Friends,

On August 18th Viddia and I had the pleasure of meeting with members of the Gaston County Board of Education and Board members from surrounding counties. Attending this meeting (pictured below, left to right) were Kathy Heintel, Union County Board of Education Vice Chair; Sarah May, Union County Board of Education At-Large Member; Thelma Byers-Bailey, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education Vice Chair; Laura Blackwell, Cabarrus County Board of Education Vice Chair; Dot Cherry, Gaston County Board of Education Vice Chair; Holly Grimsley, Cabarrus County Board of Education Chair; State Representative Kristen Baker; and Jeff Ramsey, Gaston County Board of Education Chair.

This is the second time we have met to discuss issues facings our schools. We discussed school safety, calendar flexibility, and licensure reciprocity with other states. I want to thank Dot Cherry for inviting Viddia and me to this meeting. I also want to thank Ms. Grimsley for coordinating the meeting and Representative Baker for joining us. I look forward to meeting with them again to continue these important conversations.

On Sunday, August 28th, my interview on In Focus with Loretta Boniti aired on Spectrum News. I was joined by my colleague State Representative Kandie Smith. The focus of the interview was on school safety. I want to thank Loretta and Representative Smith for a fantastic interview. You can watch the interview by clicking here. My interview begins around the three-minute mark in the video.

As always, if you require assistance, please contact my office, and we will help in any way possible. Please also follow my legislative page on Facebook for the latest news.

It is an honor to represent you and Gaston County in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

All My Best,

Local Officials' DOT Informational Meeting



On Wednesday, August 24th, I attended the Local Officials' Informational Meeting hosted by NCDOT. The meeting was held at the Gastonia Conference Center in Gastonia. This meeting was to provide information on the preliminary designs for the I-85 widening project in Gaston County and the intersection improvement project at North Main Street (N.C. 7) and Wilkinson Boulevard (U.S. 29/74) in Belmont.

The meeting consisted of a presentation by NCDOT followed by a question-and-answer period. After the presentation's conclusion, attendees could view printed designs for the project that were placed around the room. I want to thank NCDOT for hosting this informative event. If you are interested in learning more about this project, visit www.publicinput.com/I-85widening. You can view videos, project maps, and the project's funding and timeline on this page. If you are interested in submitting a public comment, you can visit the site linked above. You will see various options to submit a comment near the bottom of the page. The public comment period ends on Friday, September 23rd.

Workforce Development Meeting

On Thursday, August 25th, I attended a meeting between Gaston County officials and NC Department of Commerce officials. Attending the meeting from Gaston County were Chad Brown, Chairman of the Gaston County Board of Commissioners and Workforce Development Chair for Gaston County; Dr. Kim Eagle, County Manager; Alisha Summey, Director of Operations for Gaston County Economic Development; Angela Karchmer, Director of Gaston County HHS Division and Workforce Development Vice Chair for Gaston County; Karen Whichard, Assistant County Manager; Matt Rhoten, Deputy County Manager; and Brian Sciba, Director of Planning and Building Services. Attending the meeting from the Department of Commerce were Chet Mottershead, Assistant Secretary of Workforce Solutions, and Dr. Jenni Harris, Executive Director of Business Services.

The meeting began with a presentation by Assistant Secretary Mottershead and Dr. Harris (you can view the slide show by clicking here). The presentation gave an overview of the work being done at the state level to promote workforce development. After the presentation, we discussed the wonderful job Gaston County has done toward workforce development. I want to thank Chairman Brown for attending and everyone else who came.

House Select Committee Hears Presentations From

Alternative Youth Programs

The House Select Committee on An Education System for North Carolina's Future met on Monday, August 29th. The meeting was held at the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh. After calling the meeting to order, I gave opening remarks to committee members and attendees. During the meeting, committee members heard presentations from four alternative youth education programs in North Carolina.

Our first presentation was from Colonel (Retired) Edward Timmons, State Director of the Tarheel ChalleNGe Academy (click here to view the slide show). During his presentation, Colonel Timmons shared a video on the academy called "Red, White, and Beautiful" (click here to watch). The next presentation was on Edgecombe County Public Schools' (ECPS) HOPE Alternative Program. This presentation was given by Dr. Valerie Bridges, ECPS Superintendent, and Quarry Williams, Coordinator of the HOPE Alternative Program (click here to view the slide show).

Committee members then heard a presentation on Mooresville Graded School District's (MGSD) MIWAYE Program. Speaking on behalf of the program included MGSD Superintendent Dr. Jason Gardner, MGSD Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael Royal, MIWAYE Program Principal Melanie Allen, MIWAYE Program teacher Tim Anselmo, and former program student Jakariah Miller (click here to view the slideshow). The last presentation of the afternoon was from Stokes County Schools' (SCS) Meadowbrook Academy. Speakers during this presentation included SCS Superintendent Dr. Brad Rice, SCS Chief Academic Officer Doug Rose, and Meadowbrook Academy Principal Paul Hall (click here to view the slideshow).

I want to thank the presenters who spoke in front of the committee and gave members such great information. The next meeting of the House Select Committee will be on Monday, September 12th, at 1:00 PM. The meeting will be held at Harding University High School (2001 Alleghany Street, Charlotte, NC 28208). Please check www.ncleg.gov to see the meeting scheduled on the legislative calendar and for more information.

Our Education System: Standards - Part 2

This story is a continuation of the STANDARDS story from my previous newsletter. The State Board of Education (SBE) has categorized the process of revising STANDARDS into three phases: review, revision, and implementation. The process begins with the review phase, which takes approximately 12 months to complete. State law requires SBE to conduct “[a] full review of available and relevant academic content standards that are rigorous, specific, sequenced, clear, focused, and measurable, whenever possible….” An essential part of the review phase is collecting feedback from stakeholders. State law requires SBE “survey a representative sample of parents, teachers, and the public to help determine academic content standard priorities and usefulness of the content standards.” 

These surveys are conducted online and made available to the public on the STANDARDS page on NCDPI’s website (www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/classroom-resources/academic-standards). Surveys are also sent to public school units (PSU) for local teams to complete. In addition to surveys, focus groups and interviews are conducted in which participants read the STANDARDS being reviewed. Participants then answer predetermined questions (you can find example questions on page 13 of the procedure manual linked above). Part of the review process includes NCDPI researching legislative requirements and best practices and reviewing national STANDARDS and STANDARDS of at least five comparable states. A Data Review Committee (DRC), comprised of education leaders and community leaders from across the state’s eight educational regions, analyzes all the data points for trends and themes and ultimately decides whether or not to make a recommendation for revision to the State Board of Education.

If the Data Review Committee recommends a STANDARD be revised, SBE will vote whether or not to approve permission to revise. If permission is granted, the revision phase begins, in which a Standards Writing Team is established and convened to review feedback and incorporate changes as necessary. These teams include classroom teachers, district and charter school curriculum supervisors, higher education faculty members, individuals with previous STANDARDS writing experience, and members of content-area professional organizations. Team members are trained and given guidance to adhere to during the writing process. The team writes three drafts: the first draft is sent to PSU teams for surveys, the second draft incorporates data collection analysis from the DRC, and the third draft is presented to the State Board of Education. All drafts are determined and agreed upon by the entire team before final submission.

If there is an area of our Education System you wish me to cover in a future newsletter, please get in touch with me at [email protected].