board of education - Randolph Record

10 Jun

Board of Education reverses decision, will close Virtual Academy

Ryan HenkelNewsboard of education, Education, Gary Cook, Randolph County School System, Stephen Gainey, The Virtual Academy at Randolph

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County School System will be closing The Virtual Academy at Randolph. The decision comes following a unanimous vote by the Randolph County Schools Board of Education at its June 2 meeting, which reversed a prior vote made just a few weeks earlier. “Last month, it was a 3-3 tie and it stayed as is,” said board chair Gary Cook. “I voted to leave it open. We didn’t have the full board here and we probably should have tabled it until we had a full board for a decision like that. I’ll own that mistake.” Board members…

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.…

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…

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,…

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…

24 Nov

Standout students, employees recognized by RCSS Board of Education

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

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County Board of Education recognized a few standout performers from across the district at its Nov. 18 regular business meeting. Makayla Eibach, a fifth grade teacher at Ramseur Elementary, was selected as the Outstanding Elementary Math Teacher of the Year for the Randolph County School System. “Each year, the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the North Carolina Department of Instruction recognize outstanding math teachers in our schools,” said public information officer Amber Ward. “They recognize and reward those teachers who make mathematics exciting, nurture their students’ enthusiasm in mathematics, motivate students to excel…

03 Jul

RCSS receives two child nutrition grants

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

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County School System's board of education met last Thursday for a wrap-up at the end of the school year and the acceptance of several grants related to child nutrition. The first was The Dairy Alliance Youth Wellness Program Grant from The Dairy Alliance for cafeteria equipment. The grant provides a refrigerated milk merchandiser for Providence Grove High School and a refrigerated milk dispenser for Uwharrie Ridge Six-Twelve in order to “maximize student access and consumption of cold milk.” The total value of the equipment provided by the grant is just under $8,000 The second grant, at…

01 Jun

Randolph County School System expands free lunch program

Ryan HenkelNewsboard of education, Education, free lunch, Randolph County School System

All elementary and middle schools will be able to offer free meals Randolph County Schools Board of Education was presented with the list of schools that will be operating under the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for the 2024-25 school year. “School Nutrition plans to expand the Community Eligibility Provision or CEP program to all middle schools, Uwharrie Ridge 6-12 and Eastern Randolph High School,” Kelly Green, director of school nutrition, said a May meeting. “As you may know, this past school year, we added all elementary schools, Ramseur Elementary has been operating under it since 2015, and Southeastern Randolph Middle.”…

21 Feb

Randolph students to get Election day, March 5, off

Ryan HenkelNewsboard of education, Randolph County School System

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County Schools Board of Education tweaked this year’s school calendar at its Monday, Feb. 12. meeting, adding election day — Tuesday, March 5 — as an additional teacher work day. “Due to the March 2024 primary election being held on March 5, 2024 as well as… several schools… being used as polling sites, the following revision is being recommended for approval,” said executive director of operations Dale Brinkley. ‌“With all of this going on, we just felt like it was an appropriate safety measure with the presidential primaries,” said Superintendent Stephen Gainey. He told the board…

22 Dec

RCSS board incumbent Sink won’t be on ballot

Bob SuttonNews, Politics2024 elections, board of education, Brian Biggs, Dave Craven Jr., Education, Mike Sink, Randolph County School System

Photo: Mike Sink ASHEBORO – There will be at least one new member of the Randolph County School System’s board of education after the 2024 voting with incumbent Mike Sink choosing not to seek re-election. There are four spots on the 2024 ballot for the seven-member board. Board chairman Gary Cook and fellow incumbents Sharon Petty Farlow of Sophia and Tracy Boyles of Denton have filed to keep seats. Farlow is the board’s vice chair. Rana Gantt of Trinity and Todd Cutler of Asheboro are the other candidates to file by last week’s deadline. Sink, who turns 75 in January,…