Minutes: November 19, 1999
Facilitators and Attendance
Facilitating the meeting were George Alwon and Mark Kelly of The Raleigh Consulting Group, Inc.
There were 21 members present. They are listed as follows:
| Name | Affiliation | |
| Jim Talton | Chairman, Citizens Advisory Committee | |
| Ann Rollins | PTA | |
| Bob Williams | Retired, NCSU | |
| Brooks Gulledge | Residential Contractor | |
| Chuck Fuller | Citizens for a Sound Economy | |
| Diana Bader | PTA | |
| Dr. Edna Black | Education Management Consultant | |
| Ferris Chandler | Retired, Cooper Tool | |
| Forrest Ball | Real Estate | |
| Joe Sansom | State Treasurers Office | |
| John Boling | SAS Institute, Inc. | |
| John Dornan | Public School Forum | |
| Larry Dickens | DOT | |
| Maebelle Hudson | Wake ACT | |
| Nellie Tomlinson | Attorney, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice | |
| Randy Jones | Rhone-Poulenc In-House Attorney | |
| Renee Shaw | CCB | |
| Ross Rhudy | Raleigh/Wake Board of Realtors | |
| Susan Fonville | PTA | |
| Terry Yeargan | Bovis Construction Corp. | |
| Tim McBrayer | Signature Publishing |
Those not present are as follows:
| Name | Affiliation | |
| Allen Jones | DJB Construction Group | |
| Blount Williams | Alfred Williams | |
| Bob Beasley | Mallinckrodt | |
| Bynum Satterwhite | Wake Education Partnership | |
| Don Walston | Howard, Perry and Walston | |
| Joe Whitehouse | CMS | |
| John Boylan | Spectrum Properties | |
| John Hood | John Locke Foundation | |
| John Linderman | Grubb & Ellis | |
| Joyce Fennell | Teacher | |
| Truman Newberry | Architect |
Minutes
The minutes for the meeting of November 19, 1999 are as follows:
The committee had four guest speakers:
1. Dr. Surratt, WCPSS superintendent
Presented The Schools as Necessary Infrastructure: Alternative to Continued Bond Funding. Some of the key points for discussion were:
- a. Alternative Funding Sources
- Impact Fees
- "Pay As You Go"
- Local Option Sales Tax
- Transfer Fee
- Lottery
- b. Alternative Classroom Sources
- Tax Breaks
- Donated Schools
- c. Managing Growth
- Enrollment "Capping"
- Year-Round Schools
- Double Shifts
- Reassignment
- Non-Traditional Settings
Committee Members Questions and Comments
- Offered alternative funding sources, classroom sources and managing growth, idea alternative
- He likes businesses providing space for public education. He believes this is a win-win situation and we should look into this.
- Encouraged group to come up with combination of funding sources
- Let's consider a voluntary year-round high school (9-12), even if it means no football program.
- Will there be new year-round schools in 00-01? If yes, which?
- Lufkin Road Middle is not as close to its target population as West Cary and East Cary. Why not transfer the year-round middle school program to one of them and place Lufkin Road on a traditional schedule?
- Alternative funding ideas and school facility restrictions are readily available, but little attention has been given to reducing expenditures in order to spend the savings on classrooms/construction.
- Though savings are available through reducing unnecessary regulations, there is no encouragement for school system leadership to push for regulatory relief.
- Too quick to dismiss potential of expanding year-round schedules to curb building needs
- Needs to be specific about which rules and regulations to be waived
- What federal and state regulations would Dr. Surratt suggest we do away with in order to save money?
- What external sources of revenue have raised the most money around the country?
- What would the superintendent's office suggest we do to raise these funds?
- Impact fees not a good way to go
- "Pay As You Go" actually gives slight tax reduction
- Year-round schools loosing popularity
- Best solution is strong base of pay-as-you-go
- Tax Breaks
- Donated Schools
- Enrollment "capping"
- Student stability program
- Year-round
- Double shifts
- Reassignment
- Non-traditional settings
- Mandatory capping year-round are not scare tactics. They are realities when you have a continual influx of students (3000 per year). WCPSS must educate all the children. There are no exceptions.
- Many alternatives to school funding will only do part of the job and are strongly opposed.
- Information is needed on test scores of technology-equipped classes with TA's vs. those without.
2. Brenda Hourigan Barker,WCPSS
Presented the group with Overview and Update on Technology in WCPSS. Some of the key points of discussion were:
- Myths
- History
- Technology Taskforce
- Technology Connections
Committee members questions and comments:
- No mention of measurable educational impact
- Total focus on acquisition, not results
- Student-centered approach to teaching
- Designed by teachers
- Leasing is only cost effective if computers can be turned over every two years. WCPSS is not there yet.
- Technology integrates curriculum.
- Training is essential.
- Bond dollars were not intended for purchase of computers.
- Did Brenda say bond dollars were to free dollars from other areas for technology?
- What are quantifiable results of using technology? This question was not answered.
- Brenda felt plan was well thought out (not quickly put together like "myth")
- She does not like her piece of bond called "technology," when it is "really instructional."
- Technology is critical - we need it!
- Attaching the word "technology" to a budget item makes people think it's a luxury item.
- Bond issue: no attempt made to justify why technology is needed. Link to curriculum benefits is even now unclear.
3. Karen Banks, WCPSS
Presented Progress Towards the 95% Goal School System Benchmarking Initiatives and Long-Range Plans. Some of the key points of discussion were:
- A Snapshot of Student Outcomes
- Who Are We?
- Our Community Goal
- End of Grade (EOG) Achievement Levels
- Areas for Improvement
- The 95% goal has already been achieved for some demographic groups.
- The state ABC plan recognized many WCPSS schools.
- ABC "growth" scores for WCPSS
Committee members questions and comments:
- Students on free lunch need more resources.
- TA's do not help raise scores!
- Minority students on free lunch need more help.
- Technology program under evaluation
- We are not doing well with disadvantaged children.
- Class size does matter.
- She knows her information!
- Research shows classes with TA did not do as well as those with just teachers - very surprising results.
- Wake is in good shape, but could raise the bar higher to do better.
- TA's do not seem to raise achievement scores. What ability do we have to study how we are using TA's so we could have a productive conversation about whether this program should be improved or scrapped?
4. Tom Oxholm, Wake Stone Corporation
Reviewed operational spending in WCPSS: Show Me the Money and Understanding WCPSS Spending. Some of the key points of discussion were:
- How do you spend half a billion dollars on public schools in Wake County?
- Typical Elementary School Expenditures in 1996-97
- Typical Middle School Expenditures in 1996-97
- Typical High School Expenditures in 1996-97
- Salaries in 1997-98
- Maintenance and Operations in 1996-97
- Auxiliary Services in 1996-97
- Administrative Services in 1996-97
- Curriculum and Instruction in 1996-97
- Instructional Services in 1996-97
- Student Services in 1996-97
- All Other in 1996-97
Committee members questions and comments:
- Centralization helps keep down what could be lots of duplicate jobs in each school.
- Lots of expensive things are used to serve mandated programs.
- Very knowledgeable
- Excellent presentation
- Helpful clarification of budget
- Numbers have been studied to death (no audit needed!)
5. Next Meeting Dates
Dec. 3Dec. 17 (tentative)
Jan. 7
Jan. 21
Feb. 11
Feb. 18
Mar. 3
Mar. 17
Mar. 31
These meetings will be held at West Millbrook Middle School.