Frustration and incredulity were some of the emotions expressed about the lack of action by the county on multiple capital needs projects during the Macon County Board of Education meeting on Jan. 22.
“Frankly, I’m getting a little frustrated, it seems we get roadblocks thrown in our way and…and I’m starting to lose my patience a little bit,” School Board Chair Jim Breedlove said during one of the capital project updates.
The first update was about the Nantahala School wastewater project. Macon County Schools Auxiliary Services Director Todd Gibbs said he met with the county commissioners, and they want to explore an underground septic system on adjacent land. Gibbs said the county signed an agreement with Mountain Soils Inc. earlier that day to test the viability of that parcel.
Breedlove stressed this is an urgent need as the current Nantahala School wastewater system is beyond its life expectancy. Breedlove said the inaction shortchanges the Nantahala students and asked Gibbs to let the commissioners know this needs to get done as soon as possible.
The second update concerned the Macon Middle School track project. Gibbs said they recently had a Zoom meeting with Emily Kite of LS3P, the firm the commissioners approved as design consultants.
Gibbs said they talked about avoiding having the Macon Middle and Franklin High tracks under construction concurrently. Overall, LS3P presented three options: LS3P running the entire project, LS3P supervising the project, or the county running the entire project.
Board member Diedre Breeden asked about having something by the county commissioners’ budget kickoff meeting. Gibbs said they likely won’t have a total cost by that date due to lack of time. (The commissioners are scheduled to have a special called meeting on Feb. 8.)
Board Member Stephanie Laseter said the commissioners’ Jan. 9 discussion veered from what they had tasked the school board to do. The commissioners expressed interest in redoing the request for qualifications to be a design-build instead of design only after hearing the recommendation of a representative of one of the companies not selected.
“What I learned was, let’s go to them with the exact language of the motion that was requested for us and present it back,” Laseter said. “That’s not what we were asked to provide them…if it’s something different, at least it was what we were asked to do.”
“What I thought was simple, turned out to not be simple,” Laseter said.
Board Attorney John Henning said going forward, the best way is to have a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the school board and commissioners. Henning then said he was “flabbergasted” they were back at design-build after a previous request for qualifications wasn’t acted on.
Gibbs noted the school board made three requests for qualifications/proposals in the last year for this project.
The final capital project update was on the East Franklin Elementary School gym floor, which bubbled up in late 2023 due to moisture. Gibbs said the project was to be completed this week.
Other business
• Regarding the third-party fundraising policy, Wilkes wanted to make sure the policy explains fundraising requests should be filed as quickly as possible, noting the deadline is six days before a monthly meeting to be on the agenda. The purpose of looking at third-party fundraising policies was to make sure students aren’t financially taken advantage of by third-party vendors offering fundraisers to student organizations or clubs. No vote was taken on the policy.
• Career and Technical Education Director Colleen Strickland and Franklin High School CTE Teacher Josh Brooks said 51 high school students had signed up for Esports in Macon County. Out of these, all but six were from Franklin High, with the remainder from Highlands School. Strickland said they have partnered with UNC Asheville, who invited FHS to use its Esports facilities to determine each player’s skill level. Brooks said the sport will be NCHSAA sanctioned when 51% of schools approve it and that at last check, it was 48% and climbing.
• The board heard from Danielle Hernandez and Dorian Palmer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC. The program has been in Highlands since 2003 and plans expansion to the Franklin area. The program pairs adults and high school students with young kids in a mentoring role.
• The board heard two public comments. The first from Sandy Van Horn was on the lack of notice on bus route cancelations. Van Horn asked for a committee to look at bus route cancelations and its notification system, then requested the Franklin High attendance policy be amended so absences caused by route cancelations don’t count against the student.
The second public comment, from Angela Moore, who said the WNC Driver’s School for driver’s education is threatening students with being put at the back of the line if their parents call in wondering about the delays. Moore said when she called, she got “a lot of aggression,” and was told that private lessons are only available in Buncombe County. Moore asked the board to follow up with the WNC Driving School to stop threatening students and to get clarifications on whether their private lesson business interferes with its public lesson offerings.
• The board unanimously approved a 2023-24 fiscal year audit contract, a mileage rate increase from 65.5 to 67 cents per mile as set by the IRS, and distribution of an additional allotment for bus driver pay as soon as possible.
• The reading of the emergency use of Naloxone policy passed. This will allow principals to designate certain personnel to receive training on how to administer Naloxone devices in case of opioid overdoses.
• During the liaison report, Breeden said the Highlands School Construction Manager At Risk request for proposal has gotten four responses so far. Evaluations started last week. Wilkes then said the soil sampling of the Highlands soccer field should be wrapping up soon, which will help the board choose what type of drainage system and whether it be grass or turf in the future.