County schools superintendent sees progress in his first year

By Megan R. Harrell
Star Staff
mharrell@starhq.com

   A lot of the memorable action in the Carter County School System took place in Roan Mountain this year, but there was noteworthy action that took place in the rest of the county schools as well. Superintendent Dallas Williams took office in July of 2001, and hit the ground running.
   Williams has seen an increase in the number of classrooms, additional bathrooms added, and students moving into a brand new school in his first year at the helm. He also watched history be made on the football field, and much needed grant money come to the school system.
   Williams recalls watching the children arrive at the new Cloudland Elementary School for the first time as one of the highlights of the year. "There were smiles everywhere when the students stepped off those buses for the first time," Williams said.
   The new Cloudland Elementary School freed up some classroom space in the county by vacating two modular units. The units were moved to Range and Hampton Elementary to help the schools meet student to teacher ratio guidelines issued by the Education Improvement Act (EIA) last year.
   The school system has been busy adding new classrooms to schools that were cited as needing additional space. To comply with state mandated student to teacher ratios an additional 20 classrooms were added to Carter County schools. Happy Valley Middle School, Hunter Elementary, Central Elementary and Valley Forge Elementary all received additional space.
   Hampton High School, Cloudland High and Unaka High have completed or are in the process of completing new buildings designated for band rooms. Happy Valley High School, the largest school in the county system, will soon have a new auxiliary gymnasium for students during inclement weather.
   The county is also adding bathrooms to some its high schools. An addition was made to the Unaka Elementary School that houses female and male restroom facilities. The bathroom addition cost approximately $162,000 to complete.
   Cloudland High School received an entire new roof this past summer, and four other county schools are expected to receive new roofs soon. The new roof at Cloudland High School cost an estimated $179,000. The roofing projects for Central Elementary, Cloudland Vocational and Cloudland Junior High are up for bids. Williams is pleased to report that all four of Carter County's high schools have attained accreditation. Most of the elementary schools have already attained their accreditation.
   During December of 2001, freshmen in Carter County Schools completed Algebra I and Biology I courses required by the Tennessee Department of Education. Eighty-nine percent passed the Algebra I and 100 percent passed the Biology I Gateway exams.
   The Carter County Head Start administrative offices were relocated during 2001. The offices were moved to First Street in order to accommodate the need for additional office space. The administrative staff is working on several projects to improve the program, including expanded transportation services, to better meet the need of the children and their families.
   Williams learned in February that Carter County schools would receive a $450,000 grant for school renovations. He stated that the grant was made possible by the hard work of Dr. Ellis and Meredith Trott, who showed the county's need for the state grant. "We certainly are excited about the grant, and we are glad to be one of the counties in the area to receive the money because it was a highly competitive grant," Williams said.
   The Vocational Department has also received grant money. County schools' vocational departments have benefited this past year from a Tech Prep Grant and a Fluor Daniel Construction Technology Grant. Two competitive Tech Prep Grants in the amount of $2,000 each were awarded to Hampton and Happy Valley High Schools. The grants were used to purchase a Microsoft Office User Specialist software license for the Information Technology programs at the high schools.
   Rick Ingram's Construction Technology class at Cloudland High School has received a competitive grant from Fluor Daniel Construction, Kingsport. Fluor Daniel has provided a $3,600 CD-Rom based CORE construction curriculum.