The Jackson County Board of Education held a work session on Feb. 11 to hear the opinions and questions of students, staff and community members at Jackson Community School.
School Superintendent Dana Ayers brought up the future of the school two months ago, citing decreased enrollment and financial needs. For JCS to remain at its current location, it would require maintenance and money. Ayers estimates that 95 percent of the existing HVAC equipment has maintenance issues. The fire alarm system is outdated as well. In total, JCS would need around $500,000 to replace both of these systems.
“This Board is here to listen tonight and not take any action but listen tonight as they come to a juncture at the end of February where they have to make a decision about moving forward with Jackson Community School,” Ayers said. “And so, these are the three options: to remain in this location in the current format, to relocate Jackson Community School high school students to Smoky Mountain High School or to remain on site with revitalization of strategies for an alternative school model.”
A vote is set for Tuesday’s, Feb. 25 Board meeting.
Open mic
The session then turned to the students and staff present to ask questions and share opinions about these options.
Melissa Hannah, a JCS social students teacher, read aloud a statement written by a 10th grade student at JCS.
“In middle school, I often felt overlooked. I struggled with attendance and even when I did show up, I had a hard time completing my work,” Hannah said. “Before I started at JCS, I had little hope for my future, but JCS provided the resources, structure and support I had been missing for so long, helping me grow in ways I never felt possible.”
Students asked the Board of Education questions about placement in Smoky Mountain High School, if they were moved there.
“One of the things that we have heard and I, as superintendent, think it’s important that wherever you land on that campus, you are still together,” Ayers said. “So hear me say that, that if that’s the decision of this board, you will still be a school, you will still be Jackson Community School. You will have dedicated space for classes that are only open to you. But you will also have the opportunity for classes that are open to the general population.”
If JCS were moved to SMHS, Ayers shared that the school would be given dedicated, separate classrooms and office spaces.
JCS’s low enrollment is a concern of the Board of Education. On Feb. 11, JCS reported only 48 students enrolled.
Lynn Dillard, Board of Education member and former JCS principal, suggested increased student-led advertising to promote JCS and convince more students to enroll.
“With the computer expertise you guys have, you could get together and make one good brochure that you could take to the high school with permission of the principal, et cetera, and really encourage a lot of kids to come here if they knew the side of things,” Dillard said.
One of students’ biggest wishes for JCS is increased CTE and elective programs. Ayers explained that federal funding is allocated for the programs. Ayers explained that federal funding allocated for the programs is divided among JCPS by enrollment sizes.
“We get this pot of money, and so that is a career and technical education funding,” Ayers said. “That pot of money is given to our district, it is not given to one school individually. And then that money is shared., divvied out among schools based on their ADM, that average daily membership. So when numbers decrease, then there’s less funding for those CTE classes to be offered at a school.”
Many JCS teachers and staff members stepped to the podium and told the board members about the things that made JCS special and beneficial for students including additional support, a food pantry and a greater understanding of what these students need to thrive.
“When a child’s basic needs aren’t met, they cannot access learning,” Autumn White said, JCS art teacher. “That work requires more funding, not less; more opportunities, not fewer. At JCS, we are proving that every student has potential. Jackson Community School is doing work no other school can, relocating it would send the wrong message to these students.”
Later session – written by SH editor Dave Russell
Following a recess, the board heard from more students and staff.
“I started off at Smoky Mountain,” Jenna Hitchcock said, a JCS grad. “I was very mentally unwell during 7th and 8th grades, going into high school, to a point that I tried to kill myself three times.”
She lasted three months at Smoky, she said.
“During that time I could not get though lunch without ending up on the floor of the bathroom crying,” she said. “I needed that one-on-one attention that you cannot provide at the high school.”
She would be sent to the Hub, as JCS has been known for years. The thought that scared her, she said.
“The Hub was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Hitchcock said. “I got the one-on-one attention that I needed to grow, I got the counseling I needed to get into a better headspace and I just had a family here. The family that I could ever ask for.”
Hitchcock will soon graduate college, she said, mentioning other students who moved on to continue their education.
“The only reason we could become these people who we are now is because of the opportunities this school gave us,” she said. “If this school is moved to Smoky, that opportunity is going to be snuffed out.”
Danielle Hutchinson, another JCS graduate who went on to Southwestern Community College, and currently holds two degrees and two certificates, she told the board.
“I have so much love for these people, just because this school gave me the time to find that love,” she said. “It singled out me and my education and each one of those teachers I hold so dear in my heart came to me personally and head one-on-one time. If you mush this in with a big high school, a lot of these kids won’t have that.”
Story originally published in The Sylva Herald Feb. 20 edition.
