Board of Education, Commissioners discuss finances for middle school wing
Robbinsville – Beginning Tuesday, Oct. 13, Robbinsville Elementary School will operate under “Plan A.”
The Graham County Board of Education unanimously approved the shift at a special called meeting Sept. 23, held inside the Robbinsville High School Theater.
The decision was propelled by Gov. Roy Cooper’s announcement on Sept. 17 that students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade could come back for the second quarter of the school year under more relaxed guidelines than the current “Plan B,” beginning Monday.
Under “Plan A,” classroom capacities are no longer limited, though social distancing and other safety precautions must still be adhered to.
With the school board’s vote, Graham County students in grades K-5 will be attending four days a week. Remote learning will remain an option for the duration of the 2020-21 school year.
“Our kids have done great with wearing masks,” Knight said. “We’re pleased with what we’re seeing. We would like to see everyone come back.
“The announcement from the governor was a nice surprise.”
Superintendent Angie Knight asked Graham County Health Director Beth Booth to affirm her thoughts.
“I am not concerned with it,” Booth said. “My only question to Angie was about capacity and making sure all the children get screened before going in the building. They (school staff) have been really good at stopping children before they get in the door, and I think that’s where we’ve been able to head things off.
“As your capacity increases, making sure those parents are as good about it (keeping symptomatic children home) as the ones that are coming right now is a big thing.”
Graham County Schools already had preschool students on campus five days a week before the vote. K-3 students were in attendance four days a week, but grades 4-5 were under a “Cohort” plan, meaning students attended two days a week depending on the letter of their last name.
Grades 6-12 will remain on “Plan B.” Remote learning will still take place every Wednesday to allow for additional cleaning inside school facilities.
Six walk-through screeners will soon be installed at each Graham County School – purchased through a grant – to help combat the spread of COVID-19.
Middle school wing
The first half of the meeting was spent as a joint gathering with the Graham County Board of Commissioners, as the two groups went over final details on funding for the new wing at Robbinsville Middle School. The addition will be behind the current building.
Graham County Schools obtained a $4,266,667 grant from the state Department of Public Instruction, with a required match from the county of $1,066,667. The grant was awarded in November 2019.
Schools facilities director Kevin White presented the commissioners with a notebook documenting the steps taken thus far, including soil samples that were obtained in light of past foundational issues with the current joint facility, which opened in January, 1993. The sample report was returned in April and concluded that the new wing could be built, but only if $120,000 in soil improvements are made.
Knight concluded that the project has already reached the bidding point. Commission Chairman Dale Wiggins responded by documenting the board’s concerns with the quick progression.
“We are very supportive of the project,” Wiggins said. “Our goal here is not to interfere or delay, but we will be responsible for a little over $1 million in funds. We want to be informed about the process; the process you go through is so much different than what we go through.
“I think not being aware of the process caused us a little bit of concern, but I appreciate Kevin putting this notebook together. It has a lot of really good information in it.”
County Manager Becky Garland said Graham County’s portion of the funding will come from a loan, but will first have to go through several channels.
Knight began the meeting by expressing her beliefs on why the expansion of the middle school was a top priority, when it came to spending.
“We felt the pressing need was to move the sixth grade to the middle school so that we could work on classroom ratio at the elementary school,” Knight said. “We have an impending class-size reduction mandate – which started this year – to reduce class size in grades K-3. We can only have 17 children in a first-grade classroom. We would be running around 19-20 (first-grade children in a classroom) if we were at full-capacity right now.
“My feeling is if there’s money out there, we need to go for it, for sure – especially when it foots 75 percent of the bill.”
The addition will see the front entrance of Robbinsville Middle shift behind the building, where a loop for parent drop-off will be constructed. Also included will be five classrooms, a connectivity annex, two science labs, a multipurpose room, a new principal’s office, conference room and restrooms.
The existing walking trail will also be relocated to accommodate the expansion. A storage building for the carpentry class will also be moved to make room, and will end up near the baseball field.