The plan to transform Knox Middle into a magnet school could move forward as early as the 2016-2017 school year, the school’s co-principals said Monday.

At the Board of Education’s work session in its Long Street board room, principals Dr. Michael Waiksnis and Dr. Latoya Dixon laid out a three-year plan for turning Knox into an E-STEAM magnet school.

Overall, the proposal would involve integrated curriculum focusing on the environment and the arts in addition to traditional STEM courses, as well as offering classes for high school credit, internships with community partners, a year-round calendar and adding an extra hour to the school day to help pull struggling students up to grade level.

“It’s not a small change, but I don’t know anyone that thinks we need small changes at Knox,” Waiksnis said.

Part of that plan, adding courses for high school credit, could begin as early as August.

“We have all the staffing in place to start this program next year,” he said.

Several teachers at Knox are certified to teach high school courses, and Waiksnis reported that many are eager for the opportunity. According to the state, middle schools are allowed to offer five courses for high school credit. Waiksnis and Dixon don’t foresee that adding classes would require any extra funding.

“So at this point, we’re asking for permission,” Waiksnis said.

The rest of the plan hinges on the awarding of a School Improvement Grant, which the principals have applied for. That’s why they want to stretch Knox’s transformation over three years.

“What we don’t want to do is promise something to the public and then not be able to do it because our grant doesn’t go through,” Waiksnis said.

The co-principals expect to hear back on their application in mid-Spring. Should they be awarded the five-year grant, they hope to add the E-STEAM program and extend the school day in the 2017-2018 school year. An extra hour would allow an additional 30 minutes of reading and math for students performing below grade level, and extra opportunities for students performing at or above grade level. Internships and co-op learning opportunities would be added the following year.

The school could also go to a year-round academic calendar in 2017, but the co-principals said they wouldn’t implement that if the public was against it.

Currently, the principals reported, Knox has 590 students, with a total capacity of 650 students. With the magnet school transformation, all students within Knox’s attendance area would be guaranteed a seat, while students from other attendance areas could apply for enrollment. Anyone admitted to Knox from outside the attendance area, or wishing to opt out of the magnet school, would have to provide their own transportation.

Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody called the awarding of the School Improvement Grant the “elephant in the room.”

“Everything rises and falls on this grant,” school board member Dean Hunter said.

He asked what would happen in the sixth year, when the grant ran out. Extending the school day and moving to a year-round schedule will cost approximately an extra $500,000 a year.

Moody said that if, in five years, the co-principals could take Knox from a school with an F rating to a school with an A rating, Rowan County commissioners might be persuaded to fill in the funding gap.

Hunter also wanted to know what would happen if the model worked and other schools wanted to model Knox’s program, where the system would get the funding for that.

“Now we’ve opened this can of worms so to speak,” he said.

Board member Chuck Hughes was in favor of the program and said he didn’t see any harm in starting it. If things go downhill, or the program wasn’t successful, they could always stop it.

Waiksnis said he and Dixon were just waiting on the board’s approval to move forward. The board agreed to vote on whether to approve the Knox timeline at their Feb. 22 board meeting.

In other business the board:

• Discussed increasing principal supplements in order to attract and retain more experienced principals. Currently, principals in Rowan County earn between $60,980 and $82,252, including supplements. That’s lower than other districts in the region. The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics ranks North Carolina as 50 out of 51 state districts, including District of Columbia Schools. The board debated whether monetary compensation would be needed, or whether they should focus on district improvement to attract new principals.
• Looked at a proposal to build an extension to bathrooms on the baseball field at Rockwell Elementary. The extension would be paid for by Rowan Diamond Sports. Assistant Superintendent Anthony Vann said that he was just informing the board of a potential permanent change to a structure on school property. Hughes asked if the school was sure it wanted to make an addition to a building that might not be there in five years.

“The school’s aware that we’re looking at consolidation, but they’re still wanting to move forward,” Vann said.

• Agreed to allocate $2,850 for a title exam on a property swap located on Heilig Road, should the owner agree to split the cost.