Blueprint for Excellence 2006 One-Stop Info Center

Fact or Fiction - The Straight Story
(extended answers)

1. The majority of students attend schools close to their home.

True! In 2004-05, 91.4 percent (50,044 of 54,731) of elementary school students were assigned to a base school within five miles of their node. Approximately 80 percent of all WCPSS students attend schools within five miles of their home, with 10 percent attending schools farther than five miles by choice (applied to magnets or year-round), and another 10 percent attending schools farther than five miles based on assignment.

2. Adding one student to each class would take care of the crowding issue.

False! Class size is set by North Carolina law. While the law provides a process for requesting an exception for individual classes within a school, no process exists for requesting an exception for an entire school or for the district.

Due to Wake’s rapidly increasing enrollment, former WCPSS Superintendent Bill McNeal wrote State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee on Sept. 23, 2004, requesting a districtwide waiver for individual class size and class size averages for all grades. On Oct. 6, 2004, Lee responded in writing that a general K-12 class size waiver cannot be granted based on state general statutes 115C-301(c), 115C-301(c), 115C-105.26(a), and 115C-47(10). The letter also mentioned that “the state board had never granted a waiver for the statutorily required ‘average class size for each grade span.’”

In 2004-05, the state reduced the average size of third-grade classes to 21 students, matching the previously mandated average class size for kindergarten through second grade. The maximum class size in kindergarten through third grade is 24 students and the districtwide average must be 21 or lower. The maximum class size for fourth- through ninth-grades is 29 students and the districtwide average must be 26 or lower.

(Read the Department of Public Instruction memo explaining class size requirements for 2004-05: http://www.wcpss.net/bond/dpi_class_size_memo.pdf.)

3. Charter schools could help, but the Board of Education voted against lifting the cap.

False! At its meeting Sept. 19, 2006, the Wake County Board of Education passed a resolution encouraging the North Carolina General Assembly to study the programs in the state’s charter schools and to determine if their financial and academic performance should warrant incrementally increasing the charter school cap in North Carolina state law.

However, if the legislature lifts the cap on charter schools, it would barely make a dent considering more than 7,000 new students enroll in the Wake County Public School System a year. WCPSS’s first priority must be ensuring the strength of the school system that serves the vast majority of students in Wake County.

In 2004-05 only two of the 14 charter schools in Wake County served more than 600 students, and 20 percent of the students in those two schools came from outside of Wake County. The median size of a Wake County charter school in 2004-05 was 197 and the average size was 324. Finally, as noted in the report of entries and exits from the Wake County Public School System (www.wcpss.net/growth/downloads/student-growth-2005.pdf) during the past year, while WCPSS sent 442 students out to charter schools last year, 495 entered WCPSS from charter schools.

 4. Immigration, legal or otherwise, was just a small percentage of WCPSS’s 6,400-plus growth for 2005-06.

True! A report from the WCPSS Growth and Planning Department (www.wcpss.net/growth/downloads/student-growth-2005.pdf) shows that despite the rapid growth in student membership, there was only a slight change in the school system’s ethnic makeup and the percentage of non-English speakers stayed the same.

Of the more than 8,500 students new to WCPSS in grades 1-12 at the start of the 2005-06 school year, most came from public schools outside of Wake County and two-thirds came from outside North Carolina. WCPSS gained students from non-public schools (private/religious, home and charter schools) as well.

Also, WCPSS is bound by federal law to serve Wake County students regardless of their immigration status.

5. The bond money will be in a restricted account and there is an oversight committee.

True! Bond dollars are placed in a restricted account that can only be used for building program projects. In addition, the Board of Education and Board of County Commissioners jointly created a Citizens’ Facilities Advisory Committee in June 2006 to evaluate Wake County’s and the Wake County Public School System’s building programs, with the initial focus being on school design criteria, construction management and delivery methods.

Committee members have experience in corporate leadership, architecture and engineering, financial management, and public administration. The county hired DeJong & Associates, an education facility consulting firm, in partnership with Summit Consultants, a facility cost estimating firm, to serve as consultants to the committee.

The hope is that the committee will gather some useful information that might enable WCPSS to make schools even more efficient and cost effective.

6. The school board approves too many new housing developments.

False! The Board of Education and school system have no control over new housing developments. Municipalities are the ones that approve developments and then let the school system know about them.

WCPSS is working to improve communication between the school system, county and municipalities regarding future land use. In fall 2004, the school system contracted with N.C. State University’s Operations Research and Education Laboratory to create an analytical, data-driven process that incorporates land use and future developments into determining enrollment projections and the best location for new schools. This will be a continuous long-range school and community planning process involving WCPSS, Wake County government, the 12 municipalities, and the Capital Area Municipal Planning Organization, with the Lab coordinating updates.

To learn more about WCPSS’s long-range plans, go to http://www.wcpss.net/demographics/lrenroll/index.html.

7. 95 percent of WCPSS positions are based in the schools.

True! 95 percent of WCPSS positions are based in the schools.

8. There are many volunteers who could fill spaces in our existing year-round schools.

False! The Wake County Public School System approved all applicants that could be admitted to available spaces this past year. Admitting additional older siblings in available spaces would have 1) resulted in serious overcrowding of some grade levels by younger siblings, or 2) drawn students from some other WCPSS schools that would have been left underutilized.

9. The lottery will allow the school system to build enough schools to cover growth.

False! Estimates show Wake County gaining $9 million in lottery revenue per year – enough to build less than half of an elementary school. The funding formula is based on average daily membership and the county tax rate: the lower the tax rate, the less money the county stands to receive.

Although the lottery proceeds will not cover Wake’s school construction needs, every little bit helps. The county plans to use lottery proceeds in 2007 and 2008 as part of the pay-as-you go financing for school projects, and in 2009, will begin to leverage that money by borrowing against it.

10. Half-day kindergarten would require additional transportation funds.

True! Half-day kindergarten would present transportation challenges and additional costs. Currently, WCPSS operates its buses on an efficient three-tiered system: the same bus driver and bus have three routes in the morning and three in the afternoon. Most elementary, middle and high schools begin between 7:25 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. and end between 2:15 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. Adding another tier for kindergarteners who are only in school for half a day would require funding for additional drivers, fuel, preventive maintenance, and wear and tear on buses.

More importantly, these children would not be prepared for the future academically due to reduced time for instruction.

11. The Wake County school system hasn’t spent all the money from the last bond yet.

True! As far as the school system’s last building program, WCPSS has built five of the 11 new schools included in PLAN 2004, with the remaining six to open in the 2007-08 school year. Work is paid for as it is completed.

PLAN 2004, approved by voters in October 2003, is a $564 million program that officially began on July 1, 2004 and runs through June 30, 2008. As of September 2006, WCPSS had committed $462 million of the $564 million via contracts and purchase orders. In other words, Wake committed 82 percent of the money in only 56 percent of the time. The remaining dollars are mainly budgeted for outfitting the schools with furniture and equipment as projects near completion and are ready for occupancy.

12. Mandatory year-round is a necessary, financial decision.

True! Transitioning some existing elementary and middle schools to the multi-track year-round calendar allows WCPSS to make the best use of resources and keep the cost of the bond down, while leaving the traditional calendar option for those families who can’t make year-round work. With limited financial resources, it’s important for the Wake County school system to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars.

Schools on the multi-track year-round calendar can serve 20 percent to 33 percent more students than schools on the traditional calendar because at any given time, only 75 percent of the school’s students are in session. The other 25 percent are out on break. For every three schools on the year-round calendar, that’s one less school that WCPSS needs to build.

13. WCPSS’s construction costs are higher than most other N.C. districts.

False! WCPSS bid day building costs for new schools have been below the average Department of Public Instruction cost per square foot for each of the last five years. If other counties' school construction costs seem lower, often times it's because it isn't an apples to apples comparison. Before comparing counties' school construction costs, find out what's included in the amount.

Based on data from DPI’s website dated 3/17/06, WCPSS spent approximately $121/square foot and the average N.C. school district spent $126/square foot for the building portion of new school construction in 2005.

14. The school system is exploring the possible time- and cost-savings that could come from public-private partnerships.

True! The Wake County school system is evaluating the benefits of having others build schools and lease them to WCPSS with the option to purchase. The N.C. General Assembly approved public-private partnerships in July 2006.

15. The property tax increase associated with the bond referendum equates to 13 cents more a day per $100,000 of a home’s tax value.

True! The impact of the bond debt service is 2.7 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The county also calculated a gradual 2.0-cent increase to pay for operating the new buildings; two-thirds is for the cost to operate the new square footage and one-third is for additional staff at schools transitioned to the year-round calendar. In 2008, the operating impact would be 0.9 cents, with the total impact by 2011 being 2.0 cents.

By 2011, one’s tax bill would be 13 cents more a day per $100,000 of his/her home’s tax value. For example, the owner of a $300,000 home would pay 39 cents more a day in property taxes (3 x 0.13).

Wake County’s 2006-07 property tax rate is the lowest of the five largest school districts in North Carolina and the second lowest of the seven counties surrounding Wake.

If the bond doesn’t pass, the commissioners may use certificates of participation (COPs) that don’t require voter approval and have a higher interest rate. Funding the entire request with COPs would cost approximately $56 million more than the bond, which would cause a slightly larger tax increase.

16. It costs $13 million to convert elementary and middle schools to the year-round calendar.

False! The additional one-time cost to operate an average elementary school converted from traditional to year-round is approximately $150,000, and the average middle school cost is $200,000. The $13 million included in the Blueprint for Excellence 2006 covers transitioning the 19 elementary schools and three middle schools to the multi-track year-round calendar as well as adding mobile and modular classrooms, implementing other crowding solutions and accounting for inflation.

17. Instead of raising property taxes, the Board of Education should implement impact fees so that developers help pay for growth.

False! First, the school board does not have taxing authority. County commissioners determine whether to raise property taxes. Second, at this time, neither board has the ability to levy impact fees (or transfer fees for that matter); it would require legislative approval to do so.

The Board of Education is charged with determining school needs and the Board of Commissioners is charged with funding those needs. However, in light of the tremendous, continued growth in Wake County, the school board recognizes the need for multiple funding sources to pay for that growth and is drafting a resolution in support of impact fees.

18. WCPSS does not use creative solutions to ease crowding.

False! WCPSS is taking advantage of creative solutions, such as adaptive re-use, ninth-grade centers, and "early start" campuses to provide needed classroom seats.

19. The new year-round schools that opened in 2006-07 are under-enrolled.

True! WCPSS never opens new schools filled to capacity because they need room to grow as additional students and families move in throughout the year. Case-in-point, the five new year-round elementary schools have already gained more than 260 students from the first day of class to the 20 th day.

20. There have been opportunities for public input on year-round schools.

True! The Board of Education held public hearings on elementary and middle school year-round transition; opened the website for online comments regarding conversion criteria, year-round elementary schools and year-round middle schools; performed staff surveys; and held focus groups in addition to receiving numerous e-mails and phone calls.