Following the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, Haywood County Schools reopened its doors to students and staff last week. 

This month the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released performance and growth data for the 2023-24 school year, and for another year in a row, Haywood County dominated regional rankings with the top two high schools in the western region. 

Finding enough bus drivers to operate all necessary routes has become a common issue for school systems across North Carolina and districts in the westernmost part of the state are not immune.

The Academy, an alternative service for middle grades students, will return to Haywood County Schools in the coming year as one of the school system’s budget expansion priorities. 

I’m no extremist. I like discourse with people who hold opposing viewpoints. You can sway me with sound arguments. I feel enlightened when coming away with a better understanding of why people think the way they do. 

When Pactiv Evergreen announced it would close its Canton paper mill last year, Haywood County Schools was already facing a host of other challenges, among them a declining student population, costs incurred from damages caused during the Pigeon River flood in 2021, and the impending end of COVID-era relief funds. 

Haywood County Schools has increased the number of people it employs to care for and monitor students’ mental health this year, largely due to increased funding from the county commission that allowed for additional school resource officers. 

The Haywood County School Board approved several personnel recommendations last week that saw the return of a previous finance director and new principals for two schools.

History will whisper through the mountain mists that once upon a time, Pactiv Evergreen’s paper mill in Canton stood as a symbol of industry and economic prosperity for generations. But behind its towering façade, the specter of mismanagement and malfeasance eventually led to a botched closing announcement, a health care coverage crisis and more than a thousand workers helplessly watching their good-paying jobs evaporate like morning dew in the midday summer sun.

Students in Haywood County who want to be educators will have a new opportunity that could help pay for college after the school district was chosen for a new Teaching Fellows pilot program that emphasizes local recruitment.