School Profile
General Description

Burnsville Elementary School is a small, rural K-5 elementary school located on the east end of Burnsville, our county seat.  The total school population is 407 students with a 51.3% free and reduced lunch count.  A brief overview of local government, employment, community support, racial composition, and religious affiliations will provide insight to our community.  Sources of information include the National Association of Counties found on-line at http://www.naco.org, Yancey County Chamber of Commerce, found on-line at http://www.yanceychamber.com, the United States Census Bureau, found on-line at http://www.census.gov and the Employment Security Commission, found online at http://sol1.esc.state.nc.us/lmi/laus/clf/clfsayrs/cty199.htm.

Burnsville Elementary School has been a high growth School of Distinction for the past four years (2001-2005) and was a School of Excellence in 2000-2001. 

The free and reduced lunch percentage has risen to 51.3% of the student body due in part to two large plant closings.  Our school system has approximately 110 ESL students and approximately 65 of these students are enrolled at our school.  Our school houses the countywide self-contained class for K-5 students with severe and profound disabilities, While about one-third of our K-2 students are considered by assessment to be below grade level in both reading and math, by the time they reach grades 3-5, only about 22% in reading and 9% in math are below grade level based on NCEOG scores.

Local Government

Based on the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau data, the population of Yancey County is 17,774.  The population of Burnsville, the county seat, is 1,600.  A three-member Board of Commissioners provides county government.  Town government for Burnsville consists of an elected Mayor and three-member town board.  The county and city property tax rate is $.50 per $100.00 0f assessed valuation.
Employment

Employment in our community is mainly from textile/manufacturing industries (23.5% in 1997).  The current average unemployment rate is 17.1 percent, which includes two recent industrial plant closings.  Based on figures from the 1995 Yancey County estimate of poverty by the U.S. Census Bureau, 24.5% of the people under 18 years of age are living in poverty.  A 1995 Yancey County School District estimate of poverty by the U. S. Census Bureau was 23.4%.  In 1999, median household buying income in Yancey County was $20,434.  In 1999, the percentage of workers earning $8.00 or less per hour was 26.3.