DCS makes administrative changes, hears from parents about CRT
The Davidson County Schools (DCS) Board of Education held their a meeting on Wednesday, June 23 at Davis-Townsend Elementary School. Administrative appointments announced at the meeting included:
Mark Beasley was approved as principal of Northwest Elementary School.
Kelly Hale was approved as principal of Davidson County High School.
Jason Israel was approved as principal of Davidson Early College High School.
Carol Ann Little was approved as principal of Tyro Elementary School.
Chris Adams was approved as assistant principal of East Davidson High School.
Julie Bachman was approved as assistant principal of Davis-Townsend and Southmont Elementary Schools.
Sydney Cecil was approved as assistant principal of South Davidson Middle and High Schools.
Todd Lomax was approved as assistant principal of Hasty Elementary School.
The board also approved a salary supplement to begin July 1, 2021 for classified district employees who work at least 30 hours per week. Like school-based certified personnel supplements, these will be paid in November and in May according to the following schedule:
Employees with 0-10 years of service will receive $60 per month
Employees with 11-20 years of service will receive $80 per month
Employees with 21+ years of service will receive $100 per month
Chief Finance Officer Tyler Beck estimates this will total $602,445 for the 2021-2022 school year.
The following purchases, requests, contract and changes were approved by the board:
Purchase of a two-year contract with lnstructure: Canvas Learning Management Platform at a cost of $82,320.00.
Approval of the MOU with Salisbury-Rowan Community Action Agency, Inc., Head Start/Early Head Start
Approval of Frontline Education Absence and Substitute Management Services for the 2021-2022 fiscal year
Approval to hire Hedrick Creative Building, LLC to install new windows and air conditioning systems in the first and second floors of the front facing portion of YVRCA at a cost of $455,600.
Approval to hire RES Carolinas, Inc. to do repairs and improvements to the drainage at West Davidson High School at a cost of $72,784.15.
Approval to trade existing multi-voice communication headsets for new communication headsets at Oak Grove High School. The trade-in price for the existing communication headsets is $3,500 and the cost of the new headsets is $7,500. The balance of $4,041.30 including shipping will be paid by Oak Grove High School.
Approval for a Request for Proposal for 561 Prometheans at a cost of $1,415,402.97.
Approval for J.T. Russell & Sons to repave and stripe Central Davidson High School and Ledford High School student parking lots at a cost of $332,402.50.
Approval to purchase a dishwasher for Reeds Elementary School Cafeteria from Denver Equipment in the amount of $26,285.41.
Approval to purchase a dishwasher for the Silver Valley Elementary School Cafeteria from Stafford-Smith in the amount of $26,360.84.
Approval to purchase a dishwasher for the Central Davidson High School Cafeteria from Stafford-Smith in the amount of $26,074.62.
Approval to award the produce bid for the 2021-2022 school year to Foster Caviness in the amount of $281,832.24.
Approval to award the beverage bid by line item for the 2021-2022 school year to Gordon Food Service.
Approval of Frontline Education Absence and Substitute Management Services for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. The invoice for 2021-2022 services is $25,453.39 and will come from local funds.
There was also a request by Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Lowell Rogers to change Southmont Elementary School's previously designated "optional workday to required workday" on 8/12/2021 to be changed to 10/15/21.
Multiple parents spoke at the meeting regarding Critical Race Theory. Comments included:
Dawn Hash began with prayer and then expressed that she came to stand against CRT and asked parents to be bold and rise up against CRT.
Heather Myers requested to give her three minutes to Polly Leonard.
Polly Leonard registered several complaints but also noted that she does not want CRT implemented in DCS.
Rachel Cantrall stated she was under the impression that CRT was not allowed in schools but recently heard about this meeting and felt she needed to express her opposition to CRT.
Ryder Cantrall elected not to address the board, indicating Mrs. Cantrall said everything he wanted to say.
During public comments, Debra Randleman expressed concern that her son and his cousin was not able to be transported to a non-licensed day care via school buses. She expressed that the stop at their home is not a safe area for the children to wait for the bus.
At the end of the public address portion, Vice-Chair Kristi Bonnett asked Dr. Lipe if DCS had had any discussion or any plans related to CRT. Dr. Lipe responded that there had been no discussion or plans.
The next DCS Board of Education meeting will be held August 2 at 6:30 PM at the DCS Central Office. Summer Graduation will be held August 5 at 6:00 PM at Central Davidson Middle School.
