By Amanda Raymond

amanda.raymond@salisburypost.com

The Salisbury City Council unanimously approved an increase to its contribution to the salaries of Knox Middle School’s co-principals at its 31^st Annual Future Directions and Goal Setting Retreat on Thursday.

The increase was to make up for the funds that a Catawba College donor will no longer be providing.

According to an email from City Manager Lane Bailey, the city of Salisbury is currently paying $30,000 — or $15,000 each — to Latoya Dixon and Michael Waiksnis, the co-principals of Knox.

Because of the action taken during the retreat, that amount was increased to $70,000, or $35,000 each.

Bailey said the council wants the co-principals to advise the city on what it can do to help the school reach its goals.

“The city is keenly interested in the magnet school concept and will be seeking additional input on how to improve our school system,” Bailey wrote.

Dixon and Waiksnis want to transition Knox into a magnet school over a three-year process. In a presentation they gave during the retreat, the co-principals said the concept would benefit both high- and low-performing students.

Instruction would have an E-STEAM focus. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. Everything will be taught through an environmental context, which is what the first E stands for.

The three-year transition would include extending learning time, modifying the school calendar so that instruction takes place year-round and redefining all instruction, especially math and English Language Arts for students behind grade level.

The co-principals also hope to provide their students with courses that will earn them credits for high school and, somewhere down the line, maybe even college.

The increase in funding came after Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody said at the retreat that the funding the co-principals were receiving from a Catawba College donor was no longer available.

“We are short their salary of what I recruited and brought them here for,” she said.

In the original agreement, the city agreed to pay $15,000 annually for four years and Catawba College contracted with the principals for $35,000 each per year. The principals earn a $70,000 salary from the school system.

According to Tonia Black-Gold, communications officer for Catawba College, the donor funds were “completely used for their intended purpose.”

“That donor did not renege on or fail to fulfill their pledge,” Black-Gold said in an email.

She said Dixon and Waiksnis will continue to be visiting assistant professors for the next academic year.

Dixon and Waiksnis were recruited from South Carolina to work at Knox. The school had gone through five different principals in a four-year time span, Moody noted. She also said the teacher turnover rate was high.

“We always had substitute teachers in that building because we couldn’t find teachers,” she said.

The school has seen improvements since the co-principals started their tenure.

Moody said the school was fully staffed at one point during the current school year.

Waiksnis said they have spent a lot of time building relationships with the students and making the students feel welcome.

Dixon said they’ve even seen an increase in school pride.

School pride “is really a big part in making a change in a school,” Dixon said. “You have to be proud that you go to school there, that you work there, that you’re a part of something that’s bigger than yourself.”

All Knox students visited college campuses last year, and they plan to continue the visits in the future.

Waiksnis said although the overall data picture for the school is not yet up to par, projections look good.

“Our students last year exceeded the state projection on the end-of-grade tests on every subject and every area except for one,” he said.

Salisbury City Councilman Kenny Hardin said there is also a high level of discipline at Knox.

“I know that leading in those statistical categories with poverty and things like that, there’s a direct correlation between behavioral issues. And, I know because I’ve been over there, ya’ll do a remarkable job in managing and modifying behavior,” he said.

Bailey, the city manager, has a daughter who goes to the school.

“My daughter’s getting a wonderful education at Knox,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier.”

Bailey said in the email that the funding would come from the fiscal year 2016-2017 budget and “would probably be in a special project line.” He also wrote that the agreement between the city and the co-principals that is currently in place would need to be modified.

In another email, Mayor Karen Alexander said that the vote earmarked the money in the city’s budget and a formal contract is being written. Once completed, the contract will be shared at a Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education meeting and a Salisbury City Council meeting.

Reporter Rebecca Rider contributed to this article.

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.