By Miles Layton

SWAN QUARTER — Hyde County leaders gathered recently for a special joint meeting of the Hyde County Board of Commissioners and the Hyde County Board of Education, highlighting student achievement, discussing school funding priorities, and outlining legislative goals for the coming year.

Among the evening’s highlights was a presentation from a local student who recently attended the State of the Union address, followed by a detailed overview of Hyde County Schools’ budget priorities and challenges from Superintendent Dr. Melanie Shaver. Photos come from Congressman Don Davis’ Office.

Student shares State of the Union experience

The meeting began with remarks from Hyde County Manager Kris Noble, who welcomed school officials and recognized a Hyde County student invited to attend the recent State of the Union address in Washington, D.C.

“We had a great walkthrough of the construction that’s taking place at Mattamuskeet School and Mattamuskeet is certainly rising; it is beautiful,” she said. “We’re all happy to be in the warmth tonight and more happy that we’ve got Mr. Nathanael Simmons with us this evening to share his recent experience at the State of the Union.”

Simmons, 17, the son of Benjamin and Tanya Simmons of Fairfield, told officials he was invited to attend the speech by Congressman Don Davis after discussing agriculture issues with him during a legislative event.

“I was asked to go to the State of the Union by Congressman Don Davis,” Simmons said. “So I want to thank him. I know he’s probably not watching, but I want to thank all y’all for the support that y’all gave me.”

Simmons explained he had the opportunity to speak with Davis about the importance of farming to Hyde County’s economy.

“I was able to speak with him for about 30 minutes, 30 to 45 minutes, to explain to him how important farming is to our county,” Simmons said. “We produce 16 percent of products on 4 percent of the land in North Carolina, which is a dramatic amount and is a big part of our economy along with fishing and all others.”

A few days later, Simmons said, Davis extended an invitation that surprised him.

“He asked, ‘I want to bring your son to the State of the Union with me,’” Simmons said. “Dad calls me with him there, and I say yes, I would love to go.”

The trip included tours of several historic sites in Washington.

“It was an amazing experience,” Simmons said. “I was able to tour the White House, Library of Congress and the Capitol Building.”

He also met several national leaders during the trip.

“I met the Secretary of Defense (Pete Hegseth), the Speaker of the House (Mike Johnson), and many, many others,” Simmons said. “We went to the State of the Union. It was amazing to experience something like that. I was proud to do it with my father.”

Commission Chairman Randal Mathews praised Simmons for representing the county.

“Thank you for representing,” Mathews said. “We appreciate it. I’m proud of it.”

Commissioner Thomas Midgette also congratulated the student.

“I was so proud,” Midgette said. “I like the fact that even though you may have been scared, you immediately said yes. We need our youth because if we don’t have our youth, whether it’s farming, fishing or whatever, then we’re going to be extinct in other years.”

Mathews suggested Simmons could have a future in local government.

“That could be running for commissioner one day,” Mathews said.

“I hope so, yes, sir,” Simmons replied.

Commissioner M. Shannon Swindell said Simmons’ presentation showed how much he had grown as a speaker.

“Just a year or two ago, you wouldn’t do this,” Swindell said. “And now, to represent us at the Capitol and meet everybody, just good on you, young man.”

The room responded with a standing round of applause after Simmons finished speaking.

Hyde County Schools Superintendent Dr. Melanie Shaver said the district has seen several students receive recognition this year.

“We have some amazing kids and it is fantastic,” Shaver said. “I’m very proud of Nathaniel. Actually, we have had two of our students recognized on Congress floor this year. That’s pretty exciting for a very rural district in North Carolina.”

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Schools request level local funding

After the presentation, Shaver delivered the district’s budget message, outlining priorities and explaining why the school system is requesting level funding from the county for the coming fiscal year.

“The vision of Hyde County Schools is to ensure that all students graduate with the skills to succeed in a global society,” Shaver said.

She said the district’s work is focused on four strategic priorities: student success, thriving faculty and staff, effective operations, and a strong community culture.

“For the upcoming fiscal year, Hyde County Schools is not requesting an increase in local current expense funding,” Shaver said. “We respectfully request level funding to maintain our core services, preserve instructional programming, sustain safety measures and continue extracurricular and career connected opportunities that keep students engaged and connected to school.”

Shaver highlighted several academic accomplishments within the district.

She said both Hyde Academy and Ocracoke School were recognized for academic growth this year, while students are participating in expanded career and technical education programs.

“We have expanded CTE pathways with construction, transportation, education, healthcare, computer science, management and entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, agriculture, energy and natural resources being represented in our schools,” Shaver said.

More than half of Hyde County’s high school students will complete advanced coursework in those career pathways. Students are also earning college credits through dual enrollment programs.

“We have increased participation in dual enrollment and higher post-secondary attainment with Beaufort County Community College classes being taken this year,” Shaver said. “Nine students will graduate with their associates, one receiving a diploma and 12 receiving certificates.”

Attendance remains a major concern

Despite those academic successes, Shaver said one of the district’s biggest challenges is chronic absenteeism.

“Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 or more days of school for any reason,” Shaver said.

Currently, she said, the problem affects more than a quarter of the district’s students.

“Currently, 26 percent of our students, representing 146 children in Hyde County Schools, are missing more than 10 days,” Shaver said.

The issue also affects school funding.

“While we have over 500 students enrolled, we are only funded in the mid 400s due to the number of absences,” she said.

Shaver stressed that improving attendance requires community involvement.

“Attendance is not solely a school issue. It’s a community issue,” Shaver said. “We respectfully ask for continued partnerships in reinforcing the importance of daily attendance.”

She encouraged local groups, churches and businesses to help promote attendance and support students.

“In small communities, we know that culture drives outcomes,” Shaver said. “When students hear a unified message from educators, county leaders, churches, employers and neighbors, the expectations become shared and attendance can improve.”

Teacher recruitment and housing challenges

Another major issue facing the district is recruiting and retaining teachers, particularly in rural communities.

Shaver said the number of new teacher license applications in North Carolina has declined significantly in recent years.

“Since 2020 at the height of teacher licensure, we had approximately 7,500 initial licensure applications across the state,” Shaver said. “Now we only have around 4,000.”

She said housing availability is also creating challenges, especially on Ocracoke Island.

“One of our teachers on Ocracoke is losing housing in June,” Shaver said. “Then we have two other positions that are posted to hire. That’s three housing units that are needed for next year.”

Finding housing on the island can be difficult, she said.

“Our principal housed one of our teachers for half the year until she was able to find housing,” Shaver said. “That’s a big ask when you’re asking your staff to house other people.”

Legislative priorities outlined

Shaver also discussed several legislative priorities the district hopes county leaders will support, including increased funding for small rural school districts.

She warned that some proposed funding changes in Raleigh could significantly impact Hyde County Schools.

“When we look at some of the models that have been produced, Hyde County is consistently losing about $2.5 million in those models,” Shaver said. “We can’t operate at a $2.5 million loss.”

The superintendent also expressed concern about the cancellation of a federal grant that funded the district’s community schools initiative.

“In December 2025, the U.S. Department of Education terminated North Carolina’s Full-Service Community Schools grant,” Shaver said. “In Hyde, we would like to see this programming continued and expanded to include Ocracoke.”

She also again urged lawmakers to provide greater flexibility in setting school calendars.

“Calendar flexibility is also essential,” Shaver said. “Hyde County’s geographic location, weather vulnerability, transportation demands and workforce realities differ from those of urban districts.”

County leaders pledge support

County officials expressed support for the school system’s goals and pledged to work with education leaders on legislative issues.

Noble said the county would coordinate with state lawmakers to address concerns raised during the meeting.

“We do have somebody in our corner that does that for us and that’s former Senator (Bob) Steinburg,” Noble said.

She said the county plans to schedule a meeting with the senator to discuss Hyde County Schools’ priorities.

“We’ll set up a meeting with Senator Steinburg as soon as our schedules allow,” Noble said.

The county also plans to explore partnerships with the school system, including a possible shared parks and recreation position.

“We’ll sit down in the next couple of weeks with our county’s parks director to talk about how we could potentially partner on that positional partnership,” Noble said.

She praised the district for presenting its budget early and said the county intends to continue working closely with school officials.

“I’m looking forward to not just continuing the work we’ve done over the last few years, but elevating that and helping to support you,” Noble said.

Shaver closed her presentation by emphasizing the importance of collaboration between the school system and county government.

“When we align around our children, we know that progress will follow,” she said.