April 12, 2010

Top News

2010 WCPSS Teacher of the Year Finalists Selected

The Finalists for the 2010 Wake County Teacher of the Year were honored in a reception at the NC Bar Association last week. The 12 finalists include:

Margaret Feldman of Salem Middle
Carol Wooten of Hunter Magnet Elementary
Carole Barber of Fuquay-Varina High
Davida Jenkins-Tatum of Harris Creek Elementary
Breanna Harrill of Athens Drive High
Douglas Steve Clark of West Lake Elementary
Jennifer Hunter of North Forest Pines Elementary
Christina Rudd of Cary High
Elizabeth Plotkin of Fuller Magnet Elementary
Paul Bissell Graves of Daniels Magnet Middle
James Ryan of Knightdale High
Alice Verstrat of Garner Magnet High

The Wake County Teacher of the Year banquet is scheduled for Thursday, May 13, when the Teacher of the Year will be honored.

Hargens Named Interim Superintendent

The Wake County Board of Education named Dr. Donna Hargens Interim Superintendent at its April 6 meeting.  Dr. Hargens will oversee the administrative duties of day-to-day operations of the school system. She was named acting superintendent by the board in a specially called meeting on Tuesday, March 9. Hargens has served the school system as Chief Academic Officer and Area Assistant Superintendent, as well as principal of Green Hope High and Cary High. She was an assistant principal at Millbrook High.

Board Finalizes Assignments; Magnet and Calendar Notification Set for April 16

At its April 6 meeting, the Board of Education finalized student assignment for 2010-11, requiring the notification date for magnet and calendar applications to move to April 16 to incorporate the final changes to the assignment plan.

WCPSS Growth and Planning staff will begin implementing the changes made by the board and will then be able to run magnet/calendar selection. After the selection process has been run, families will be able to visit the WCPSS website to view the status of their magnet and calendar applications.

The information will be available on the website on Friday, April 16, instead of the earlier proposed date of Thursday, April 8. This change in date provided the board additional time to review student assignments.

Parents will now have one week to make a decision and will be asked to indicate their decision not to accept the application seat by noting this on the website if they decline the requested magnet or calendar assignment.

Early the week of April 19, parents of students at multi-track, year-round schools can check with their schools which will be releasing information on track assignments. Principals will be working to better align family preferences and needs with track assignments to provide more stability for families and to avoid further track changes.

More News

Board Receives Update on Budget

In an update for financial and budget news at the April 6 Committee of the Whole meeting, WCPSS Chief Business Officer David Neter told the board that local revenues in the current budget year from fines and forfeitures, interest and other sources is likely to be $5 million under projections. As a result, the school system has put a freeze on Central Services non-mission critical local spending for the rest of the fiscal year.

Neter also advised the board of issues that may impact the 2010-11 school budget. He noted word of actions taken at the state and country level. In late March the governor's office instructed the Department of Public Instruction to propose plans to reduce funding for public education by 3 percent as the state fights a budget shortfall, staff members reported. They said they don't know yet whether the reduction, which for Wake County means $20 million, will be ordered in certain areas or will be open for district decision-making.

School Meal Prices to Increase for 2010-11

For the first time in years, the price of meals will increase at school.  At its meeting April 6, the Board of Education approved increases in the price of breakfast and lunch for 2010-11.

How long has it been since meal prices were increased?   Breakfast Lunch Elementary 1995 2002 Middle 2004 2004 High 2001 2002

WCPSS Child Nutrition Services requested meal price increases of 20 cents for breakfast and 25 cents for lunch. This will make the costs of elementary breakfast one dollar and the costs of middle and high school breakfast $1.25. The cost of elementary lunch will increase to $2 and the costs of middle and high school lunch $2.25.

This is the first change in any meal prices since 2004. This is the first time elementary breakfast prices have changed since 1995.

Child Nutrition Services is an enterprise fund and is required to maintain a balanced budget. Enterprise funds require the full costs of providing the goods or services be financed primarily through payments made by parents and federal funds thus removing the expenses from the tax rate.

Since 2003, food costs have increased 40 percent, state mandated salaries have increased 19 percent, and benefits costs have increased 31 percent. Steps that have been taken to prevent price increases over the past six years include: reduced staffing through attrition (5 percent in 2007-08 and 5 percent in 2008-09); reduced the number of food items offered while maintaining a variety of meal components; used proven cost controlled, pre-planned cycle menus; increased a-la-carte selling prices; reduced food waste through better batch cooking; and improved accountability and procurement practices.

The meal prices are comparable to other large school systems in North Carolina.

Board Continues Discussion of Bell Schedule for 2010-11

In the April 6 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Board of Education continued its discussion of the bell schedule for 2010-11. The board agreed that its Finance Committee should review the latest school system proposal.

In 2010-11, four new schools will open, and it is anticipated that 2,000 additional students will be riding the bus. In the initial proposal, staff recommended later bell times for third tier schools. In April 6 discussions, staff recommended increasing the number of buses in service, requiring additional staffing costs.

Board Gives Preliminary Approval to Resolution Expressing Board Commitment to Efforts of Voluntary Desegregation

At its meeting April 6, the Board of Education gave first reading approval to a Resolution Expressing Board Commitment to Efforts of Voluntary Desegregation. The board will vote final approval of the resolution in its next meeting. The WCPSS staff will be able to use this resolution in its submission for the U.S. Department of Education's Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant for Brentwood Magnet Elementary, Smith Magnet Elementary and Millbrook Magnet High.

Board Approves Driver Education Contract for 2010-11

At its April 6 meeting, the Board of Education approved the contract for Driver Education with Jordan Driving School for the period of July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The contract with Jordan Driving School is for $214 per each student completing driver education, which is no increase to the current funding. The last increase was October 18, 2005. Jordan Driving School has been providing Driver Education Program Services to WCPSS since July 1, 1992.

The N.C. Department of Transportation Allocation will fund all costs of the program for Driver Education. No local funds will used to support this program.

Board Approves Interlocal Agreement for E-20

At its April 6 meeting, the Board of Education reapproved the Interlocal Agreement with Wake County and the City of Raleigh for the former North Wake Landfill site borrow area. Wake County, City of Raleigh, and school system staff are jointly developing a master plan for the site. The preliminary concept plans identify three proposed community uses: an elementary school site (E-20), park improvements, and an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) facility.

Through the master planning process, property lines for subdivision of the tract will be determined for each of the proposed uses and the areas surveyed to determine the precise acreage of the sites to be deeded to each of the respective parties. The city and board agree to purchase the acreage for their respective tracts for a price of $54,000 per acre. The site will include: (1) an 800 student capacity elementary school and related program areas (Board’s Obligation); (2) a park consisting of active and passive recreation areas that may include a community center, play fields, related program areas and other amenities, and the preservation of open space and natural areas (City’s Obligation); and (3) an EMS facility and related parking (County’s Obligation).

The City, County and Board are jointly responsible for the design costs associated with master planning and for infrastructure improvements construction costs, which shall be apportioned among the parties per the agreement. This agreement was originally approved by the board on June 17, 2008, has been approved by Wake County, and is scheduled to come before the Raleigh City Council for review and approval on April 20, 2010.

Board Approves 2010 Legislative Agenda

At its April 6 meeting, the Board of Education approved the 2010 Legislative Agenda. Before adopting the agenda proposed by the WCPSS Legislative Committee, board members made two changes. The first change was to oppose taxing authority by local boards of education and the second was to add a new item to raise the cap on charter schools.