JACKSON – Six goals have been placed in front of Dr. Kathi Gibson.

The first-year Superintendent of Schools in Northampton County was placed with the six goals at a recent meeting of the school board.

Those goals will be the basis for which the Board evaluates Dr. Gibson and the basis on which her annual bonus will be determined.

The six goals placed in front of the superintendent are (1.) high student performance, (2.) safe, orderly and caring schools, (3.) quality teachers, administrators and staff, (4.) strong family, community and business support, (5.) effective and efficient operations of facilities, programs and finances and (6.) high student performance in career/technical education the ensures readiness for the workforce.

The first objective of high student performance will be increasing the percentage of students demonstrating academic proficiency as determined by the 2006 End-of-Course and End-of-Grade tests.

The targets for the school year are as follows: Garysburg – 80 percent, Squire – 80 percent, Seaboard – 82 percent, Jackson-Eastside – 90 percent, Rich Square-Creecy – 80 percent, Willis Hare – 84 percent, Conway Middle and Gaston Middle – 80 percent, Northampton-East – 63 percent and Northampton-West 60 percent.

Those marks are all near the marks set by the state as targets for the district.

Goal number two will be met by reducing suspensions throughout the district by one percent and having noticeable internal and external improvements in all school buildings that support high student performance.

Also, the plan requires a comprehensive plan to decrease the county’s dropout rate by one percent. That plan must be established no later than June of 2006.

The third goal of having quality staff requires Dr. Gibson to implement a system to recruit, retain and compensate a diverse corps of quality teachers, administrators and staff by April of next year.

Three points of emphasis will be placed on community support.

Dr. Gibson must devise a comprehensive plan to regain and retain students leaving the district to enter Gaston College Preparatory School, devise a written plan for &uot;select&uot; principals geared at improving customer relations and build strong relations and partnerships with civic and community groups.

Goal number five has two points for Dr. Gibson to focus on operations. The first is to report substantial savings in energy costs and the second is to secure funding for a new central office.

To reach goal number six, Dr. Gibson must audit and realign the career/Technology curriculum to ensure attainment of state goals and increase the opportunities for students to earn community college credit prior to graduation.