‘Give us a seat at the table’

Robbinsville – For the first time in almost a decade, the Graham County Board of Education will be tasked with appointing a new superintendent.

The district’s faculty wants a say in who gets the nod.

In a speech that received universal praise during Tuesday’s meeting, high school math teacher Crystal White presented the board with information she had gathered from her peers about the topic, as well as the general feeling of how much input faculty gets in major decisions such as this one.

“Our voices need to be heard,” White stated. “Teachers are entrusted with the safety and well-being of our students every day, but we feel as if our opinions do not matter on issues that will affect all of us.

“We have hard-working, dedicated professionals. Give us a seat at the table where decisions are made.”

Angie Knight announced her departure last month, which will become effective July 1. She has served as superintendent for the last nine years.

White developed a concept for a superintendent hiring committee, which would consist of two school board members, one teacher from each school and two other selected staff members within the system.

“It is so imperative that teachers have a voice in this decision,” White said. “The majority of us will still be here long after this decision is made. You trust us with students every day? Trust us to make this decision.”

White said she has spent the last few weeks staff at all three schools in the district (Robbinsville Elementary, Middle and High) to gather the information she presented, whether it be in-person, through texts and emails, or via surveys.

Some of the sampling included the option to weigh in on the much-discussed school resource officer debate: 88 percent of the faculty said they feel safe with keeping SROs under the Graham County Schools umbrella.

“Not one person was happy with how this issue was just dropped in at a meeting without our knowledge,” said White. “Teachers are the first line of defense in keeping students safe. We want to be informed, so we can make good decisions.”

She summarized the positives gathered from the feedback by explaining the many ways the system excels: a hard work ethic, teacher/student interaction, and both academic and athletic successes.

“I feel like I teach in the best system in the state – but as any teacher will tell you, there is always room for improvement,” White added.

“Let’s get our system to a place where parents are saying, ‘I don’t want my kid to miss what’s happening at Graham County Schools.’”

Knight later stressed the importance of the board moving swiftly to begin the hiring process, pointing out that she will be vacating her role in just three months. Following closed session, she announced that a special closed-session meeting would be held Monday, May 6 (one day prior to the next scheduled board meeting), to interview applicants.

SRO talk ends

Later in the meeting, board member Jonathan Allison made a motion to cease discussions regarding whether to give the sheriff’s office jurisdiction over school resource officers.

Graham is only 1-of-4 counties left in the state that does not have its SROs under the oversight of local law enforcement: the others are Cherokee, Mecklenburg and Moore.

Allison presented the motion in an effort to recuse himself from voting in the matter, as he believed a conflict of interest would arise due to his employment at the Graham County Detention Center. That notion was quickly shot down and soon, the board voted 3-0 to end any talks of changing the current setup.

Capital outlays

Financial director Lester Greene presented the projected 2024-25 capital outlay schedule, which shed some light on immediate upgrades penciled in for the district:

* Robbinsville Elementary is due for $120,000 worth of projects. Of note are a new water main, restroom upgrades and floor tiles ($20,000 each), as well as $25,000 appropriated for repairing termite damage and $30,000 for classroom furniture.

* Robbinsville Middle/High will get a $221,000 facelift. The largest portion of that amount will go into remodeling science labs ($100,000). Elsewhere, a new sound system for both the auditorium and gym ($25,000) and a remodeled restroom in the auxiliary gym ($15,000) are in the cards.

* At the district level, Greene is projecting $1 million for the upgrades to Big Oaks Stadium. Bleachers are still on-track for installation in time for baccalaureate and graduation ceremonies in late-May; funds for the overhaul to the stadium will come from the system’s sales tax revenues.