School Board Picks Calendar, New Vice Chairman, Raises Supplements

By The Smithfield Weekly Sun

The Johnston County Board of Education at Tuesday’s monthly meeting approved staff recommendations on both:

• Shortened fall semester ending before holidays will continue.

Two options for next year’s academic calendar were put before staff, students, and parents for their preferences: Calendar A, which would continue the first semester into January as was done years ago, or Calendar B, which would shorten the fall semester by a couple of weeks so exams could be administered in December.

“Calendar B is favored at every level,” reported Patty Whittington, associate superintendent overseeing school performance. It was “highly recommended,” she said, especially “for reducing student and staff stress during the holidays.”

The board voted 6-1 to approve Calendar B. April Lee dissented, voicing her objection to reducing the number of instructional days in the first semester. The 2026-27 calendar provides for 77 days in the fall semester, 92 in the spring. That’s similar to the current year’s calendar, which has exams scheduled next week.

“Having balanced semesters is near and dear to my heart; having exams before Christmas break is also near and dear to my heart,” said Ms. Lee, a long-time classroom teacher. “Again I’d like to encourage our legislators to give us calendar flexibilities so we can make the best decisions for our students because starting on August 24 is not it.”

That’s the starting date for the 2026-27 school year. The last day is May 26.

In place for more than a decade is a state law that prohibits most school systems in North Carolina from starting the year’s classes any sooner than the Monday closest to August 26. Starting school earlier in August would allow a semester of normal length to be finished before Christmas.

• County supplements will no longer be tied to the state’s salaries.

Stymied by the N.C. General Assembly’s inability this year to adopt a state budget with customary July 1 pay raises for all school teachers, Johnston’s Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt a schedule of fixed dollar amounts for raising teacher supplements rather than using percentages of the state’s pay scale.

Board Chair Lyn Andrews pointed out that Johnston’s teacher supplements are funded by appropriations in the county’s budget and need not be dependent on what the state does regarding base salaries.

Johnston’s teachers this past year got supplements ranging from 11.5% to 14.5% of their base pay, depending on years of service.

A PowerPoint presentation by staff said “roughly 42%” of Johnston’s teachers have not received a pay raise this year because of the state’s budgetary stalemate while Johnston’s new plan for supplements “creates scales with pay increases every single year over a 30-year career.”

The board was told that responses from Johnston’s teachers to the step-based plan have been “overwhelmingly positive.” (Details of the new supplement plan were not provided to the public during Tuesday’s meeting.)

Donovan replaces Tippett as board’s vice chair

The board voted 4-3 to move Kevin Donovan into the seat held by Terry Tippett since he joined the board in 2022. Mr. Donovan got affirmative votes from Kay Carroll, April Lee, Jeff Sullivan, and himself. Favoring Mr. Tippett’s re-election as vice chair: Board Chair Lyn Andrews, Michelle Antoine, and himself.

Ms. Andrews was re-elected without an opposing vote to her post as board chair during Tuesday’s annual organizational session.

Ms. Antoine said she had “concerns with Kevin Donovan given the legal actions and consequences that happened about a year ago under which he took immunity pleas for actions that removed another board member.” She was referring to last January’s trial of Ronald Johnson, who was disqualified to serve on the board after a jury convicted him on felony and misdemeanor charges of extortion, obstruction of justice, and willful failure to discharge his duties as a public official.

The school board’s district seats presently held by Mr. Donovan, Mr. Tippett, and Ms. Antoine are up for election in 2026. All three are finishing up their initial four-year terms and have filed for re-election.

Principal named for the Wilson’s Mills High School

It was announced near the close of Tuesday’s meeting that Chad Jewett, principal of Thanksgiving Elementary School, will begin duties January 1 as principal at the high school that’s currently under construction.

He previously served as assistant principal at West Johnston High and principal at West Smithfield Elementary, McGee’s Crossroads Middle, and River Dell Elementary.

Students are scheduled to begin attending classes at the new Wilson’s Mills school in August 2026. Thanksgiving Elementary, opened in 2021, lies within the attendance district of the new Wilson’s Mills High.