School Board Meeting Summary - September 14, 2026

The Watauga County Schools logo. Photo Credits: Watauga County Schools

Roz Rabinowitz, Editor-In-Chief of The Powderhorn and Senior School Board Representative and Brayden Howard, Sports Desk Lead for The Powderhorn and Junior School Board Representative

The monthly school board meeting was this Monday, Sept. 14. These meetings often cover accomplishments of students and staff throughout the County, and the Board passes policies that directly affect the Watauga County school system. During the normal opening session Dr. Childers introduced the new Junior Board Representative Brayden Howard and took a moment of silence to recognize the significance of September in regards to Hurricane Helene and 9/11.  Childers then called the meeting to order and the meeting began with Dr. Leslie Alexander presenting her Superintendent's report.

Dr. Alexander reported on the successful start to the new school year as well as mentioning the upcoming early release on Sept. 29 for professional development. She briefly touched on Arts Education Week prior to the student report.

As Student Representatives of the Board of Education, we are responsible for presenting a student report. For this month’s report we covered Hardin Park's fall festival, the addition of the Flag Football team, the new attendance policy at the high school, Homecoming festivities, AI usage within the county and schools, and the RISE program. While normally we move into the special recognition part of the meeting, this meeting moved directly into Public Comment. 

Ryan Adams was the only person signed up for public comment at this month's meeting. Mr. Adams discussed the poor quality of the high school track that serves over 200 track/cross country athletes along with the turfing of the baseball field. He emphasized the importance of having good facilities and practice spaces for the track and cross country teams that are state champions, and concerns regarding baseball getting a new field when it doesn't serve as many athletes. After Mr. Adams addressed the Board, they moved into a presentation regarding education technology in the classroom by Dr. Brian Bettis. 

Dr. Bettis presented on the use of educational technology to improve learning in the classroom through intentional use. NCDPI has suggested that technology use in K-2 classrooms be mainly teacher led, middle school classrooms have a mix of teacher led and individual use, and high school classrooms have mainly individual student use. Similar ideas are present regarding student screen time. Watauga County Schools is currently on track, with K-2 students having around 30 minutes of screen time, 3-5 students having around an hour of screen time, middle school students having around 90 minutes of screen time, and high school students having around 120 minutes of screen time. Watauga County Schools pays for a variety of educational programs such as iReady, Amplify, Stille, Learning.com, and NCtest. Our county also has protection in place such as NCSCOS and GoGuardian to protect students while they are using school issued technology. After this technology update and report, Dr. Bettis moved into a presentation about early literacy.

He began with discussing the kindergarten report card and a removal of one section to help teachers accurately report their students' growth. He then moved into the county's Literary Invention Plan which was submitted 8/28/26 and should be receiving feedback soon. This plan consists of 7 different sections:

Core Literacy Instruction

Universal Screening

Data Analysis

Intervention Guidance

Progress monitoring

PRC 085 funds

Summer Reading Camp

The next item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda which also housed the Kindergarten Report Card and the Synthetic Turf Field Contract with GeoSurfaces Southeast. Mr. Ashcraft made the motion and Idol seconded it having the Consent Agenda pass quickly. 

After the passing of the Consent Agenda, the County Financial Officer, Mr. Nash, gave a report on the budget and funds of the school system. This budget resolution has 7 different funds (1-6 and 8) to which money is going in the school system. 

Fund 1, State Budget:

This states that our ADM (Average Daily Membership) that is used to determine our state funding for ‘26-’27 is 44,447 students. This number is down from last year's numbers by around 118. This has resulted in WCS losing 6 teacher positions, 1 school health position, and a corresponding decrease in amounts allocated to dollar allotments. Due to the state mandated salary increase for teachers and staff, our state funding is similar or more than what was received last year. Though they allotted more funds, they cover fewer positions because the positions are now more expensive. 

Fund 2, Local Budget:

The funding we receive from the local level (our county commissioners) pays all of our new staff. The amount of funding received allows all new employees to get the same salary increase that all state paid employees did through the state mandated salary increase. A new classified salary scale was implemented with TAs and technology staff being the first group to be transitioned to the new scale. There was also an increase of 7.75% added to local supplements for the’26-’27 year. This is the final increase as part of a 3-year process to raise local supplements by 25%. Even though there are increased costs this year, it is not anticipated that fund balance will be needed to cover these costs. 

Fund 3, Federal Budget:

The funds received this year are very similar to what was received last year.

Fund 4, Capital Budget:

The fund balance was significantly added to in ‘25-’26 due to the receipt of insurance proceeds for the old Valle Crucis School. A portion of this will be used to install a turf flag football and baseball field, in place of the existing baseball field. A portion of the fund balance will be used to fix a slope failure project and the remaining amount will be invested in our central depository’s public money market fund and the interest income is being added to the fund balance. The county's auditors will be at the next meeting to present about our budget. 

Fund 5, School Nutrition Budget:

The school nutrition fund continues to operate at a loss and must use surplus fund balance to pay for supplies and salaries this year. This problem is currently being faced by school systems nationwide as participation and reimbursements simply aren’t enough to cover costs. It is estimated that the Nutrition Fund will be depleted in 2-3 years, and that the local fund will then have to cover it.

Fund 6, Extended Learning Centers (Afterschool)

This fund's budget has seen minimal change from previous years, though it is uncertain if they’ll be able to receive certain Hurricane Helene related grants they received in previous years. These grants helped cover the loss incurred from the summer camp program. However, this fund has the largest balance and can therefore easily absorb some losses.

Fund 8, Special Revenues Budget

These are restricted funds used only for special purposes. For example, we receive Medicaid reimbursement funds in June that we cannot spend before the end of the fiscal year. These funds are then rolled forwards to be used first-thing the next year. Many programs receive reimbursements through this fund, including Gear Up, NC PRe-K, SRO pay, and Medicaid.  This fund also provides certain other revenues that can be used to cushion unanticipated costs in the fiscal year.

After the reports given about the county finances and system funds, the board approached one policy for second read. 

4318: Use of Wireless Communication Devices

This policy passed unanimously. 

The board then moved to Repeal/ Rescind two policies. 

6402: Participation by Historically Underutilized Businesses

9125: Participation by Minority Businesses

These were policies aiming to encourage participation by historically underutilized and minority owned businesses. Both of these policies were broad encouragements, lacking strict quotas or punishments. The North Carolina General Assembly abolished the office for minority owned businesses in July, and as a result, most counties across the state have been effectively forced to abolish their own initiatives, as the framework for these programs was stripped away at the state level. 

These policies were both repealed unanimously.

The board then approached a list of policy changes, and some new policies for first read.

6442: Vendor Lists

9115: Prequalification of Bidders for Construction Products

9120: Bidding for Construction Work

7325 (New Policy): Video and Audio Recordings by Employees

3200: Selection of Instructional and Supplementary Materials

3210: Inspection of and Objections to Instructional and Supplementary Materials

3510: Religious-Based Exemptions from School Programs

5150/7313: Reporting to External Agencies

6330: Operation of School Nutrition Services

6420: Contracts with the Board

Policy 3510 is a new religious accommodation that allows students to receive up to an hour of religious exemption from non-core classes each week. This policy aims to give students with unique religious traditions and concerns space to practice as needed, without school getting in the way.

 Another new policy, 7325, brought forward for first reading was a new rule that officially prohibits teachers and staff from recording others in private meetings without consent. The stated goal of this policy was to prevent a “chilling effect” caused in private meetings when one party chooses to record against the wishes of the other party.

The final major new policy change, 3210 was mandated by the state government in Raleigh, and alters the system for objecting to material in schools. Under the new rules, past parents and community members may also object to materials used in schools, whereas previously only current parents or teachers could object.

Every policy was moved on to second read with a few small alterations to certain wording, and a request for further explanation of policy 7325 by the district attorney. 

After the policy section of the meeting, the Board moved on to Board operations, discussing the possibility of moving Board meetings earlier to allow for Board and community members to get home earlier. The Board had no comments, so they moved towards adjournment ending the first School Board meeting of this school year.