Dot Cherry

Questionnaire from The Gaston Business Association

State funding did not keep pace with school system needs this year. Where should the board look first to close that gap?

First, it should be noted that for several years, our student enrollment has been around 30,000 - 31,000 so while many of our schools are full and even over capacity, total district enrollment growth isn't a major factor. For reference, our state per student allotment or ADM is roughly $8,000 per pupil, which accounts for approximately 72% of our operating budget. Those dollars pay our teachers, principals, and other certified staff as well as some classified employees like our bus drivers. These dollars are given to us each year based on prior school year enrollment numbers. Our '26-'27 ADM will be submitted in December. Having said that, we are grateful the Legislature did approve a 3% increase for all state employees. All certified teacher received raises based on their years of employment. GCS, however, is still below our neighboring counties and the state average in teacher supplements. Due to budget cuts and other unforeseen issues, many needed staff positions have been cut or repurposed this school year such as: AP's, Counselors, TAs and nurses.

I do want to commend our GCS team starting with Dr. Houchard, who the board selected as Superintendent in the winter of 2024, the outstanding central office team he assembled, and especially our phenomenal principals and their entire school family, who continue to do amazing work and produce positive outcomes, as highlighted in our recent data, with less staff, resources and supplies. I would be remiss if I didn't mention all of our auxiliary departments and employees who keep our system running smoothly - Academic Services, Support Services, Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Accountability, Technology, Maintenance, Transportation, Nutrition, Student Services and others. Without these amazing people, along with our school staffs, we would not, could not, function!

We continue to work with all our funding sources for more resources while constantly seeking new opportunities which include but not limited to grants, collaborations and partnerships within and beyond Gaston County.

Districtwide reading and math proficiency scores both sit near 50%. What specific changes would you push for to increase these numbers?

First, I'd like to explain proficiency and growth in simple terms and provide current data.

Proficiency - grade level expectations as set by the state

Ex: reading and understanding a passage in a grade level appropriate book

Growth - progress toward those expectations

Ex: content / subject improvement from where you began to how far you have progressed (learned) in a given year

There are three school grade categories- DID NOT MEET MET EXCEEDED

This year, those needles moved upward across the district.

Math scores increased 3.7% in grades 3-8 Math 1 scores increases 10%

Reading scores increased 3.9% in grades 3-8 High School Reading scores increased 5.2%

All these accomplishments were in line with our district wide strategic plan which will continue through 2030.

Dr. Houchard has a phrase I often borrow, "We are a school district, not a district of schools." That's exactly what Strategic Plan 2030 concentrated on this year. Enthusiastically approved by the Board of Ed., Plan 2030 focused on consistent academic goals needed to ensure high-quality teaching and learning throughout the entire district. We now have a year of academic data to show that we are on the right track and the strategies in our plan are working! We are going to stay the course and continue to align all arrows to our strategic plan to achieve the goal of a school district that meets the needs of all our our students. Through the work of our teachers and students, we WILL reach every goal we have in our plan. We can't wait for our stakeholders to see our forward movement this time next year!

The district needed an emergency $10 million from County Commission partway through this year. What would you do differently to keep the board from being in this position again?

I imagine we all have a relatable story that could be shared - different time, scenario and scale but relatable non the less.

"trust but verify"

1. State Low Wealth Funding - due to a formula change, we lost roughly 7+million we had received in prior years and were anticipating again.

2. Accounting irregularities were questioned. We then identified an issue and immediately determined a course of action. We worked closely with the County Commission on a solution and have put strong measures in place to ensure situations like this never happen again.

What is your position on the use of AI in the classroom?

AI isn't going away or at least not until something replaces it! It can and does serve as a great tool and needs to be treated as such. AI is reminiscent of the debate, cheating and plagiarism issues during the era of CLIFF NOTES. We had concerns then, we have concerns now. We currently stress and teach responsible use of Al to our students and model it by example through our teachers and staff. Through our system wide procedures, protocols and/or school board policy, any gross misuse / mismanagement of this tool by students or staff can easily be addressed and corrected.