In an increasingly complex world, with increasingly complex student needs, the Wake County Public School System is re-deﬁning itself as a results-driven, continuously improving organization placing student learning ﬁrst.

This document is the culmination of our annual ﬁnancial planning, which begins with re-purposing existing resources then identiﬁes unmet needs for our projected 140,443 students in the 2008-09 school year. Our planning aligns resources with results in order to achieve our vision:

Working as a community of educators and stakeholders, with support of the broader community, we will ensure that every child educated in our school system graduates on time, prepared for the future.

To realize that vision, our guiding strategic directives are:

Enhancing our focus on learning and teaching;
Retaining, recruiting, and training high quality employees;
Developing and implementing systems and organizational structures to support schools, ensure accountability, and engage the community; and
Expanding ﬁscal accountability.

We have changed the order of “learning” and “teaching” in the ﬁrst strategic directive to call our attention ﬁrst to results -- what students learn must always take precedence over what we do.

Attention to the vision and strategic directives is essential in order for WCPSS to rise to a number of challenges. While enrollment growth has slowed slightly compared to the last few years, we anticipate an additional 6,400 students arriving in our classrooms this fall, bringing our total enrollment over 140,000. In comparison, roughly half of North Carolina school districts have fewer than 6,400 students enrolled. Our students’ academic performance, although high by state and national standards, has been on a plateau since 2003. Academic standards are continuing to increase, including elementary and middle school math, various high school courses, and overall graduation requirements.

Our vision is not for “most” students, it is for “every” student, and we accept that responsibility with confidence in our teachers and staff, our community, and our children.

With higher standards comes increased urgency in our efforts to eliminate achievement gaps between a child’s performance and potential -- both for our struggling and academically gifted students.

Recognizing these challenges, WCPSS began a process of purposeful change in July 2006, ﬁrst by focusing on the fundamentals of supporting our students and their aspirations. This was followed by commissioning a comprehensive independent curriculum management audit of our academic programs, and by accelerating our adoption of team-based, data-driven decision making through Professional Learning Communities in schools and Central Services departments.

These are not quick-ﬁx initiatives, but tools for promoting and sustaining the change necessary to foster a culture of learning. Implementation of the curriculum management audit’s recommendations will be a three to ﬁve year process, and Professional Learning Community development will be an on- going effort. These two tools build on the improvements we have already made in streamlining our Central Services divisions, strengthening our internal ﬁnancial controls, integrating community feedback through superintendent’s summits, and supporting School Improvement Planning through the area superintendents’ ofﬁces. In an effort to further increase our ﬁscal accountability, the Wake County Board of Education has adopted a new fund balance policy that limits the use of undesignated reserves while maintaining sufﬁcient funding for unanticipated needs. Our school system’s annual strategic plan and budget, the Plan for Student Success, is aligned with our strategic directives and leverages these tools. It contains a detailed FY 2008-09 budget with business cases for new or expansion items as well as a three-year projection. The initial plan is developed by the superintendent and submitted to the Wake County Board of Education. Once approved, the school board presents the plan to the Wake County Board of Commissioners, requesting the local funding needed to support it.

The 2008-09 Plan for Student Success identiﬁes additional funding needs that address growth and other changes in our operating environment that impact student learning. The Plan also begins the process of addressing higher standards, moving academic progress upward off its plateau, and eliminat- ing achievement gaps. As presented, the Plan represents our assessment of the ﬁnancial resources necessary to ensure the strength of the Wake County Public School System -- one of the economic engines of our county -- but that is only the means to an end.

The end we seek -- the result we are working toward -- is academic achievement for all students. Our schools must prepare all students for a global and technological future difﬁcult to imagine. Our vision is not for “most” students, it is for “every” student -- and we accept that responsibility with conﬁdence in our teachers and staff, our community, and our children.

Respectfully Submitted,

Del Burns, Ed.D.
Superintendent