Carter County School Board closes Unaka Elementary

ELIZABETHTON — By a 6-2 margin, the Carter County School Board voted to permanently close Unaka Elementary School. The vote was taken in the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the school board. The school served students on the mountainous, upper end of the Stoney Creek portion of Carter County. The votes against the closure came from Keith Bowers Sr., who represents the school district that included Unaka. The other opposing vote came from Danny Ward. Several of the members expressed sadness that they had to vote for the closure. Director of Schools Brandon Carpenter told the board that the closure was based on finances and not on performance of the students and teachers. He said some of the driving factors were the rising cost of insurance and fuel. He said the per capital cost of educating a student at Unaka amounted to $15,132.06. The students will be going to the newly enlarged Hunter Elementary School, where the cost of educating a student is $6,910.55. Carpenter said the closure will take place immediately and Friday, May 22 is the last day the doors will be open to the public. He said that on the first day of the new school year in August, all Unaka students will go to Hunter. The drawdown of Unaka had already been started. Grades 6 through 8 had already been transferred to Hunter. Thursday's vote only affects students who will be in grades pre-kindergarten to 5th grade. Carpenter said that will mean that 65 Unaka Elementary students will be changing to Hunter next year instead of returning to Unaka. Carpenter said most faculty and staff will be able to continue working for the school system at another job. He said that was long-term employees. There are some who chose to retire, Carpenter said. Some non-tenured who were not recommended on performance evaluations would not continue to be employed. Bowers was visibly saddened by the closure. He told the board that he had generations of his family attend the school. "I am a proud Stoney Creeker until I die," Bowers said. Bowers said he hoped the building could be converted into a community center. The gym is the only part saved from the original Unaka High School. The gym was the oldest still active school gymnasium in the state and is over 100 years old. Bowers said the board has closed several other schools in recent years. Those include Range, Little Milligan and Keenburg. "Sooner or later, our funding body is going to have to step up and help us with these costs. " In other matters, the board unanimously rejected a memorandum of understanding with the Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act.