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At its Oct. 1 meeting, the Stanly County Board of Education honored several school personnel in addition to receiving a report on a number of facility repairs, replacements and needs.
Monthly recognition of “Stanly Stars,” two certified and two classified employees who have demonstrated exceptional service, included:
● Gregory Delaney, 7th grade science teacher at Albemarle Middle School;
● Allison Vaness, 3rd grade teacher at Norwood Elementary School;
● Janie Shue, Teacher Assistant at Albemarle Middle School; and
● Tonya Edwards, Teacher Assistant at Norwood Elementary School.
Two Stanly County School administrators were also recognized for notable achievements:
● Beverly Pennington, Albemarle High School Principal, was recognized for receiving the Charlie Adams Distinguished Service Award by the NC High School Athletic Association. This award is presented annually to one individual in each region with over 10 years of experience in education and athletics, recognizing those who regularly go “above and beyond” the call of duty.
● Stanly Early College Principal Kelly Simmons was also honored for having successfully defended her doctoral dissertation.
The entire Stanly County Board of Education was honored by the North Carolina School Boards Association with the Gold Bell Award. According to the NCSBA website, the Gold Bell Award recognizes the depth and quality of education programs and governance decisions that support school programs. It also recognizes the work and dedication of governing boards and district staff in creating innovative programs that improve student achievement and well-being.
Superintendent Dr. Jarrod Dennis presented testing data for the 2023-24 school year.
“(The data) shows quite an increase in the number of schools who met or exceeded growth, and quite a significant decrease in the number of schools that are low performing,” he said.
Data indicated that low performing schools, of which half of Stanly County schools were categorized in 2022-23, decreased to only 25% in 2023-24. Conversely, Norwood and Aquadale Elementary Schools showed significant improvement over the past year, increasing their scores 13% and 15%, respectively.
Another positive noted by Dennis was school growth status.
“In 22-23, a little over half of our schools did not meet growth, but now (23-24) only 22.7% did not meet growth,” he added.
Dennis also noted improvements in the four-year graduation rate, with three schools (Stanly Early College, Stanly STEM, and South Stanly High School) reaching a 95% level.
SCS Maintenance Director Keith Benton presented an update on roofing conditions at 11 of the county school buildings, in addition to reporting that a contract for a chiller replacement at Richfield Elementary School has been awarded to Garmon Mechanical and will be completed by December at a cost of $69,295. In addition, he reported that replacement of visitor side bleachers at the West Stanly High stadium will be performed by Stokes Construction, at a cost of $382,985.
The next meeting of the Stanly County Board of Education will take place at 6:15 p.m. Nov. 5 at Stanly Commons.

Toby Thorpe is a freelance writer for The Stanly News & Press.