Members of the Carter County Board of Education heard an update on the school system’s work to develop a new literacy initiative.
“We’ve been working over the course of this year to develop a literacy initiative,” Director of Schools Dr. Kevin Ward said.
System supervisors have been working with principals and teachers to evaluate the literacy measures currently in use and see what is working, what is not working and developing an approach that can be implemented consistently system wide, Ward said.
Over the last week, principals and teachers in the school system have been taking part in training sessions to learn new techniques and brainstorm ideas. Last Friday, the Johnson City School System provided three of the system’s reading coaches for a special training session, said Elementary Supervisor Mike Miller.
“It was some of the best training I’ve seen in a long time,” Miller said.
Currently, Miller said, the school system is looking at approaches in use in other systems and seeing how they can be adapted to best fit the specific needs in Carter County.
“Our teachers are eager to learn and they are eager to improve their practices,” Miller said. “We’re making great progress and I feel really good about it.”
Both Miller and Ward expressed their hope that the program would soon be ready to present to the Board of Education in a workshop session.
Ward said the school system has seen a number of initiatives implemented over the years but none has been this crucial.
“This is probably the most important initiative that I personally will ever be involved in,” Ward said, adding when a student’s literacy improves their overall academic performance improves. “If you can’t read you can’t do math and you can’t do science and you can’t do a lot of things.”
The overall goal of the new program will be to insure that every student is reading at or above grade level by the time they complete second grade, Ward said.
As the system looks at ways to improve literacy through the new initiative, Ward said they are also looking at ways to make sure the new program gets off the ground.
“We are looking at the budget for ways to fund this initiative the way it needs to be funded,” Ward said, adding it will reach across multiple budget areas such as supplies and training expenses. “We need to show our principals and teachers that we are going to put our money where our mouth is so to speak. If we are going to try to do a program of this nature we need to get the funding in place.”
In other business, members of the Board voted unanimously to approve a bid for a roof replacement for the Unaka Elementary School cafeteria.
The total cost for the project is $349,800, which includes $332,300 for the project bid and $17,500 in architect fees.
The motion to approve the project was made by Board member Craig Davis, whose district includes Unaka Elementary School. The motion was seconded by Board member David Buck.