OCS Board News | March 2025
News from the Board - March 4, 2025
The Onslow County Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting on March 4 at the Eastern North Carolina Regional Skills Center. Agenda items included a Raising the Bar literacy update, a presentation on Parent Academy, and a temporary construction easement at Sand Ridge Elementary School.
After a Good News Spotlight segment with student and staff recognitions and a public comment period with 1 speaker, OCS Executive Director of Elementary Education Dr. Mark Bulris took to the podium, along with his staff, to present a literacy update.
Dr. Bulris and his team presented information about state and local literacy initiatives and the district’s adoption of a core curriculum aligned with the Science of Reading. They also shared that over the past few years, data shows that our kindergartners are coming to us significantly behind state and national averages but go on to outperform state and national numbers in grades 1-3.
As always, the data also shows room for growth, so OCS has identified the following “next steps”: continue to evaluate the effectiveness of core instruction, provide support for teachers and intervention efforts, provide more professional development, spotlight model literacy teachers, gather input and feedback, and begin exploring curriculum options to align with the scheduled implementation of state standards in 2026-27.
Next, Dr. Michael Elder, director of college and career readiness, shared information about upcoming sessions of the OCS Parent Academy. Upcoming opportunities include sessions on applying for college, paying for college, scheduling courses for high school, human trafficking, and more.
In the final item of general business, Dr. Brendan Gartner, OCS chief of operations, asked the Board to approve a temporary construction easement at Sand Ridge Elementary School. In April 2024, the Board voted to donate a 3-acre parcel of land on the grounds of Sand Ridge Elementary to Onslow County for a new fire station. Architecture and engineering work has been completed on the fire station and construction will start soon, so Onslow County has now requested a mall temporary construction easement along the north side of the donated property to allow for ingress and egress at the site. The Board unanimously approved the easement.
In his closing remarks at his first Board meeting as superintendent, Dr. Christopher Barnes shared his plans and visions for Onslow County Schools in the months and years to come.