June 19, 2009

Top News

Board of Education Adjusts Bell Schedule at Seven Schools

At its June 12 meeting, the Board of Education made final adjustments to the bell schedule affecting seven schools:

• Hodge Road Elementary, 8:20-3:00
• Centennial Campus Middle, 7:35-2:30
• Moore Square Middle, 7:35-2:30
• Mt Vernon School, 7:50-2:00
• River Oaks Middle, 7:50-2:00
• Enloe High, 7:25-2:30
• Phillips High, 7:25-2:17

The bell schedules for three new schools are:

• Banks Road Elementary, 9:05-3:45
• Lake Myra Elementary, 9:05-3:45
• Herbert Akins Elementary, 9:05-3:45

You can find the complete 2009-10 bell schedule here.

WCPSS Demographer publishes distance analysis for 2006-07

In a report looking at the 2006-07 school year, WCPSS demographer Maja Vouk found that 79.6 percent of the 128,260 WCPSS students in that year attended a school within five miles of their home. Of the 102,051 students attending school within five miles of their home, 87,324 were assigned to school and 14,727 by choice.

Students attending a school by choice, such as those going to magnet and year-round schools, or transfers, who use their own transportation, tend to live further from the attending school than "by assignment" students.

In 2003-04, Vouk did the first distance analysis of WCPSS students. In that report, 78.7 percent of the 108,585 WCPSS students attended a school within five miles of their home. Of the 85,468 students attending school within five miles of their home, 71,769 were assigned to school and 13,699 by choice.

In looking at the 2006-07 distance analysis by grade level, the report finds that:

• 89.8% of the elementary school students are assigned to a school within five miles of home, and 99.0 percent are assigned to a school within 10 miles;
• 81.1% of the middle school students are assigned to a school within five miles of home, and 99.0 percent are assigned to a school within 10 miles; and
• 84.2% of high school students are assigned to a school that is within five miles of their home, and 99.5 percent are assigned to a school within 10 miles.

The analysis describes a straight-line distance between the node where the student lives and the student's school.

You can find the full report online here or the report summary here.

2009 WCPSS School Counselors of the Year

Three school counselors have been named the 2009 Wake County Public School System Counselors of the Year. They are:

• Margaret Ray-Nobles - Holly Grove Elementary School
• Jean Carter - Heritage Middle School
• Tammy Rhye-Butler - Middle Creek High School

"These schools counselors demonstrate the best qualities of WCPSS school counselors and implement an outstanding comprehensive school counseling program at their schools," said Eric Sparks, WCPSS Director of School Counseling

The School Counselor of the Year is named for elementary, middle and high schools.
Packets are being submitted for these school counselors to the NC School Counselor Association and the American School Counselor Association for consideration for the state and national award processes.

ISSUE:  Class of 2009 Earns $66 million in Scholarships Superintendent Del Burns offered his congratulations to the Class of 2009 for the hard work that helped them complete their years in our school system. Burns noted the Class of 2009 earned a record $66.38 million in scholarships. Enloe High seniors are on stage to speak during their graduation ceremonies. There are more students and more high schools than in past years, but the sharp increase in scholarship dollars can also be attributed to the aggressive efforts of families and students as well as encouragement by WCPSS high schools. Here’s what Dr. Burns had to say at the June 16 board meeting about this year’s graduations: “It takes hours and hours and many people to organize and coordinate graduation ceremonies. I want to give special thanks to Area Superintendent Ann Hooker. Mrs. Hooker started back in the fall looking at the new facility, the wonderful convention center, and working with our principals and their teams to plan for graduation. Mrs. Hooker, thank you very much on behalf of our graduates. Our high school principals and their staffs spent hours and hours planning. It is a very important part of the journey, the end of high school. And our staff knows that. Our principals do a great job. One of the things that I find very impressive and I am amazed by is that as much alike as our graduation ceremonies are, in fact, they are different. They are different because they do reflect the students, the schools and the communities. The most important folks who had an impact on graduation for our students probably weren’t present - the teachers and the principals from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. And in many cases the high school teachers were present, but the teachers who started with kindergarteners and they saw and understood that vision of students graduating on time and helped the students move through our school system truly made a difference. I want to thank them for their dedication and hard work as well.” Dr. Burns also offered his thanks to the WCPSS Security staff, Raleigh Convention Center staff, City of Raleigh staff and Raleigh Police Department for their assistance in making graduation in the new convention center a success.

More News

Kevin L. Hill Elected as Board of Education Chair

Kevin L. Hill

Kevin L. Hill was elected the new chair of the Wake County Board of Education during the board's annual meeting June 16. Hill, a unanimous choice for the post, was the only person nominated by board members for the position of chair.

"I'm grateful for this privilege, and I look forward to serving as chair for the coming year," Hill said after being elected. "My commitment is to work closely with my fellow board members, always remembering that our responsibility is to help provide the best educational opportunities for all children in Wake County."

Hill, who served as vice-chair of the board last year, spent his entire career working for the Wake County Public School System. He retired from the system in 2005 after teaching secondary social studies for 14 years and serving as an assistant principal and principal at elementary, middle, and high schools for 14 years. He is a clinical instructor and assistant program coordinator for undergraduate Secondary Social Studies Education at NC State University. Hill is also a program presenter and social studies methods instructor with the NC State NC TEACH Program.

During the annual meeting, the board selected Horace Tart as vice-chair. Tart was a unanimous choice for the post. He was the only person nominated by board members for the position of vice-chair. Tart has served on the board for four years.

Board Resolution Honors Board Chair Rosa Gill

Rosa Gill was recognized by her fellow school board members for her nine-and-a-half years of service on the board including the past two as the board's chair. New board chair Kevin L. Hill read a resolution honoring Gill for her service during the meeting. Gill resigned from the board following the board's June 16 meeting. She was recently selected by the Wake Democratic Committee as the N.C. House District 33 Representative. She succeeds former Rep. Dan Blue, who was selected to serve out the remainder of the late Sen. Vernon Malone's term in the N.C. Senate. "Serving on the Wake County Board of Education has been my pleasure," Gill said. "While I am extremely honored to be able to serve our citizens as their representative in the North Carolina House, I have felt the same honor and pride serving as a representative of the Board of Education."

Kevin L. Hill presents plaque to Rosa Gill.

She said she will use the experience she gained on the Board of Education to continue to work for the children of North Carolina.

Board Approves 2009-2010 Annual Balanced Budget Resolution

At its June 16 meeting, the Board of Education gave approval to the 2009-10 Annual Balanced Budget Resolution. The board action brings the budget into line with funding from the Wake County Commissioners and establishes the Adopted Budget for the Wake County Public School System for 2009-2010. The county commissioners provided local funding of $313.5 million and the school board trimmed $3.3 million, removing from the budget the amount expected to pay for state-mandated pay raises. WCPSS administrators say the state won’t be awarding any pay raises this year. State lawmakers continue to work on the state budget which funds more than 60 percent of the WCPSS budget.

Board Sets Tuition Fee For Non-Resident Students For 2009-10

At its June 16 meeting, the Board of Education set tuition for non-resident students for the 2009-10 school year at $4,290.27. The recommended fee is based on the 2008-2009 county tax appropriation for current expense, capital outlay, and capital improvement. Tuition fees collected will go into the general fund as reserves.

Board Approves JROTC for Millbrook High

At its June 16 meeting, the Board of Education gave its approval to the establishment of an Army JROTC program at Millbrook High. The school’s application has received conditional approval from the Department of the Army. The support from the Department of the Army will include half of the salary for an officer and half the salary for a non-commissioned officer. The school must commit to pay for the other half of each salary. Additionally, the Department of the Army will provide equipment, uniforms, and supplies to support the program. WCPSS will provide classroom space, storage space and proof of insurance. Students and instructors will be included under the system’s insurance. Millbrook High School will absorb the start-up costs and personnel to support the program from its school operating budget and ADM allocation.

Board reviews policy updates

At its meeting June 16, the Board of Education gave first reading approval to revisions of
Policy 3610/4510/5040 – Professional Learning Teams

The board gave final approval to revisions for
Policy 1317: Open Meetings
Policy 1322: Agendas
Policy 1600: Board Member Orientation
Policy 7125: School Bus Routing and Bus Stops

The review of board policies is based on a recommendation from the curriculum management audit.

Dr. Burns Launches Superintendent's Journal

The Journal is a videotaped message from Superintendent Del Burns to parents and the community regarding the issues that affect the Wake County Public School System. In what are expected to be regular webcasts, the Journal will allow parents and other key stakeholders the opportunity to hear directly from the Superintendent about plans for the new school year, ways to become involved and how we are improving to meet the needs of all of our students. You can find the Superintendent’s Journal here.

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