The final WS/FCS Board of Education meeting for the year shifted the school calendar away from the current year’s modified schedule, returning to the traditional calendar for the 2026-2027 school year. 

Classes will now begin the last week of August and end in early June. See the picture below for a direct comparison of specific dates:

Though many board members stated they preferred the modified calendar, they pointed out it is technically in violation of state law. Thirty other school districts in North Carolina follow the modified calendar, some with waivers to do so, but WS/FCS does not qualify. 

Earlier in the evening, after a moment of silence for the student who died at North Forsyth High School last week, the meeting became tense as board members were staunchly divided on electing a new chairperson. 

Policy requires a majority — five votes — to approve the new chairperson. In the first round, both current Vice Chair Alex Bohannon and Richard Watts were nominated. Four members — Bohannon, Trevonia Brown-Gaither, Sabrina Coone, and Richard Watts — voted for Bohannon, while two members — current Chair Deanna Kaplan and Leah Crowley — voted for Watts. 

Three members — Robert Barr, Susan Miller, and Steve Wood — declined to either nominate or vote for a candidate. 

In the next four rounds, Bohannon continuously fell short of the majority by one vote. 

Board member Coone interjected after the third round: “It’s disappointing that several of you are not voting because you’ve been told by your conservative party not to vote. This is not about politics, it shouldn’t be, and I’m ashamed that we’re doing this and I know one of you for certain has said you’re not voting because you can’t vote for a Democrat. That is a problem and that is what’s wrong with this board and I’m so tired of it.”

Republican members of the board include Wood, Miller, Barr, and Crowley. 

After five rounds, new WS/FCS Superintendent Don Phipps ruled it a stalemate and pushed it to the next board meeting. No one was nominated for vice chair. 

Elsewhere in the meeting, the board approved a new HIL Consultants contract that will run through June 30. The financial consultants will be paid a maximum of $145,500. Superintendent Phipps cited a need for HIL until the chief financial officer and other financial department positions are filled.  

The next Board of Education meeting will take place on January 13.

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