News from the Board -- May 8, 2023

The Onslow County Board of Education and Onslow County Board of Commissioners held a joint meeting on Monday, May 8 at the Onslow County Government Complex on Northwest Corridor Boulevard. The purpose of the meeting was for the two boards to discuss student health, emergency shelters, redistricting, the OCS budget, and collaborative staff efforts.  

The meeting’s business opened with Onslow County Health Director Kristen Richmond-Hoover, who shared with the boards concerns about issues surrounding the health of Onslow County youth. Onslow County has the youngest population, on average, in the state, and that means we have a large population of children. Mental health issues and vaping have been identified as some of the leading threats our children are facing.  

Ms. Richmond-Hoover shared that her office would like to see the School Health Advisory Council, or SHAC, re-established to help local health officials keep up with trends in youth health and provide an avenue for intervention. One of her main recommendations for addressing health concerns in our schools was the implementation of the “Catch My Breath” initiative, which would provide educators with curriculum to prevent teens from using vaping products. 

In the discussion regarding emergency shelters, the boards and staff talked about the progress being made to provide more high-quality shelter options for our community. Currently, Coastal Elementary School and Clear View Elementary School are the only shelters in the county that have built-in generators that fully support medically fragile citizens who need electricity at all times. The upcoming school construction project in the northeastern part of the county will provide an additional emergency shelter, and Jacksonville Commons Middle will soon be retrofitted with a built-in generator to provide a centralized option for medically fragile citizens in the event of an emergency.  

Next on the agenda was a discussion on the upcoming redistricting of Dixon High School and Southwest High School for the 2024-2025 school year. This redistricting process will aim to relieve overcrowding at Dixon High and make better use of the capacity available at Southwest High. OCS staff shared that redistricting often takes up to two years in order to give families time to give feedback and adjust to the upcoming changes.  

In budget discussions, both boards talked about the value of the current funding formula between county government and the school district, saying it allows both parties to prepare and budget appropriately.  

OCS staff shared that the school district has been working to build a larger fund balance in the event of a storm or disaster like Hurricane Florence. They said the district is not where they would like to be, but that great strides have been made toward building that fund. Through incremental increases in the capital outlay budget from the county, OCS staff also shared that the district has been able to work toward catching up on deferred maintenance throughout our campuses.  

Finally, the boards talked about collaborative staff efforts and possible partnerships moving forward. Discussion ranged from upcoming security collaborations between the school district and the sheriff’s office to future collaborations in sharing information with the community.