Iredell-Statesville Schools officials said they will ask the Board of Education next week to approve applications to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to designate Statesville High, Third Creek Middle, Trauma Middle and West Iredell High as restart schools; NB Mills will remain a restart school because it met growth targets.

The restart designation allows schools identified as low performing by the state to use certain charter-like flexibilities for budgets, staffing, calendars and course offerings, staff said. Jonathan Rybick, who presented the item with Kelly Cooper, said the district must first authorize staff to apply; the DPI must then approve each school's restart plan.

Why it matters: Restart designation is a formal pathway that changes allowable staffing and budget arrangements for schools the state flags as low performing. Board members said restart can give principals more flexibility to deploy resources and hire staff targeted to school needs, but several members and district leaders also pressed a broader point: state accountability formulas and insufficient funding drive persistent low-performance labels.

Board members pressed staff for context and alternatives. Board member Sowell asked whether the county’s low-performing school count was increasing; district staff and Superintendent Dr. James said overall school performance has improved in some places but that the state’s accountability model places schools on a bell curve so a fixed share of schools will be labeled low performing each year. Dr. James said the model places heavy weight on proficiency (about 80%) versus growth (about 20%), which he and other board members said disadvantages high-poverty schools where students start farther behind.

Several board members and staff described a separate, practical constraint: funding. Dr. James, answering questions about turnaround tools, said the district lacks sustained federal ESSER money and is funded well below many peers on a per-student basis; he said Iredell-Statesville receives roughly half the per-pupil funding of some better-resourced districts. Board member Sloan and others argued that known interventions—after-school tutoring, smaller class sizes and certified teachers in core subjects—work but require money. The superintendent and staff repeatedly linked persistent low-performance labels to limited local and state funding.

On staffing, presenters and board members described shortages of content-certified secondary math teachers as a significant barrier to improving high-school math proficiency. The district said it is piloting project-based assessments and providing targeted teacher training and secondary literacy supports (Lexia Aspire) to address gaps, but that certified-content shortages remain a constraint.

What will happen next: The board did not vote on restart designation at this meeting; staff said they will present a formal motion and restart applications for board approval at next week’s meeting. If approved by the board, each school’s restart plan would then be submitted to DPI for review and approval.

Ending: Board members asked for more comparative data on what other districts have done to remove schools from low-performing status and indicated they expect deeper discussion at an upcoming full meeting where staff will bring additional metrics and plans.