January 9, 2009

Top News

Student Assignment Public Hearings Underway

A series of five public hearings is underway, as the Board of Education begins its review of the multi-year assignment proposal that will fill 10 new schools over the next three years. More than 75 attended last night’s hearing at Southeast Raleigh High and 175 attended the first hearing at Apex High Jan. 5. Other hearings are set for Jan. 12 at Millbrook High, Jan. 14 at Fuquay-Varina High and Jan. 15 at East Wake High. Video of the speakers at the public hearings is being posted online.

The staff proposal being reviewed by the board is online where the public can offer comments and sign up to participate in one of the public hearings. As of Jan. 9, visitors to the website had viewed 139,870 pages and downloaded 11,382 documents. 772 people offered comments.

The board will discuss the assignment proposal in a work session Jan. 22 and vote to adopt an assignment plan at its Feb. 3 meeting. You can visit 2009-12 Reassignment Plan - Public Comment Sought here.

Board Considers Name For New School

At its Jan. 6 meeting, the Board of Education heard from WCPSS Real Estate Director Betty Parker about names under consideration for E21. The suggested names are Southeast Raleigh Elementary, Walnut Creek Elementary, or Sunnybrook Road Elementary. Southeast Raleigh Elementary is proposed as it identifies the area of the town within which the school site is located, will help to identify the location of the site, and will help to establish a community identity for the facility. Walnut Creek Elementary is proposed because of the site’s proximity to Walnut Creek, into which water from the site drains, and which is the nearest notable geographic or natural feature. Sunnybrook Road Elementary is proposed as it identifies the road from which the school will be accessed and will help to specifically identify the location of the site. The board acquired approximately 19.77 acres on Oct. 1, 2008 for use as an elementary school in the E-21 target area. The school is scheduled to open in 2011. The board will vote on the name at its next meeting.

Board Approves Purchase of School Site

At its Jan. 6 meeting, the Board of Education approved the purchase of 29.96 acres on the north side of Shooting Club Road and on the west side of Creedmoor Road for a new elementary school. The board will pay $2.47 million for land. The site would be used for a school to be built as part of the next school construction program.

Issue: Superintendent Burns Sets Priorities Leadership for school executives and classroom teachers was the focal point of Superintendent Del Burns midterm report delivered to the Board of Education Jan. 6 and to school administrators Jan. 7. In his third annual report on the school system, Burns talked about the changing culture of the school system, the importance of the new academic goal set by the board and the impact of the national downturn in the economy. 2009 Midterm Report Acrobat file Text of Speech Acrobat File Video of Speech Quicktime File Parentvision: Understanding the New Academic Goal Chip Sudderth of WCPSS Communications talks with Chief Academic Officer Donna Hargens and Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services Marvin Connelly about the school board's new academic goal in this ParentVision video podcast. Wake County residents found a WCPSS midterm report in their newspapers this week and could turn to wcpss.net to find a copy of the report, video of Burns delivering his talk to the school board and a copy of the text of his speech. On Wednesday, Burns met with administrators in three sessions, talking with principals, Central Services administrators and assistant principals. After Burns delivered his midterm report, Chief Academic Officer Donna Hargens discussed the new board goal and Chief Business Officer David Neter discussed the $11.2 million in budget cuts. Then administrators met to discuss implementation of the academic goal. Burns congratulated the board for creating a goal that fulfills the school system vision that all students graduate on time prepared for the future. The goal states, “WCPSS students will demonstrate high academic growth; by 2014, all students will graduate on time prepared to compete globally.” It establishes a number of leading indicators for each grade span to let the community know how the school system is progressing toward this goal. Burns called for educators and the community to focus on two vital behaviors: making sure that students attend school and helping them to learn the NC Standard Course of Study. “It seems that these are simple behaviors, when in fact they involve complex systems of support,” said Burns. “If we are truly committed to our vision, we must act with purpose and conviction to make these behaviors our schools’ most important priority.” Burns thanked the county commissioners and county manager for working with the school system to identify sufficient resources to maintain the school building program in the short term and noted the school board had met the challenge of reducing the school system budget by $11.2 million this year.

More News

Get Ready for Magnet Season

Magnet program application season is almost upon us, and magnet schools are providing opportunities for families to learn about the schools before the online application period begins. School visits are coming up. Elementary school visits will be on Jan. 21 and 29; middle and high school visits take place between Jan. 5 and Feb. 5. The Magnet Resource Center will host parent information sessions every Tuesday in January and February at 10 a.m. The Magnet Resource Center is located behind Millbrook Elementary School at 1600 East Millbrook Road in Raleigh.

The magnet application period is from Feb. 9 to 28, and all applications must be submitted online. You can get more information by calling 501-7900 or visiting the magnet webpage here.

Sales Tax Agreement Approved

At its Jan. 6 meeting, the Board of Education approved an agreement with Wake County Commissioners that will provide the county sales tax savings. WCPSS and Wake County staffs reached an agreement to modify the method by which the real property interests are transferred by the board to the county for the duration of construction projects so that the county can claim sales tax refunds from the state. This agreement is supplemental to the original Sales Tax Agreement, entered by the Board of Education and the Board of Commissioner on March 20, 2007, with the primary change being the method of title transfer being accomplished by lease rather than by deed. The lease method of transfer has been approved as effective in a ruling from NC Department of Revenue staff. The modification will enable the board’s utilization of the master lease method of transfer to convey a leasehold interest of all board-owned properties to the county to maximize sales tax recoupment opportunities.

Policy Revisions Approved

At its Jan. 6 meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to revisions of two policies, as part of its ongoing review recommended by the curriculum management audit. Revisions to Policy 5100 address the requirement to assess students for mastery of learning objectives using both formative and summative assessment and the need for schools to analyze student data as part of the school improvement process. Revisions to Policy 5600 identify specific actions that the Superintendent and the Evaluation and Research Department must carry out to ensure that programs provided to students are effective and efficient. By using a variety of procedures for conducting evaluations, including various benefit-cost analyses, the Board and the district’s administration will be able to ensure that students’ needs are met and that resources are being well expended.

WCPSS/City of Raleigh Plan Business Expo

The 2009 Annual Minority/Women Business Expo will be held Thursday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center. This is an opportunity for potential contractors and small business owners to learn about business opportunities with the school system’s construction program. The WCPSS Facilities Department will showcase construction projects including: the Rolesville Middle site, Wilburn Elementary, Wake Forest-Rolesville High, and a new High School in Northern Wake County. Information will also be available for business opportunities in maintenance and operations for school facilities and campuses. For more information contact Tammie Hall, 919-856-8179 or thall@wcpss.net.