November 21, 2008

Top News

School System Examines $11 Million Cut

Revenue shortfalls at the state and county level have led WCPSS to respond to requests for cuts of up to $11 million. Superintendent Del Burns explained to the board in the Nov. 18 committee of the whole meeting that all school systems across North Carolina are required as of Nov 17 to revert a portion of their state appropriation in order to address reduced state revenue. The WCPSS portion of that is approximately $5.4 million. WCPSS must report back to the state by Dec. 19 plans for reducing funding by that amount.

Burns told the board Wake County Manager David Cooke had let him know that Wake County is looking to reduce county funding and the question was raised regarding Wake Technical Community College and WCPSS - even though they are not county departments - participating in that reduction of expenditure. The school system portion is approximately $5.7 million.

The board asked staff to report back with a plan to address the state and county revenue reductions. Information will be presented to the finance committee and presented to the board for action by its Dec. 16 meeting. Dr. Burns said we will make certain we minimize impact on the classroom and on employees.

Board Works on Goal

Work continues on establishing a new goal for WCPSS. In a Nov. 17 work session, board members worked to finalize wording, agreeing on: “WCPSS students will demonstrate high academic growth; by 2014, all students will graduate on time prepared to compete globally. The board talked with administrators about measuring progress toward achieving the goal. They have identified more than 20 markers, such as increased enrollment in second languages, increased enrollment at middle school in Algebra I, increased success on state EOG and EOC testing.

Magnet Maps Change

Changes to WCPSS magnet draw areas were presented to the Board of Education at its Nov. 18 meeting. Magnet staff has collaborated with Growth and Planning to revise the 2008-09 draw areas for magnet application. The changes affect High School International Baccalaureate; Middle School Academically Gifted Basics and Gifted and Talented; Middle School International Baccalaureate; Elementary International Baccalaureate; and Elementary Creative Arts. Current magnet students may remain at their current school until they graduate. Siblings of current magnet students seeking a magnet assignment in 2009-10 will be assigned to the new schools. The Magnet Office has mailed letters to parents of affected families, and the student assignment finder website has been updated to show the new magnet draw areas. You can find more information on magnet schools here.

ISSUE:  Multi-Year Student Assignment In an unprecedented effort, the WCPSS Growth and Planning Department has drafted a three-year school assignment proposal that fills 10 new schools and gives parents more detailed information earlier. Assignment Proposal Community engagement meetings Nov. 20 at Knightdale High - More than 150 attend receiving an update on proposal impact in eastern Wake county and giving input to school administrators Dec. 1 at Cary High, 638 Walnut Street, Cary, NC Dec. 3 at Wake Forest-Rolesville High, 420 W. Stadium Drive, Wake Forest, NC Dec. 4 at Holly Springs High, 5329 Cass Holt Road, Holly Springs, NC Dec. 8 at Broughton High, 723 St. Mary's Street, Raleigh, NC Meetings will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in the auditorium of each high school. Assistant Superintendent Chuck Dulaney of WCPSS Growth and Planning said the multi-year proposal responds to public requests for information and input and was made possible thanks to improved technology and planning information provided by municipalities. More than 5,000 hours of time were volunteered by parents and educators who took part in impact teams that worked with WCPSS Growth and Planning staff in developing the draft proposal for the public. The impact teams were groups of 10-30 people consisting of parents, principals, and teachers from the schools likely to be affected by the opening of the 10 new schools. Dulaney said more than 100 people participated on the teams. There were 27 meetings with different members of these teams. Parents in these groups said they would like to see children kept together as they move from elementary to middle school and from middle school to high school. Ten new schools are due to open over the next three years. Five will be multi-track year-round elementary schools, three will be multi-track year-round middle schools and two high schools. The draft proposal includes 8,162 assignments in 2009, 14,200 in 2010 and 4,409 in 2011. The Board of Education will determine the use of grandfathering, designating students who may remain in the current school while providing their own transportation, usually determined by grade level and proposed assignment. A number of the students in the proposal are not currently enrolled in WCPSS. More than 1,400 in the proposal are kindergartners who will enter school over the next three years. The proposal also addresses anticipated students moving into our community over the next three years. The proposal was released on wcpss.net Saturday morning. As of 9:45 Friday morning, visitors to the proposals had viewed 342,412 pages and downloaded 31,786 PDF files. Visitors had used the online system to provide 1,539 comments. The school system is receiving comments on the proposal online and in a series of public hearings. The last hearing is set for Dec. 8 and online comments will be accepted until the end of day on Dec. 10. The feedback provided in the community engagement meetings and through online comments will be used by the Growth and Planning Department to prepare a final proposal to be presented to the Board of Education on Dec. 16. After receiving the proposal, the board will hold public hearings and work sessions as they work to finalize the proposal in February.

More News

High Five Honored

Superintendent Del Burns presented an award to Orage Quarles, publisher of the News and Observer, and thanked the other four corporate leaders:  Blue Cross Blue Shield, Capitol Broadcasting, Progress Energy and SAS for creating the High Five partnership. High Five has worked with WCPSS and four neighboring school systems. The primary strategy used by High Five to support student learning in school systems is training and support for professional learning communities. You can listen to an audio podcast here.

WCPSS Partners with Peace College

Teacher education and recruitment are the focus of the partnership between Peace College and WCPSS. The two have worked together since the fall of 2004 to design a program to recruit and develop prospective teachers who will be equipped to become effective career teachers and teacher leaders. The program offers both degree-seeking and licensure-only options for those who want to become teachers, preparing teacher candidates for licensure in both Elementary Education K-6 and Special Education: General Curriculum K-12. The partnership offers a high quality teacher education program that is meeting needs in critical areas. At the Nov. 18 meeting of the school board, Peace College President Laura Bingham talked about the connection made by training college students in WCPSS schools and preparing them for jobs in Wake County. You can listen to an audio podcast here.

Board Revises Policy 1510

At its Nov. 18 meeting, the Board of Education gave first reading approval to a revision of Policy 1510 for policy development, following the curriculum management audit recommendation for updating board policies. The revised policy more clearly describes the role of the board and staff in developing, approving and implementing policy. The revision notes the need for periodic review, training of staff and the use of regulations and procedures (R&P) to provide staff with guidelines to assist in policy implementation.