In an effort to improve upon their ABC results from last year, two schools in Caldwell County are pushing their students to new heights.

In addition to meeting the minimum testing standards, faculty and staff at Horizons Elementary School and Gateway School have set several school-wide goals. Not only do they want to see their students excel in the classroom, they also want to see increased community support

“I commend them for setting these kinds of goals, and I am sure they will be able to handle it,” Caldwell County School Board Vice Chairwoman Helen Hall said during Monday’s Board of Education meeting.

At Gateway School, the goal is to increase parental involvement from 99.2 percent to 99.5 percent. Faculty and staff want to see parents get involved in referral/placement decisions; the transition and exit process; and everyday school activities. The school also would like to see more than 66 percent of their students meet or exceed their grade-level status on end-of-course tests. This would be a 10 percent increase from the last set of results.

Finally, the Gateway family would like to see more community members get involved in the school by volunteering, mentoring or tutoring.

For those at Horizons Elementary School, the focus is on getting parents involved. They want the parents to attend a minimum of two face-to-face conferences during the year. They also want to see at least 80 percent of the students improve in at least one standard assessment, such as end-of-grade tests and K-2 assessments.

“We wish them, and all of our schools, much success on another wonderful year,” Hall added.

Meanwhile, board members received a synopsis of the 2008-2009 audit report from Robert Brown, certified public accountant at Boggs, Crump and Brown, CPAs.

Brown, who met in-depth with the finance committee last week, said the report was nearly flawless. He said the only deficiency involved a non-cash transaction for school buses, which resulted in a budget amendment after the fiscal year ended in June. He said he was not expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control of finances, but did note that all of the school system’s financial records appeared to “fairly represent the activity of each fund.”

“This is a clean opinion, and I believe the school system is in excellent financial health,” Brown said. “You have all the right people in the right places.”

In other news:

• Board members formally approved an updated copy of Policy 1350, School Board Member Ethics. The new policy is in accordance with the Local Government Ethics Act. It states that all board members will: obey all applicable laws regarding official actions taken as a board member; uphold the integrity and independence of the board member’s office; avoid impropriety in the exercise of the board member’s official duties; faithfully perform the duties of office; and conduct the affairs of the board in an open and public manner, including complying with all applicable laws governing open meetings and public records.

The revised policy also states that board members are required to receive two hours of ethics education within the first year they are on the board, as well as each year they remain on the board. This is in addition to the 12 hours of training board members already complete.

• The board approved 31 requests for student transfers. This brings the total for the 2009-2010 school year to 459.

• Board member Tim Hawkins recognized Gamewell Middle School for being selected as a model school in the North Carolina Positive Behavior Support Initiative.

• Board member Linda Coffey congratulated Lower Creek Elementary School for winning the President’s Challenge Physical Fitness and Sports Award for the 12th year and for winning the national championship for the second time.