Anson County seeks stakeholder and parental input on the district's Strategic Plan for 2022--2023

Nov. 6—WADESBORO — The Anson County Board of Education met Monday, October 30, to discuss the Anson County School District's strategic plan for 2022-2023.

The District is seeking parental input on the goals they have currently outlined with hopes to begin obtaining successful completion by the end of the school year. A final vote on the plan will take place at next month's board meeting, November 27. Following the school board's final vote on the plan, the plan will then be sent to the State Board of Education for review and additional guidance.

Jennifer Collard, the current Administrator of Elementary Education, came before the board to discuss the upcoming plan, detailing goals identified by district principals and department heads.

"We are very excited about the work and things we accomplished last year. Last year was year one out of a three-year plan," began Collard, adding that as, "We transition into year two of that plan, you will see in the comprehensive report that many tasks have already been completed, and the next steps that are to be completed."

Collard went on to state, "I am coming before you tonight to share our tentative goals, to let stakeholders and everyone know, through social media, our telephone system, and information sent home with the student. We are asking and soliciting information back from our stakeholders and our board members, who will ultimately vote on the plan at our next board meeting. We want everyone's thoughts, everyone's voices to be heard, regarding how to improve Anson County Schools."

The school district's first ambitious goal is "to exit low-performing district status with all schools meeting or exceeding state academic growth level proficiency and growth targets, and will earn an A, B, or C letter grade," informed Collard.

Anson, like many school districts across the nation, are still grappling with the fallout from the pandemic, which saw a nation-wide dip in education scores, proficiency levels, and teacher shortages.

The district hopes to accomplish this first goal through weekly planning meetings and curriculum companies sending out trainers to model lessons to improve Language Arts scores at Anson High School and Anson Early College.

Collard reminded that, "Colleges will begin requiring ACT scores again," acknowledging the district is already working towards increasing ACT scores.

Goal number two for the district, as stated in the plan is, "Anson County Schools will recruit, develop, support, and retain talented professionals."

For a variety of reasons, schools across the nation have been plagued with an ongoing teacher shortage. Anson County is no different, as there has been a 29% vacancy rate over six years on average.

Anson County is looking at several possible avenues to encourage recruitment, with one being to track Anson County School graduates through college to recruit them back to the area.

Another avenue pursued by the district prior to the start of school, was looking past the borders of the United States for qualified educators. This approach saw Anson County receive 19 new teachers from the Philippines. While the nation is facing a shortage of teachers, bringing in foreign educators affords students a qualified teacher and diverse learning experience.

The third goal Anson County Schools is looking to enforce relates to student and faculty safety, stating, "Anson County Schools will provide a safe and orderly environment for students and staff."

Some of the ways Collard says the district hopes to update the school risk management plan is through student peer groups, anonymous reporting, and critical incident kits.

Many schools have seen success through adopting chapters of S.A.V.E (Students Against Violence Everywhere) and Peer Mediation clubs. The latter seeks to allow peer mediators to meet with students involved in a conflict, hearing both sides without bias, and attempting to quell the conflict before violence occurs or an administrator must get involved. SAVE promise clubs are youth-led organizations that encourage young people to take charge of keeping their friends, schools, and communities safe. Both organizations recognize and elevate the unique role that students can play in preventing violence and keeping their school safe, while also standing out on college resumes.

The fourth goal the district has identified relates to social and emotional learning, stating, "Anson County Schools will support students in applying decision-making and conflict resolution skills."

Collard shared that the district will be working with Atrium Health to provide mental telehealth services.

Addressing the ongoing mental health crisis infecting our nation is of paramount importance, with Anson County Schools seeking to provide early aid to students in need.

Conceding that Anson County is one of the highest crime ridden counties in the state, Collard listed students coming from violent homes, witnessing violent actions, and needing to recover from the effects of the pandemic, as some of the main reasons the district would like to provide students with mental health help.

"This will be a living, fluid document, Collard concluded. "We may make adjustments or add steps as other steps are completed."

Prior to Collard's outlining of the School District's Strategic Plan, some concerned parents shared their thoughts on how the district should improve.

Yolanda Mitchell, a concerned speaker, stated, "Illiteracy is not just an inability to read and write it is a barrier to success and a perpetuation of the poverty cycle. In our county there are too many students struggling to read and write. The testing data from our public schools states that our districts math proficiency is 20% versus the statewide average of 42%. The reading proficiency is 31% versus the statewide average of 47%."

Identifying children with learning disabilities and mental health needs are another concern for Mitchell, saying, "Our children are struggling with learning disorders, trauma, and mental health issues. No child in Anson County should be left to deal with these burdens alone. The intersection of illiteracy, learning disorders, trauma, and mental health are devastating and further hinder the educational progress of our students. We must break this cycle by allotting funds to create policies to provide early identification, intervention and proper support."

Kelly Sheppard, a concerned parent, addressed the board regarding the lack of feedback or assistance she has not received from the school board about several concerns she shared with the board over ten weeks prior to the October 30 meeting.

"I sent in a request to the school board to investigate a few points of concern. I have received confirmation of receipt from two school board members. To date, the only correspondence that I received from Central Office was an email on Friday, September 22, stating that it (Sheppard's concerns) had been received. If there is nothing to investigate, someone should be in touch. Could you please communicate and be transparent with me... when can I expect some communication... at what point do you, as school board members, support the concerns of the parent and student?" questioned Sheppard.

Sheppard went on to state, "I am making you aware that the AIG program has only met once this year and that was last week. We need more support rather than a once-a-month meeting. Surrounding counties have separate AIG curriculum for those students and they meet daily. I understand that may not be able to be funded in Anson County, but I certainly feel the district could provide more support for these students... it would help the students and the district."

Sheppard concluded by touching on the school board's recent and ongoing technical difficulties, saying, "You have had technical difficulties for over one month... with all the technology and teachers expected to teach remotely, I would imagine that you could find a way to make the meeting accessible to parents and stakeholders. We have access to stream youth league sporting events; I would imagine that you could find a way to stream this session if it were important to you to do so... if not, please post the minutes from the meeting in a timely manner," she requested.

Emily Hasty addressed the board concerning parent-teacher conferences held just before grades were released, leaving no time for struggling students to raise their grades.

"My question is how can this be possible for a student to improve their grade in just a week after having conferences at the school... I was told this was a district decision. How is that fair to staff, as well as the student, to improve their grades in just a week?" questioned Hasty.

Hasty was informed this was a data management problem as there are too many students in order for grades to be recorded in time.

"I feel that this is a poor explanation. The nine weeks do not end, ironically until today," Hasty said. "I cannot tell you the trials and tribulations I have had to go through to get an understanding of the assignments and the amount of people I have had to contact to get all the confusion worked out so that my child would not have all failing grades on his report card. I would like the school board to look into this matter and give me an explanation as to why grades are cut off so early, prior to the nine weeks end. I would also like parent-teacher conferences to be more enforced for the staff, especially at the middle school. There were several teachers absent due to sports being scheduled on this day. It is very frustrating for working parents to come to the school in the evening only for there to be no one there to speak with them."

Reach Lauren Monica at (704) 994-5471 or lmonica@ansonrecord.com