ASHEBORO – Stephen Gainey, who has been the superintendent of the Randolph County School System since 2013, had his contract extended by the Board of Education for an additional four years with his term now set to end June 30, 2028.
“Dr. Gainey continues to lead the Randolph County School System with strategic, long-term thinking and thoughtful attention to the needs of our students and staff,” the board said in a released statement. “Over the last year, Dr. Gainey planned for the future in our county. At the same time, Dr. Gainey elevated the parts of the school system that were already working well so that the quality of instruction will continue to improve.
“The Board encourages Dr. Gainey to continue to work diligently to recruit and retain talented staff, including advocating for higher wages, even despite significant challenges for hiring in North Carolina at this time. Dr. Gainey’s exceptional focus on safety has been critical and we hope that all of the community will continue to support the Randolph County School System in keeping our schools secure. The Board is grateful to Dr. Gainey for his hard work and devotion to the Randolph County School System.”
In addition to the extension, the board approved a 2.5% salary increase for Gainey.
The board was also presented with data from the state’s 2023-24 school accountability report.
Each school was given a performance grade based on achievement score as well as academic growth.
In total, Randolph County Schools had one A-rated school, two B-rated schools, 14 C-rated schools, 14 D-rated schools and one F-rated school.
The A-rated school was Randolph Early College High School, which was the only A-rated school last year as well, and the F-rated school was Southeastern Randolph Middle School.
The district also had 14 of its 32 schools meet or exceed expected academic growth, which the standard is “roughly equivalent to a year’s worth of expected growth for a year of instruction,” compared to 18 schools having met or exceeded growth last year.
Of the 15 schools that received D and F grades, all were designated as low-performing – meaning that they didn’t meet expected academic growth either – and 13 of those schools were classified as continually low-performing.
“It’s disappointing when you continue to see the same groups over and over,” board chair Gary Cook said. “It’s a tough job teaching. Public school, we take everybody. We don’t pick and choose and some are just harder to teach than others, so it’s tough.”
As per state statute, low-performing schools must develop a plan for improvement that “specifically addresses the strategies the school will implement to improve both its school performance grade and school growth designation.”
Those plans then must be approved by the board of education at which point it will be made public.
“We will work. We will be better,” Gainey said.
The Randolph County Board of Education will next meet Oct. 21.
