Board of Education meeting full of excitement
McManus announces retirement, Ashley project moving forward, Strategic Plan town halls scheduled
By Tevin Stinson
The Chronicle
While Superintendent Tricia McManus’ announcing her retirement was the biggest news to come from the Winston-Salem/Forsyth Schools (WS/FCS) Board of Education meeting earlier this week, the board also discussed several important matters including construction contracts for Ashley Elementary, an update on the district’s Strategic Plan, and more.
McManus’ announces retirement
Word of McManus’ retirement started to spread just before the board of education meeting was scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.
McManus, who has led the district for the past five years, made the announcement during the Superintendent’s Update near the end of the meeting. McManus said she’s been considering retiring for the past six months. She said retiring will give her more time to spend with her growing family. Her first grandson was born last summer.
“Thank you for the opportunity to lead the amazing students and staff in this great community I have called home for the past five years. I have enjoyed meeting and serving thousands of students, families and community members in pursuit of our vision for educational excellence, collaboration and inclusiveness,” McManus said in a letter submitted to the board of education.
McManus joined WS/FCS in 2020 as deputy superintendent and was sworn in as superintendent in 2021. While addressing the board and those in attendance during the meeting, McManus said she is proud of what the district has accomplished in the past five years. Under her leadership WS/FCS improved proficiency in math and reading, reached its highest ever graduation rate, and increased the number of students of color taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
Special called meeting to be held April 28
On Monday, April 28, the board of education will hold a special called meeting to discuss the process for selecting an interim superintendent. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. They will also go into closed session to discuss a personnel matter.
The meeting will be held in the auditorium of the Education Building at 4801 Bethania Station Road.
Board approves CDs for new Ashley Elementary
In a 7-2 vote, the board of education approved construction documents for the new Ashley Elementary School. Steve Wood and Susan Miller voted against moving forward with the project. Now that the construction documents are approved, district staff can begin the bidding process for the project.
For over a decade the community has been pushing for the current Ashley Elementary to be replaced. The ongoing fight to replace the school and the push led by local community organization Action4Equity is documented in a four-part series that can be found on The Chronicle’s website.
Action4Equity and other advocates for Ashley have been putting pressure on district leaders since 2015, and many of them were there on Tuesday night to reiterate to the board how important the matter still is. Advocates also stressed the importance that women and minority-owned businesses be given consideration during the bid process.
Staff has said that the M/WBE (Minority/Women Business Enterprise) participation target for Ashley will be 30%. Recent projects completed by the district had a 26% M/WBE participation rate.
WS/FCS Senior Executive Director of Facility Planning and Construction, Darrell Walker, said he was excited to be moving forward with the project. “I share in the enthusiasm as we move forward with Ashley Elementary,” Walker said. “I hope the community knows we’re all excited about this potential opportunity we have in front of us.”
Construction Documents (CDs) were completed last month and now that the board has approved those documents, staff can begin preparing bid packages. According to Walker, the bid process will take roughly 30-45 days.
The site for the future Ashley Elementary is located near East 21st Street, Bethlehem Lane, and New Hope Lane near Fairview Park. The site is less than a mile from the school’s current location, 1647 NE Ashley School Circle.
A proposed timeline for the new Ashley has construction beginning as early as September. Here’s a look at the proposed timeline.
May-July
Package bid, release bid, review submissions, select awardee
Request project approval and funds from Forsyth County Board of Commissioners
August 12
Share bid results with board of education building and grounds committee
August 26
Request approval of general contractor, sign agreements and begin construction
Strategic Plan town halls
District leaders discussed the next steps in the process to adopt a new strategic plan.
Traditionally, the strategic plan is used to determine goals for the district related to student achievement, equity and access, community engagement, human resource development, and climate and safety. In January WS/FCS announced that they started developing its 2025-2030 Strategic Plan and were seeking input from community stakeholders.
The first input collection phase ended in January, and the Strategic Plan steering committee worked together to draft the strategic plan in February. Last week the district invited parents, students, staff and others with invested interest in local public schools to listening sessions where they had opportunities to share their thoughts on the future of WS/FCS.
According to Alex Bohannon, vice chair of the board of education, and Alexandra Hoskins, WS/FCS executive director of systems of coherence, who are leading the strategic plan, the next phase of the process will include a series of town hall meetings where the community will have a chance to openly discuss the first draft of the strategic plan.
Here’s a list of dates, times and locations for the town hall meetings. Additional meetings may be added according to the district.
May 5
Parkland High School, 6-7:30 p.m.
1600 Brewer Road, Winston-Salem
May 6
Mount Tabor High School, 6-7:30 p.m.
(Sesión facilitada en español)
342 Petree Road, Winston-Salem
May 7
Virtual: https://bit.ly/THF0506 8-9:30 a.m.
Meeting ID: 295 473 372 502
Passcode: su3ci7MM
May 8
East Forsyth High School 6-7:30 p.m.
2500 W. Mountain St., Kernersville
May 12
North Forsyth High School, 6-7:30 p.m.
5705 Shattalon Road, Winston-Salem
May 13
Virtual: https://bit.ly/THF0513 8-9:30 a.m.
Meeting ID: 216 774 812 163
Passcode: 9xb3z69Z
May 14
Carver High School, 6-7:30 p.m.
3545 Carver School Road, Winston-Salem
May 15
Central Library, 12-1:30 p.m.
660 W. 5th St., Winston-Salem
May 15
West Forsyth High School, 6-7:30 p.m.
1735 Lewisville-Clemmons Road, Clemmons
WS/FCS Board of Education Meetings are broadcast live on Cable2 via Spectrum Cable. You can also watch this meeting and past meetings on the Cable2 YouTube Channel or by visiting the WS/FCS website.
