Ryan Henkel - Randolph Record

26 Mar

RCSS board chair addresses school safety in light of Hopewell Elementary School incident

Ryan HenkelNewsboard of education, Education, Gary Cook, Hopewell Elementary School, Randolph County School System, RCSS, Stephen Gainey

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County Schools Board of Education addressed the incident at Hopewell Elementary School at its March meeting. On Feb. 26, a man entered Hopewell Elementary through a broken door during school hours. While the man didn't seem to have any ill intent nor did he harm anybody in the school, it raised concerns among parents and district staff regarding the safety of the district’s schools. “That should have never happened, but it did happen and we have to learn from that, get better and take steps so that it never happens again,” board chair Gary Cook said.…

22 Mar

Asheboro approves multiple rezoning requests for housing, business expansions

Ryan HenkelGovernment, NewsAsheboro City Council, City of Asheboro

ASHEBORO – The Asheboro City Council had a busy agenda at its regular business meeting this month, including a handful of land use hearings. The first hearing the council held was a quasi-judicial hearing for the application of a special use permit for property located at 1730 South Fayetteville St. for the installation of a billboard. The council also held four rezoning requests, including one for approximately 3.7 acres of property located east of Ridgewood Circle for an amended High-Density Residential Conditional Zoning district (RA6-CZ) for a 10-dwelling, townhouse-style, planned residential development. The second rezoning request was for approximately one…

12 Mar

County commissioners approve expansion of Employee Wellness Center staffing

Ryan HenkelGovernment, NewsDarrell Frye, randolph county, Randolph County Commissioners, Sam Varner

ASHEBORO – Randolph County employees have enjoyed the Employee Wellness Center – a wellness program aimed to better support and retain county employees and their families – for just more than a year now and they could see even more of it in the coming years. At its meeting Monday, the Randolph County Board of Commissioners approved a new contract with Atrium Health for the expansion of staffing at the Employee Wellness Center in anticipation of increased demand and expanded wellness initiatives. “We’ve had our clinic open for about 14 months and we’ve had tremendous success,” wellness administrator Sam Varner…

25 Feb

RCSS Board of Education voices displeasure with school calendar law

Ryan HenkelNewsboard of education, Education, Randolph County School System, RCSS, Stephen Gainey

ASHEBORO – Frustrations have been growing around the state in regard to school calendar law and Randolph County is no exception. At its February business meeting, the Randolph County Schools Board of Education was presented with the 2026-27 school calendar and many of the board members voiced their displeasure with the current law. According to state law, traditional public schools are forbidden from starting earlier than the Monday nearest to Aug. 26. What this then means is that districts are typically unable to finish the first semester before winter break meaning students have to come back to take exams after…

19 Feb

Asheboro to soon begin construction on water main expansion project

Ryan HenkelNewsCity of Asheboro, City of Asheboro Council

ASHEBORO – The Asheboro City Council is continuing to move along with a water main expansion project. The council approved a contract amendment to the professional services agreement with HDR Engineering in order to cover construction administration and owner advisor services for the Wolfspeed Water Main Extension Project at a cost of approximately $821,000. The city has agreed to provide treated water to support the Wolfspeed Chatham Advanced Manufacturing site but to do that, a new, 12-mile water main located between Asheboro and Siler City is required. Phase one of the project was recently completed and now the city and…

10 Feb

Commissioners approve incentive package for concrete manufacturer

Ryan HenkelBusiness, Events, Government, Newsbusiness, Franklinville, Randolph County Board of Commissioners

ASHEBORO – Randolph County is aiming to attract a new manufacturing business with the approval of a new economic incentive package. At its Feb. 3 meeting, the Randolph County Board of Commissioners approved an approximately $92,000 economic development incentive package for a concrete manufacturing company to establish a facility in the county. While the name of the company wasn’t revealed, the project is titled Blue Crab. “Their goal is to construct a precast concrete manufacturing facility to serve the southeast region as the company expands their customer base,” said Crystal Gettys, Randolph County EDC’s business recruitment director. “It’s a 100-year-old…

21 Jan

Randolph County’s ACT, SAT scores lower than state average

Ryan HenkelNewsboard of education, Education, Randolph County School System

ASHEBORO – Randolph County saw a bit of a dip in some of its college-ready standardized testing. The Randolph County Schools Board of Education was presented with the prior year standardized testing data at its Jan. 13 meeting. The county has historically trailed the state in terms of average scores. However, the schools are seeing a gradual decline in overall scoring average within the county as well. “In 2024, the average ACT score for Randolph County was 16.6, which was just a slight decline from the prior year average of 16.7,” said Meredith Weipert, Director of Testing and Accountability. “In 2024,…

15 Jan

Asheboro considers implementation of new fees

Ryan HenkelNewsCity of Asheboro, City of Asheboro Council, Trevor Nuttall

ASHEBORO – The City of Asheboro has enjoyed stable growth as of late, but it may have to start addressing concerns brought about by that growth. At the Asheboro City Council’s Jan. 9 meeting, the council was presented with an initial look at the potential implementation of water and sewer system development fees for the city. “Asheboro’s growing,” said Michael Rhoney, Water Resources director. “Growth is great, but with growth comes capacity issues.” The city does not have water and sewer system development fees, but the implementation of them is structured as to not burden existing customers. “These are charges…

09 Jan

Randolph County presented with positive financial reports

Ryan HenkelNewsDarrell Frye, Randolph County Commissioners

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County Board of Commissioners received a positive report on its annual audit during the group's first meeting of the year Monday. “All four of the opinions we rendered are what we call unmodified opinions,” said April Adams, Partner at Cherry Bekaert, the county’s auditing firm. “Those are the best opinions you can get. It’s giving you an indication that your financial statements are free from material misstatement and that’s the highest level of assurance we can give you as an audit firm.” It’s another year of clean audits for the county which has made such accolades…

24 Dec

Uwharrie Ridge focusing in on post-secondary career readiness

Ryan HenkelNewsboard of education, Education, Randolph County School System, Stephen Gainey, Uwharrie-Ridge

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County School System's Board of Education was given an update on a new vision and focus for Uwharrie Ridge at a regular business meeting earlier this month. “One of the challenges we’ve been working through as a leadership team, Uwharrie Ridge is a unique place being that it’s a 6-12 school so it has middle and high school grade levels,” superintendent Stephen Gainey said. “We’ve been continuing to look for ways of what can make Uwharrie Ridge 6-12 standout and continue to attract students to it. It is an application school. You can go if that’s…