The Ashe County Board of Education convened on Monday evening at the annex to discuss a statewide writing assessment program that is being implemented into area schools.

Ashe County Writing Committee members Kim Barnes and Tammy Hutchinson presented board members with the up to date version of the writing plan assessment proposal which will impact grades pre-K through eighth graders.

In a nutshell, the new assessment plan was spearheaded by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction after receiving a recommendation from the Blue Ribbon Committee in January 2008 that changes in the current assessment of writing would benefit students in school systems statewide.

Under direction from the North Carolina Board of Education, each school system is required to develop a local writing assessment plan, Barnes said. Educators began crafting a rough draft of the writing plan in September and it was completed this past December. Barnes stated that although the plan is completed it is still a “living document” and subject to reediting.

Beginning in the 1983-84 school year, students in grades fourth, seventh, and tenth participated in a writing assessment exercise each year, but under the new system, teachers were to intensify their efforts to ensure that each student is a proficient writer upon graduating from high school. Beginning in the seventh grade, students will be required to complete assessments on Microsoft Word Processor, enhancing their computer skills as well.

One major difference between the new assessment and the old one is that the assessments will be graded by local teachers. Under the new assessment, students will be required to participate in four writing exercises a year. Two of the assessments will consist of on-demand prompts while the other two will be comprised of content-area prompts/class room assignments. These prompts will be issued by the discretion of county educators.

Local teachers will also be responsible for entering student’s scores in a Web site that will be maintained by the N.C. Department of Instruction and North Carolina State University. Due to the fact that this year will be the assessment’s pilot year, students will not be held accountable for their scores as this year’s assessment will be a ‘practice run.’

Ashe County School Superintendent Donnie Johnson said he was pleased with the work that was completed by the Ashe County Writing Committee to bring about the new assessment.

“I appreciate the work that has been done locally by teachers to implement the new assessment and it is just our way of moving forward and progressing,” Johnson said.

In other business, board members disclosed comments from an earlier meeting that took place on Monday involving the school board and the Ashe County Board of Commissioners. During the meeting, both boards reviewed the application process in filing for a Part F grant from the Division of N.C. Parks and Recreation. It was also disclosed that the board of commissioners would be filing the grant on behalf of the county.

According to Johnson, the commissioners suggested that Ashe County Schools should also explore other avenues for the leisure activity of swimming for area students.

The indoor facility located at Ashe Memorial Hospital was mentioned during the meeting as an alternative venue for swimming.

Johnson explained that it will cost the board of education $500,000 to bring the middle school’s swimming pool into minimum compliance and will likely cost the board close to $1 million if repairs to the ceiling and insulation are to be made in order for the pool to operate all year around. One stipulation of the proposed plan to bring the pool up to par is that the board of education will be required to perform routine maintenance on the facility for the next 50 years. The Ashe County Board of Commissioners and board of education are scheduled to hold another joint meeting on Jan. 20 to further discuss the future of the pool.

The school board also announced that it will begin to advertise the availability of the superintendent’s position. Johnson announced earlier this fall that he will be leaving the school board effective at the conclusion of the current school year. The deadline for applications and the completion of community/staff surveys is on Friday, Feb. 13 and board members will receive copies of all applications on Feb. 20.