From left: Hallyburton Academy Principal Carla May, students Dwayne Thomas, Isiah Rudisill, Brenna McLaughlin, and Shelby Cook, and Burke County Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Dr. Karen Auton.
When moving Hallyburton Academy to a wing at Draughn High School was first proposed, some in the community and several Burke County Public Schools (BCPS) board members pushed back.
About two-and-a-half months into this school year, there have been no incidents.
The transition went smoothly, said Draughn Principal Charles Williams, and “You would never even know they’re there.”
“I think that’s the preconceived notion, is that there’s a lot of things that go on in our building,” said Hallyburton Principal Carla May. “This is my third year here and we don’t really have a lot of major incidents that take place.”
Hallyburton is the district’s alternative school for middle and high school students, serving those who need day treatment and those who need to recover academic credits.
Day treatment refers to mental health and behavioral support during the school day, said Public Relations Officer Cheryl Shuffler. She said Focus Behavior Health operates day treatment programs out of Mull Elementary School and Hallyburton.
May said the majority of her students attend for credit recovery.
There are currently 38 students attending the classes on the Draughn campus, which includes one middle schooler. Another 15 students remain at the old Hallyburton campus in the day program.
“We have … a lot of processes and procedures in place that we try to stay in front of things instead of reacting to things. We try to be proactive versus reactive, so we really have had no incidents. We have pretty good kids who come and do what they need to do,” May said.
The district held a Q&A about the potential relocation on April 14. Valdese Council Member Shannon Radabaugh spoke at the Q&A, citing 200 police calls to Hallyburton in the last two years.
Swan and other district officials said many of the calls involved traffic stops and unrelated matters. At the April 20 school board meeting, Swan presented a breakdown of the data.
Out of 92 total law enforcement calls between April 2025 and April 2026, 74 were attributed to non-school law enforcement activity and emergency responses.
The 18 school-related calls broke down into three-day treatment interventions, two disorderly conduct calls, two student altercations, three medical incidents, two threat assessments, one marijuana vape-related call, two weapons-related, one missing student, and two students leaving the building.
District officials said the numbers are similar to those of other high schools.
As Swan proposed back in March, the district’s roving school resource officer’s (SRO) office was relocated from Liberty Middle School to a room at the end of the Hallyburton wing at Draughn.
May said her students had varied reactions and adjustment periods.
“I think that they had a preconceived notion of how they were going to be perceived when they got here,” May said. “They’ve seen that to be different.”
Draughn and Hallyburton students have limited interaction despite sharing some facilities. The schools schedule lunch and physical education classes at different times.
One of the best parts of the move for May is having all of her students in one hall rather than spread out across three stories of an entire building.
“(The students) see me all day long, every day. They see me first thing in the morning, (and) I’m out in the hall at every class change. I’m in classes every day … talking to kids,” May said.
May said a big aspect of Hallyburton is building relationships with the students.
“I learned a long time ago when I was still in the classroom that you have to be a cheerleader, a counselor, and a social worker before you can ever teach them a subject,” May said. “So that’s something that we really try to do here with our kids is get to know them and get to know their needs … and how we can best support them.”
