The Macon County Commission decided last week in a split vote to fund a $200,000 request from the school system that will ensure all students in Macon County receive free lunch for the coming school year.

“History repeats itself” and “Everything comes full circle,” are just two examples of a myriad of sayings that could describe the Catamount School starting the 2024-2025 school year on Western Carolina University’s campus. 

Macon County is one step closer in the long march toward a new high school after commissioners approved financing for the more than $135 million-project last week. 

Macon County Schools has spent the better part of a year undergoing a strategic planning process that charts a course for the school system’s future. 

To help address the critical workforce shortage in health care, nursing in particular, the University of North Carolina System initiated a call for grant proposals to distribute $40 million over a span of two years to UNC System schools. 

Old-school campaigning is back in rural North Carolina, and this time it’s the Democrats leading the charge. 

In the 2020 election, North Carolina Democrats lost the presidential election by fewer than 75,000 votes and are looking to make up for those missed opportunities this election cycle by turning to old-fashioned door-to-door campaigning and hosting events in rural counties to connect with voters. 

The Macon County Board of Education approved revisions to student and staff handbooks for several schools at its July 22 meeting, with the most significant changes coming for students at Franklin High School. 

After the sunset of COVID-era child care stabilization grants, Macon County Schools will have to increase costs for both Pre-K and after school care in the coming 2024-25 school year. 

On Aug. 3, join Haywood Waterways Association on the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail to discover the fish and other wildlife that call the Pigeon River home. 

The Jackson County Board of Commissioners voted this month to commit to funding construction and renovation of Fairview School, which was recently identified as the system’s top capital needs priority due to overcrowding and outdated design.