Johnston County Board
of Education

report from March 10 meeting

Board members present:
Chairman Todd Sutton, Teresa Grant, Ronald Johnson, Terri Sessoms,
Peggy Smith, Mike Wooten, Tracie Zukowski
Absent: None


WELLNESS AUDIT MAY BE FINISHED BY EARLY MAY

Acting on a recommendation from Mike Wooten, chairman of the Finance Committee, the board approved an agreement with Kerry Crutchfield, a Certified Public Accountant based in Clemmons, to perform a wellness audit of the school system's finances and operations. Mr. Wooten said Mr. Crutchfield, former chief financial officer for Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Schools, is "highly regarded" across the state for evaluating how school systems manage key items including the budget process, staffing levels, and personnel evaluations. Furthermore, Mr. Crutchfield says he can complete the audit by early May, perhaps by the end of April, Mr. Wooten said. The audit's cost will be $22,500 --- an amount less than a $30,000 proposal the board received last month from an auditing group known as School Efficiency Consultants.


COULD BOARD BE EXPANDED TO REPRESENT DISTRICTS?
Peggy Smith received support from the rest of the board to pursue future election of school-board members by districts and possibly expanding the board to nine members elected by high-school districts. That would cover the eight high schools presently in service plus a ninth likely to be built in the not-too-distant future, Ms. Smith noted. Board Chairman Todd Sutton asked Ms. Smith along with board members Teresa Grant, Ronald Johnson, and Terri Sessoms to serve as a committee to work on details of the proposal (they are presently serving as members of the ad hoc Legal Services Committee).


 CLAYTON PARENT ASKS TRACIE ZUKOWSKI TO RESIGN
Paul Yates, who identified himself as a parent and school volunteer in the Clayton community, chastised school administrators during the "Public Comment" portion of Tuesday's meeting for not putting to rest accusations of wrongdoing by Clayton High School's principal and football coach last year. "Johnston County Public Schools has failed us in transparency, honesty, and integrity," he declared. Singling out Tracie Zukowski as the school board's liaison with the school, Mr. Yates said she had been "blatantly dishonest" in handling those matters, and he accused her of "racketeering, collusion, and fraud" in dealings involving her employer and the school system. "Be honorable and resign," he concluded as an alarm bell sounded to signal the end of his three-minute allotment to address the board. Neither Ms. Zukowski nor any other board member responded to his charges. 


SCHOOLS' START TIMES MADE UNIFORM COUNTYWIDE

The board approved uniform starting times for Johnston's schools as part of an effort to cut busing costs. High-school bell times will be 7:15 and 2:15 (with the exception of Princeton where students in all grades are on the same bus schedule). Middle-school bell times will be 8:05 and 3:05 and elementary-school times 8:55 and 3:55. Dolores Gill, the school system's chief of staff and communication, told that board that 36 of the county's school principals have endorsed the standard schedule while seven, mostly high-school principals, objected. Speaking for the dissenters at Tuesday's meeting were David Allen of Smithfield-Selma High and Bennett Jones of Clayton High, who said they would prefer high schools starting at 7:30 instead of 7:15. In approving the standardized schedule, board members said they would revisit the idea of starting high schools later, perhaps making such a change for the 2021-22 school year.

Here's a compilation of all the principals' comments about the scheduling>


 NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WILL COST $22.5 MILLION

The board awarded a contract to low-bidder Wimco Corporation of Washington, N.C. to construct a new elementary school on Lynch Road for $22,270,900. The school will provide classrooms for 886 students and relieve overcrowding at River Dell, Corinth-Holders, and Riverwood elementary schools. A supplemental contract for $291,881 for "technology construction" at the new school was awarded to North Carolina Sound of Goldsboro. Located in Wilders Township east of Flowers Plantation, the new school is identified on board documents as "Thanksgiving Elementary School" --- for the nearby rural community known by that name. 


CLEVELAND STADIUM, RIVERWOOD GYM ARE NAMED
The board approved the naming of two athletic facilities: Cleveland High School's football stadium in memory of John Jacobs, a beloved teacher and coach at the school who was a four-sport athlete at Smithfield-Selma High School; and Riverwood Middle School's gymnasium in memory of Phil Lee, who served the school as its principal 2005-2014.

 
POLICY ON BOARD RESPONSIBILITIES SIDETRACKED
The board decided not to adopt a revised "Code of Ethics and Responsibilities for School Board Members" after Ronald Johnson said he would not abide by a proposed new rule requiring all board members to sign a "Board of Education Operating Agreement" that he said "may tie our hands in certain situations" when it comes to discussing school issues with the public. Not yet adopted by the board, the proposed Operating Agreement contains language that appears to discourage public dissent among members and states that the chairman or his "designee" is the board's "spokesperson to the media and community regarding official District business." (Mr. Johnson has stated during previous board sessions that he will continue to speak for himself.) Because the Operating Agreement has not yet been adopted, board members agreed to forego approving the revised Ethics and Responsibilities policy, which included no other changes. Chairman Sutton indicated the board will continue to discuss terms of the proposed Operating Agreement during subsequent sessions.

Here's complete text of proposed Board of Education Operating Agreement>


WHO SHALL PAY FOR BUS-DAMAGED MAILBOXES?
Board member Teresa Grant said she learned recently that teacher assistants who're asked to drive school buses are personally liable for up to $200 in damages to mailboxes struck by their buses. Furthermore, they're required to take unpaid leave to undergo physical exams necessary to qualify as bus drivers, Ms. Grant said. "These are some of our lowest paid folks" who shouldn't be asked to bear such expenses, she declared. Board members agreed, and Chairman Sutton asked Interim Superintendent Ben Williams to look into the situation to "see what we can do." Asking teacher assistants to drive school buses --- which often takes them away from classroom duties --- has been a sore point among board members during recent discussions about a shortage of bus drivers at Johnston's schools.


A FEW STUDENT REASSIGNMENTS APPROVED, DENIED
As part of its "consent agenda" requiring no discussion, the board approved and denied several requests for reassignment of students to schools outside the attendance districts where they reside. This month 17 transfer requests were approved and seven were denied, mostly because of "capped" schools with no room for additional students.

View this month's list of APPROVALS>

View the list of DENIALS>


$795,600 A YEAR FOR DIGITAL TRANSMISSION SERVICES

The board agreed to exercise an option to continue the system's contract with BroadPlex of Morganton for providing "all fiber" Digital Transmission Services to all of Johnston's schools. The cost is $1,450 monthly for most of the school sites --- a total of $795,600 for a year of service to the entire system.


INTERNET-SERVICES CONTRACT RENEWED FOR LESS
The board renewed a contract with Blackboard Inc. of Washington, D.C. for Internet services provided to Johnston's schools, including Blackboard Mass Notification, Web Community Manager, and a Mobile Communications App. The new three-year contract will cost $130,174 annually --- a savings of $25,201 from the current yearly expense of $155,375.


PERSONNEL ACTIONS FOLLOWING CLOSED SESSIONS

On Wednesday, the school system announced personnel actions that were taken as a result of two closed sessions held during Tuesday's board meeting:
• One-year contract extensions for four top-ranking Central Office administrators: Paula Coates, Deputy Superintendent; Dolores Gill, Chief of Operations and Communications; Crystal Roberts, Chief of Equity, Information, and Student Services; Brian Vetrano, Chief of Human Resources and Financial Services.
• Two-year contracts for Central Office administrators Sonya Grice, Benefits Director, and Chad Holloman, Director of Transportation.
• Two-year contract for Jack McAllister, an assistant principal at North Johnston High School.
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