Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Restart Schools topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Iredell-Statesville board approves restart designation for four schools, adds West Iredell High
Summary
The Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to reapply four campuses for the state'administered restart program and to add West Iredell High School, a move administrators said will allow those schools more "charter-like" flexibility to use existing funds and hire tutors despite no additional state restart dollars.
The Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education voted 7-0 on Jan. 13 to approve a district application to continue restart status at three schools and to add West Iredell High School to the restart program.
Board members and district staff said the restart designation does not bring new state money but gives selected schools more flexibility in staffing, calendar and spending priorities. District staff repeatedly framed restart as a tool to let principals and school leadership direct funds and hire tutors and support staff more flexibly.
District staff member Mr. Rybick told the board, “It gives them ... charter-like flexibility. For example ... they have flexibility with staffing. They have flexibility with how they can use their funds.” Ms. Cooper added, “It helps them if they need to hire tutors to come in and work with students.”
Why it matters: Restart status is part of North Carolina's turnaround accountability options for persistently low-performing schools. Board members and staff said the designation is intended to let schools deploy resources differently to close achievement gaps, particularly by expanding tutoring and out-of-school interventions administrators and principals identify as effective.
What the board approved: The board authorized staff to reapply for restart status for Statesville High, Third Creek Middle and Troutman (Trautman) Middle, and to add West Iredell High School as a new restart campus. The board noted that MB Mills remains a restart school and does not need to reapply because it met state targets.
Debate and concerns: The discussion before the vote focused on the limits of restart funding and practical barriers to improvement. Superintendent Jeff James warned that restart does not mean additional state funding: “There is a misconception out there that we get restart money. We do not get more funds for restart, but we can use it differently.” Several board members and speakers stressed tutoring, transportation for after-school supports and teacher recruitment and retention as the most immediate needs. Ms. Cooper and other district staff cited data showing gains where tutoring was used, telling the board they had seen students grow 12 percentage points in some grade-level math measures after deploying tutors.
Board members stressed the scale of the problem and the trade-offs the district faces. Member Mr. Cooper asked why not place all persistently low-performing schools into restart; district staff replied that state formulas and the transitory nature of designations (schools can enter and exit based on yearly growth) affect which schools are targeted and how resources are concentrated. Dr. James and staff described principal turnover, funding limits and statewide accountability formulas as constraints on rapid improvement.
Public comment and community role: Several public commenters raised related concerns about discipline, teacher certification and teacher pay as contributors to low performance. A retired teacher who identified herself as Paula Mibnaw asked whether the public could attend and participate in the Jan. 27 restart meeting and urged the board to consider discipline and teacher training. Other speakers and board members discussed community partnerships and volunteer tutoring as ways to increase support.
Outcome and next steps: The motion to approve the restart applications carried 7-0. Staff said restart schools must submit plans to the district executive team and the state, attend monthly restart meetings with the state, and produce periodic reports for state review. District staff said they will continue to seek community partners, consider transportation and staffing logistics for tutoring programs, and present further planning materials to the board as required.
Ending: Board members said they would return for further discussion about broader support strategies for the district's remaining low-performing campuses and to review restart implementation reports at future meetings.
