OCS Board News | May 2025
News from the Board - May 6, 2025
The Onslow County Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting on May 6 at the Eastern North Carolina Regional Skills Center. Agenda items included the approval of the FY2025-2026 Local Current Expense and Capital Outlay Budgets and presentations on the 2025-2028 AIG Gifted Strategic Plan and Parent Academy.
Immediately preceding the regular meeting was a public hearing regarding the FY2025-2026 Capital Outlay and Local Current Expense budget proposals. No one spoke at the public hearing.
After a Good News Spotlight segment, which highlighted the achievements of our students and staff, and a public comment period, during which no one spoke, OCS Chief Financial Officer Jeff Hollamon took to the podium to ask for approval of the FY2025-2026 budget proposals.
The local current expense budget provides funding for salaries, insurance, academic programming, technology, cultural arts, utilities, exceptional children and more. The total proposed budget for 2025-2026 equals $107 million. The capital outlay budget covers the district’s expenses related to maintenance, transportation, paving, roofing, furniture, safety and security, etc. It totals $6,304,577.
The Board unanimously approved the budget as presented.
Next, Dr. Michael Elder, Director of College and Career Readiness, took to the podium to talk about the AIG Gifted Program and its 2025-2028 strategic plan.
AIG stands for Academically or Intellectually Gifted, and the OCS AIG program aims to provide support and differentiation for students identified as “gifted.” The plan for the gifted program is developed through district gifted specialist input, school counselors, leadership feedback, and parental feedback.
The proposed themes for the 2025-2028 AIG Gifted Plan include: alignment, intentionality, and growth. Dr. Elder said that through the development and implementation of the plan, the gifted staff hope to accurately identify students in need of differentiation and provide instructional services to meet their unique needs. The team plans to do this by emphasizing identification, programming, curriculum and instruction, personnel and professional development, partnerships, and program accountability.
The Board unanimously voted to approve the 2025-2028 AIG Plan.
Dr. Elder finished his presentation with information on the remaining Parent Academy sessions for the school year. Upcoming sessions include the Spring College Fair on May 15 and an online session about competitive scholarships on May 19.
The meeting closed with a closed session of the Board pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes 143-318.11(a)(1), (a)(3), and (a)(6), and (c): to consult with the Board attorney to preserve the Board’s attorney-client privilege; to consider confidential personnel matters pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes 115C-319 through 321; and to consider the handling of the following case: JB by parent or guardian TF v. Onslow County Schools Board of Education, 25 EDC 1474.