the elementary school. For the 2024/2025 school year, the school maintained a “B” and met growth. Hayesville Elementary School had the highest point across the state for third grade reading and was the highest percentage district in the state for fifth grade reading scores.
Dr. Tiffany Clapsaddle, Hayesville Middle School Principal presented school performance data for the middle school which had the highest performance in the far west region for seventh grade math scores.
Reporting on high school performance data, Stacey Overlin, Hayesville High School Principal said that for the third year in a row a “B” grade has been maintained and growth met. High school students also achieved the second highest score in math three in the far west region.
Overlin presented Drug Testing Policy: 4326 to the board and public present and said that in student athletics, the policy is to educate and prevent.
Overlin said that the fall drug testing is complete, 29 students were tested. “This is a random testing, we don’t do the selection. The vendor is out of Franklin, we’re supervising.”
“This is a 20 percent sampling for schedule II drugs. In this process, we do get a positive from students taking a prescription. We understand,” Overlin said.
Policy: 4326 clearly states the requirements for inter-athletic students and the consequences and the policy was approved by the board.
Angel Owens, Chief Officer of Human Resources and Federal Programs presented a continuation of the Memorandum of Understanding with Young Harris College for student interns. The continuation of the MOU was approved.
An eleven-page budget resolution for the 2024/2025 school year was presented to the board for review by Shelley Hollingsworth, Chief Financial Officer.
• Local Current Expense Fund - Total Budgeted Revenue/Expenses - $1,994,716.
• State Public School Fund - Total Budgeted Revenue/Expenses - $13,060,804.
• Federal Grants Fund - Total Budgeted Revenue/Expenses - $137,530 — approved budgets as of Sept. 23.
• School Food Service Fund - Total Budgeted Revenue/Expenses - $1,236,100
• Capitol Outlay Fund - Total Budgeted Revenue/Expenses - $122,003.
• Education Foundation - Total Budgeted Revenue/Expenses - $409,245.
• Special Revenue Fund - Total Budgeted Revenue/Expenses - $2,869,065.
The 2024/2025 Budget Resolution was approved as presented. Details of expenditures can be viewed at the Clay County Schools website.
The next regular Clay County Board of Education meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28.