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The Stanly County Board of Education approved at its August meeting a consolidated federal programs plan to submit to the state’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) which had three stated goals.

Chief Academic Officer for Stanly County Schools Lynn Plummer presented the plan to the school board at this meeting.

Nancy Hatley, the federal programs director for SCS, works through the year, according to Plummer, to get feedback from the schools in order to determine school needs.

The plan’s three goals are to get 100% of the county’s Title 1 schools to meet or exceed growth goals in English/Language Arts, or get an overall B grade.

Second, the goal is to do the same in Title 1 schools in math on the state’s Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) model.

Title 1 schools in the SCS system include Albemarle High School, Albemarle Middle School, Oakboro Choice STEM and all the elementary schools.

The third goal in the plan is to retain greater than 85% of all beginning teachers each school year. Plummer said the goal last year was 80% and SCS surpassed the mark, so this year’s goal was increased.

SCS’s plan is in four parts, including Titles 1 through 4. Funds from Title 1 go to those specific schools, while Titles 2 through 4 are distributed system-wide.

In Title I, Part A, SCS is asking for $2.5 million planning allotment, including a carryover of $1.1 million, with funding to employ or contract additional staff “to support student learning, purchase instructional resources and provide additional professional development for teachers in Title I schools.”

The funds will also go to support parental and family engagement for four such events throughout the year.

Title II, Part A will be for $396,435 planning allotment, plus $429,293.99 in carryover funds. These funds will include stipends for mentors to work with beginning teachers and administrative staff, support for beginning teachers and professional development.

The AVID program (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is also funded in Title 2. AVID is a program to help students in grades 4-12 prepare for college through developing critical thinking, teamwork, organization, reading and writing. There are five AVID programs in SCS: Albemarle and North Stanly high schools and North, South and West middle schools.

In Title 3, SCS will ask for $45,168, plus a carryover of $45,500.30, for English Language Acquisition for supplies and resources for students who are English learners. An English learner is a student who has a first language other than English.

The Title 4 Part A funds SCS will request are a $187,169 planning allotment, with a carryover of $224,835.94, for student support and academic enrichment. The funds will support programs like Endy’s dual language immersion, a partnership with the Stanly County Family YMCA to teach swimming to second-grade students, support of the fine arts programs and personal development to increase digital literacy.