BY DEBBIE PAGE
The Mooresville Graded School District Board of Education approved teacher supplements and additional stipends for EC and alternative teachers to aid recruitment beginning next school year during the board meeting on Tuesday night.
TEACHER SUPPLEMENT
North Carolina allows school districts to provide salary supplements to teachers and instructional support personnel in their units. Mooresville Graded School District has been allotted $469,639, with a maximum per teacher supplement of $972.
The board would have to add $104,000 to meet the maximum allowed amount for the 445 eligible employees (certified teachers and instructional support staff such as speech therapists, nurses, social workers, instructional facilitators, etc.).
The board voted to pay the one-time salary supplement in the amount of $972 per employee. This payment will be made in June 2024 to those individuals who are actively employed through the end of the school year.
EC AND ALTERNATIVE LEARNING STIPEND
The district staff proposed the creation of a yearly stipend for all EC and Alternative Learning educators as follows:
● $2,000 dollar annual stipend for all alternative learning certified educators;
● $2,000 dollar annual stipend for all EC certified educators; and
● $1,000 dollar additional annual stipend for all EC certified educators serving as a school lead
This proposal is in alignment with the MGSD priority to recruit, grow, and retain talented educators. The decision to target EC and alternative learning educators is due to the increasing complexities of the job as well as the recent vacancy rates in MGSD.
Many surrounding districts already offer additional compensation to EC and alternative learning educators, so this move will help MGSD retain talent as well as recruit.
A blend of EC and local funds will be utilized to support this initiative, with an estimated annual cost of $128,000. The stipend structure will go into effect for the 2024-2025 academic year and will be paid on a monthly basis.
Board member Debbie Marsh noted the competitive market for EC teachers and the difficulty in recruiting and retaining them. She said that the system may have to resort to such stipends in hard-to-fill positions, which will create some inequities.
However, these days the system must do what’s necessary to hire the best staff to give students the best educational opportunities possible, added Marsh.
The board approved the proposal unanimously.
SELMA BURKE BUDGET TRANSFERS
The board approved Selma Burke Middle School line item adjustments within the construction budget to maintain Iredell County project ordinance requirements. The budget transfers included:
● Increasing Professional Services-Architect $60, 598.53
● Reducing Contingency – $973,290.51
● Reducing Financing Costs – $1,611.81
● Increasing General Construction – $$1,500,682.79
● Reducing Furniture & Technology – $ 586,379.00
The total SBMS budget expenditure through March is $47,317,550.51, with a $2,626,709.49 balance remaining in the $49,944,260.00 total budget.
OTHER BUSINESS
The board approved a field trip to Moncks Corner, S.C., to visit the Navy Recreation Area for the MHS NJROTC to the Area Six Sail Academy on June 16-21. Five students will be in attendance with three adult staff members as chaperones. There is a cost of $200 per student to attend this event.
The board also heard the first reading of technical corrections to the “Administering Medicines to Students” (regarding OTC medicines) and “Payroll Procedures” board policies to ensure they are aligned with current protocols and procedures.
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH
Rocky River Elementary School’s Caliah Walters, Lainey Lassiter, Isaac Stevens, Kendall Reid Young, Gianna Guerra, and Antonio McCorkle were nominated as Students of the Month by the school’s administration team, shown here with Superintendent Jason Gardner and board member Rakeem Brawley.
The team said in their nomination that “Caliah, Lainey, Isaac, Kendall, Gianna, and Antonio have shown leadership in our school by participating in our Productions Club. They have helped create videos related to our SHHE School Improvement goal to benefit the entire school through our morning news program.”
“They have created videos highlighting strategies to use when Racers are facing level 3 or 4 problems and given shoutouts to students caught using The Incredible Five Point Scale to self-regulate when facing a problem. Rocky River is lucky to have such talented students in our community.”
The students led the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the meeting as part of the honor.
ARTIST OF THE MONTH
RRES second-grader Riley Medina and teachers Stacie Eisenhofer and Maria Diaz.
Music teacher Kelly Nelson said that “Riley has been a student of ours since kindergarten. During all this time, she has demonstrated a quiet maturity and kindness. She participates enthusiastically in music class, works well with others, and tries her best, no matter what type of activity we are doing. She is such a sweet student, and we will miss her when she moves up to third grade next year!”
ABOVE AND ABOVE THE CALL OF DUTY AWARD
Amy Reznicek, RRES teacher assistant in the Developmental Day Classroom, was nominated by Principal Kaylor Kaemba for the April Above and Beyond the Call of Duty Award.
“If there is a child in need or a challenge on the rise, Amy should be one of the first people you call! At Rocky River, she works nonstop to help meet the needs of her students and provide support to the classroom teacher,” said Keamba. “Amy will quickly step up to lead her classroom if needed and does so with a clear mind and calming presence. Amy makes Rocky River a better place, and we are all lucky to have her on our team!”
INSTRUCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT
The RRES Instructional Spotlight focused on social-emotional learning strategies. The school’s School Improvement Plan goal is to move from 43 percent of kindergarten students scoring in the K-1 range in September for managing emotions to 80 percent in May on the NC Early Learning Inventory.
One strategy is the Incredible 5 Point Scale & Calming Exercises. The scale goes from “no problem” (share your happiness) to small problem (keep going), to medium problem (use a strategy and get back on track), to big problem (adults will help), to huge problem (stay safe).
The students identify where they are on the scale and then use a solution or calming strategy, usually involving breathing or distraction, to calm themselves.
Since kindergarten is a huge transition year with a lot of changes and emotions, RRES Principal Kaylor Kaemba explained that students learning how to regulate their emotions and calm themselves is essential to their future success.
The “pretzel” is another calming technique. Students cross their legs and arms, thumbs down, and then breathe purposely to calm their bodies and emotions. The board participated with students on this exercise.
Tracing their fingers three times and breathing purposefully is another strategy.
The school also got a grant for a sensory room for upper level stress control. Students identify their emotional state and then chose a fun movement activity, work activity, and calming strategy to get themselves back to a calm state.
Students “caught” using the 5 point scale and calming strategies are reported to the RRES news program team, who give the students “shout outs” for their success.
DISTRICT NEWS
MHS Drama students will be performing the musical Oklahoma on April 18 – 20 at 7 p.m. and April 21 at 2 p.m. at the MHS PAC. General admission tickets are $10 online with $1.50 fee or $12 at the door.
THE MGSD Healthfest will be April 17 at Liberty Park from 5 to 7 p.m. Over 25 community partners will be on hand to share health and wellness information with students and their families.
MHS preliminary ACT data shows the composite score at 19.2, above the state average of 18.1 and exceeding the schools School Improvement Plan goal of 19.
Kindergarten registration is still open for next year, with 203 already registered. Registration information can be accessed at https://www.smore.com/bw4yz.
The system is starting a fifth STAR pre-K program next year at RRES.
NEXT MEETING
The next MGSD Board meeting is on May 14 at 6 p.m. at the Mooresville High Performing Arts Center.