Latest news with #GuilfordCountySchools
Business Journals
18-06-2025
- Health
- Business Journals
See how Cone Health plans to invest $150M to increase local life expectancy
Health measures such as cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and weight can play a role in predicting how long a person will live. But another indicator may matter nearly as much: your address. From his office near Moses Cone Memorial Hospital, Dr. Olu Jegede can drive five miles north on Elm Street and see patients who live to be an average of 85 years old. But if he drives just five miles south from the same hospital, people typically live to be 70 — a difference of 15 years. It's a hard truth that life expectancies are lower in urban and rural areas due to socioeconomic challenges such as poor housing, lack of transportation, an absence of fresh healthy food and limited access to health care. 'It's really disheartening to know that where you live, love, pray and play determines how long you live,' says Jegede, who is Cone Health's chief health equity and community impact officer. 'We want to ensure every individual, regardless of demographics, has an opportunity to be as healthy as possible. How do we do that? We have to go to where the people are.' Cone Heath is doing just that by investing $150 million over five years to make care more accessible and affordable for all. Its goal is to improve health outcomes across five Triad counties. One key initiative aims to improve life expectancy by five years in east Greensboro and other areas Cone Health serves. Known as CATCH 5 in 5, the program deploys community health teams to support residents through outreach events, financial assistance, nutrition support and wellness resources. The goal is to make improvements in three areas that are most vital to life expectancy: 'Cardiometabolic wellness,' which is based on factors including blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, weight and smoking. Cancer prevention through screenings for breast, colon, prostate, cervical and lung cancers. Infant mortality — both Guilford County and North Carolina have higher than average rates of children dying before their 1st birthday. So far, the effort has connected 1,200 people with health care providers, including more than 50% of patients who were at risk for cardiovascular disease and many who did not have a medical professional previously. The health network is also working to build partnerships with area organizations. 'It's important to remember that no single health agency can solve for health equity alone,' Jegede says. 'This is everyone's work, and Cone Health strives to bring all these resources together.' For instance: Cone Health's partnership with Guilford County Schools provides telehealth services in more than 25 Title I elementary schools. This helps children avoid missing school for sickness. Equally significant, parents miss less work to take their children to doctor's appointments and don't have to seek costly care in urgent cares or emergency departments. Preliminary data has found reductions in absenteeism and better academic performance. 'This is a game changer, and Cone Health is leading the way,' Jegede says. A similar partnership with the Greensboro Housing Authority provides virtual care to residents of Hampton Homes right in their communities, removing significant barriers to health and wellness. Cone Health is also partnering with North Carolina A&T Real Estate Foundation to build a $32 million mixed-use development called The Resurgent in east Greensboro. This will house Cone Health urgent and primary care clinics and provide needed medical services to an estimated 25,000 people annually. The Aging Gracefully program, in collaboration with Community Housing Solutions, offers home visits and home modifications to improve safety for seniors who qualify. These efforts are not only the right thing to do, but they also make for a more productive workforce and a better economy. 'The cost of health inequity is great,' Jegede says. 'When people don't have what they need to be healthy, we see more complications such as amputations and heart attacks.' A recent study by Deloitte found the cost of health inequity in the United States is $320 billion annually and is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2040. 'I'm thankful that Cone Health is an organization that believes in this work,' Jegede says. 'When we work on health equity, everyone wins.' Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, Cone Health features 150 physician practices, including primary and specialty care provided through Cone Health Medical Group and Triad HealthCare Network. Our footprint includes five hospitals and six ambulatory care centers across the North Carolina Piedmont. Cone Health provides Medicare Advantage insurance through HealthTeam Advantage.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Guilford County Schools bond dollars will only get half of priority projects done
GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — Think back to 2020 and 2022 when you had a question on your ballot about bond dollars for the school district. Voters approved $2 billion for Guilford County Schools to make massive and much-needed updates to its facilities. The master plan came out in 2019. Those were pre-pandemic prices. But now, in 2025, things have changed, and there is no way the district will get all 51 of their top priority projects done with the cash they have on hand. 'The writing was kind of on the wall,' Superintendent of GCS Dr. Whitney Oakley said. She said when they returned from the pandemic, they knew this would be tricky, but in the 2021 to 2022 school year, it really sunk in that this is the new reality of pricing. 'No one had a crystal ball about construction. I can't go to Lowe's and get a piece of wood or go to the gas station and fill up for what it cost in 2019,' Oakley said. Now, with tariffs on the table, pricing is even more unpredictable. 'We are constantly evaluating how far those dollars will go, how we can use some strategies like replicating a building plan … If you think about the Allen Jay and Sumner that are coming up, they have the same layout, which saves in design,' Oakley said. In the 2019 facilities master plan, there are 51 priority projects listed to use the bond dollars. But because of rising costs, Oakley said they won't get very far down that list with the $2 billion. There are four projects no longer needed, so Oakley expects they will make it to about halfway down to project 25 on the list, which leaves about 25 projects in limbo. 'It was decades in the making, and it is going to take decades to get out … I think we need to think about how we make a more predictable stream to be able to continue to do the work because the buildings didn't get in that condition overnight,' Oakley said. It starts with the ballot. Oakley said she wants to see bond referendums more often to keep cash flowing. 'I think putting energy and resources behind being able to say what dollars are for on the ballot increases transparency, increases accountability, and our community stands behind public education,' Oakley said. You can look at the list of priority projects to see if your school's project could be funded. Today, everything before project 25 should be funded. With tariff impacts, that could change. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Guilford County Schools explains funding challenge to serve exceptional children
GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — Guilford County Schools is grappling with an issue facing school districts nationwide. Educators want to know how they can best educate students with disabilities or learning challenges, who are also known as exceptional children. The number of students with disabilities or learning challenges has gone up in recent years, and the funding from the federal and state levels to provide legally mandated services has not. GCS is stretching itself thin to meet the needs of thousands of exceptional children. Exceptional children are those who have different educational needs than other students, whether it be in the form of a physical disability or one that isn't as apparent. Lindy Teachy works as an EC support lead for seven elementary schools with GCS. 'We definitely see a rise in our students who have mental health, social, emotional needs, behavioral needs. There's definitely been an increase in recent years in students who are presenting with those needs,' Teachy said. Exceptional children are given individual educational programs, or IEPs, which are legally binding documents with a plan for the student to achieve their educational goals with the support structure they need. A student granted an IEP must fall into one of 14 categories under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, including autism, ADHD and more. To give students the best tools to be able to learn and focus, teachers often get creative on their own. At Bessemer Elementary School, Mrs. Morehead's classroom contains a balancing desk, a rocking chair and other options to help students. She also provides tea and snacks out of her own pocket, and she brought the rocking chair from home. Making sure all students have an accessible education is no small feat. In addition to a monetary cost, it comes at an emotional cost as well. 'They are doing the work, meeting the needs. They are very tired,' Teachy said. The state provides funding for EC students that is capped at 13 percent of the student body and at about $5,300 per student. GCS has about 10,000 EC students, which is closer to 15 percent, according to district officials. 'Our state-level funding has pretty much remained the same,' said Kimberly Steinke, the chief exceptional children and student services officer at GCS. While most of the EC students have milder challenges, some have far greater needs that exceed $5,300 a year. One example is a child requiring a nurse. 'On average, the cost of a nurse per year per student is about $65,000,' Steinke said. They also need more teachers and volunteers. 'All of the resources and all of the technology and all of the curriculum in the world cannot replace a good teacher,' Teachy said. If you are interested in volunteering, visit the school district website to learn more. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Triad adapted PE specialist brings joy to student exercise
HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — Jason Novak loves every moment he gets to spend with his students. Whether it is at the Special Olympics games or in school, he is always encouraging them. Novak is a Guilford County Schools adapted physical education specialist. He thrives when his students thrive. One of his students, Tomas, was chosen as a Torch Bearer for the Spring Special Olympics games, and Novak could not have been more proud. About Tomas, he says, 'We have definitely built a connection. I really like seeing him be able to achieve things that you know a lot of people might look at him and say, oh, he can't do that, but it's my job to make sure that we adapt it in some way that he is still successful and it might, like I said earlier, it might look a little different, but he's still able to achieve the ultimate goal.' Throughout the school year, Mr. Novak's students look forward to his classes. They get excited when they see him because they know they are going to have some fun. 'You know, a lot of my kids struggle with sitting at a desk and you know, having that quiet time focused time that usually happens in a classroom,' Novak says. 'So we get to come in here and its organized chaos, to say the least, but they get to be up, and they get to be active. And so, you know, it's a different setting than what the majority of school is. So they, you know, get to have that fun in here, but we're also learning life skills for them to kind of take out into the community hopefully as they grow older.' He gets his ideas on how to adapt their exercises from many different sources, including a once-favorite television show. 'I grew up watching MacGyver, which is weird, but I kind of say like, you know, just kind of give me a couple pieces of equipment and I'll make it work. Some of the schools I go to are very blessed with the amount of equipment that they have, other schools, not so much. So we just kind of have to make do with what we have a lot of trial by error trial fire mostly cause they'll get upset if they're if they're not successful,' he says. When that happens, he will go back to work and try to figure out something new for his students to try. It's not always easy and definitely not predictable. But he says he loves it. 'I do. I my mom was a teacher for Guilford County schools for 25-30 years, and I knew a long time ago I wanted to be a teacher. I was not built for the classroom. I built to be active and move. And so, I became a PE teacher 18 years ago and did 12 years of Gen. Ed High School and then took a leap into adaptive PE. And that was about six years ago, and I will never turn back.' Novak teaches at 12 different schools across the county, so he spends a lot of his day traveling. But he says it's definitely worth it. 'Heck yeah, it is worth it all day, every day. You know, kind of getting that aha moment of when you see them finally me being able to like adapt something and then being able to see like an older siblings hit a baseball and they struggle hitting that moving ball, but yet we break it down on like a tee or we have it swing on a pendulum. So, the ball comes to the exact same spot every time and they make that contact, you know, and they get that feeling of like I've seen other people do this. And I know I can do it as well. So that's probably the best part!' He says, 'Every day is different. Every school is different. Every kid is different.' But one thing never changes. That's this PE Specialist's dedication to his students. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
County manager issues budget proposal
GUILFORD COUNTY — The Guilford County budget proposed by County Manager Michael Halford would keep the property tax rate at 73.05 cents per $100 valuation, a rate that has been consistent for the past several years and reflects a pledge by the board to not raise taxes. Halford was scheduled to present the proposed 2025-26 fiscal year budget during the Guilford County Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday night. A copy of the proposal indicates that the general fund budget, the county's main operating fund, would total $841.68 million. In remarks through the budget proposal, Halford was candid in saying that his spending plan 'will not support' the budget sought by the Guilford County Board of Education for Guilford County Schools. 'I hear and understand that additional funding for the education systems in our county is needed,' Halford says. 'However, the full responsibility for addressing the funding deficits cannot rest on Guilford County, which already allocates nearly 60% of its flexible revenues to education.' Halford said that his proposed budget does extend to meet many needs of Guilford County Schools. The budget proposal recommends $464 million for Guilford County Schools, an increase of $32 million from the total allocation in the current fiscal year. The proposal includes an additional $2.5 million in operating support. Guilford County Schools would receive a capital outlay of $50 million in bond proceeds, an increase of $40 million, to address major system replacement needs. The budget proposal also allocates $53.2 million, an increase of $1.1 million, for debt service on the $2 billion in bonds approved by county voters in November 2020 and May 2022 to raise funds meant to transform school facilities. The formal budget process began this past November when department directors began indicating their needs to commissioners in work sessions. In April, the commissioners hosted three budget town halls at community locations to get public input. The sessions included one at Jamestown Elementary School for people in the greater High Point area. The commissioners will hold a public hearing on the budget proposal during their meeting at 5:30 p.m. June 5 at the Old Guilford County Courthouse at 301 W. Market St. in downtown Greensboro. The board should vote on the budget at its following meeting June 18 at the same time and location. The balanced budget should be in place by the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
