December 10, 2010

Top News

Proposed Student Reassignment Plan Presented to Board

At the Committee of the Whole meeting on Dec. 7, the Board of Education received the 2011-12 student reassignment proposal in a presentation by WCPSS Auxiliary Services Chief Don Haydon and Laura Evans, senior director of WCPSS Growth and Planning.

WCPSS Growth and Planning will mail notices to all the families in the nodes included in these staff recommendations, as well as families in the nodes that were originally in the plan approved in 2009 but who are not in this proposal.

Next Steps December 2010 Letters sent to families who may be impacted by assignment changes being considered by the board January 2011             BoE holds public hearings on 2011-12 assignments BoE work session on 2011-12 assignments February 1, 2011 BoE approves 2011-12 school assignments February 3, 2011 Kindergarten registration begins Pre-registration for all grades begins February 5 - February 13 Letters to all currently enrolled families impacted by reassignment decisions February 14 -February 28 Magnet/calendar application period for parents March 1 - 14 Create/print base attendance maps with BOE approved changes for 2011-12 March 15 Families receive application notification Website for magnet/calendar application results available April Website for grandfathering transfers available May 13 Official Notice of Assignment distributed to all students May 13 - June 1 Student transfer period

The proposal fills the new Walnut Creek Elementary School opening as a traditional calendar school next year with approximately 755 students, opens the new Wake NC State STEM Early College with approximately 50 students and addresses crowding issues.

The proposal would impact 1,552 existing elementary base students, 631 existing middle school base students, and 630 existing high school base students. The proposal would impact 354 existing elementary school calendar application students and 57 existing middle school calendar application students. Staff Recommendations (PDF)

Staff is still considering the middle and high school assignments for the nodes of students being assigned to Walnut Creek and will seek direction from the board on the reassignment of these nodes. These moves are not part of the current proposal. Recommendations Deferred to Board for Guidance (PDF)

Input received from the four community workshops held in November, e-mail submissions, board members, principals and the Student Assignment Committee Citizen Advisors not directly related to the approved third year of the multi-year assignment plan have been compiled. Staff, in following the board's Oct. 5 directive, presented this input to the board for direction. These moves are not part of the current proposal. Additional Suggested Changes (PDF)

During the Committee of the Whole meeting, board members directed staff to bring back recommendations on schools that are predicted to be at or below 75 percent capacity and proposed assignment changes that were considered by the board last spring but not acted upon. These will be discussed during the board’s next work session on Dec. 14.

Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Presented to Board

At its Dec. 7 meeting, the Board of Education received the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the Wake County Board of Education for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010.

In reviewing the document with the board, WCPSS Finance Officer Mark Winters noted total revenues received by the school system for 2010 decreased from 2009 by more than $201 million, the first decrease in a 10-year period. He noted while revenues have decreased, there are more children being served in the schools. State funding was one area where revenues were down in 2010, decreasing from 2009 by 10 percent.

Winters explained that the total per pupil operating budget spending for 2010 was $7,801, a decrease from $8,220 in 2009. He said that spending in instructional services decreased due to the class size increase by two students in grades four through 12 and a change in the formula for teacher assistants established in the school system budget for 2009-10.

The board’s independent certified public accountants are Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, LLP. The firm audited the basic financial statements and related combining and individual fund statements and schedules.

Eddie Burke of Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, LLP, said the audit went smoothly this year and the WCPSS Finance Department and other staff provided full cooperation. Phyllis Pearson, chair of the Audit Committee, said the committee met with Cherry, Bekaert & Holland to discuss the audit on Nov. 19 and accepted the report.

As a result of appropriate fiscal management, including realistic budgeting practices, effective cost controls and sound cash management, the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report indicates a strong financial position on June 30, 2010.

WCPSS Creates Webpage Seeking Budget Suggestions

The Wake County Public School System has created a webpage to seek suggestions for the 2011-12 fiscal year budget.

The school system expects an additional 4,100 students either enrolled in our schools or attending local charter schools (for which we provide per-pupil operating funding). The school system will open two new schools: Walnut Creek Elementary and the Wake NC State University STEM Early College.

With the current economic conditions, the school system does not expect any additional county funding, costs for benefits and utilities are increasing, and, most importantly, state and federal funding is likely to be cut significantly. The funding shortfall for 2011-12 school system budget is estimated at between $70 million and $100 million dollars.

As in the previous two years, WCPSS must do more—serve more students, and do so more effectively—with less money. The school system is inviting the public to make suggestions on how best to achieve that by submitting their ideas online at http://www.wcpss.net/budget/2011-12-suggestions/.

At the webpage, you can find important background information about the school system budget.

More News

Board Agrees To Retain Accountability Gateways

At its Dec. 7 meeting, the Board of Education agreed to keep the gateway requirement in grades 3, 5, and 8 and the five EOC requirements in high school. This means WCPSS will continue to require passage of the state accountability testing for promotion to the next grade. Local school districts were given the option to enforce the more stringent requirements after the State Board of Education voted to eliminate the gateway requirements in October.

Board Approves Enloe Application for JROTC

At its Dec. 7 meeting, the Board of Education approved Enloe Magnet High School’s request to submit an application to establish a JROTC – Army program at the school. The Army has confirmed that they have new program openings available. Enloe will be devoting 10 months of employment and facility space to establish this program. WCPSS currently has Navy, Air Force and Army JROTC programs.

Board Receives 2010-2011 Facilities Utilization Report

At its Dec. 7 meeting, the Board of Education received the 2010-11 Facilities Utilization Report which includes the system’s 20th day school membership, school capacities, utilization of temporary classrooms, and the impact of programs on capacity. The report includes crowding percentages and capacity models that describe the planned use of classrooms in each school, including accommodations for students with special needs and magnet programs. Staff presented the report for review and discussion at the Nov. 16 work session. The methods used to calculate school capacity impact the scope of the capital improvement program.

Board Honors Edward Clayton McLean with Naming of Gym

At its Dec. 7 meeting, the Board of Education approved the recommendation of the Pleasant Union Elementary School Leadership Team to name the school’s gymnasium in honor of Edward Clayton McLean. Coach McLean built a top quality physical fitness program during his 17 years of service at Pleasant Union. In addition, Coach McLean taught and coached at Cary Middle School and Broughton High School, and coached at the collegiate level. The gymnasium is being named in honor of McLean in recognition of his extraordinary service to the community and to students of Wake County.

Board Approves Policy 1340

At its Dec. 7 meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to Policy 1340: Standing Committees. The policy was repealed on July 20, 2010 in an effort to make changes to the board meeting structure, but at the board’s Nov. 9, 2010 work session, the board agreed to reinstate the policy with changes recommended by the board members. The following statement was added, “The committee chair shall establish a regular schedule for the committee meetings and shall have discretion to call meetings on an ‘as needed basis.” This change allows committee chairs flexibility to hold meetings only when needed.

Board Approves Revision to Policy 6203

At its Dec. 7 meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to revisions of Policy 6203: Transfer of School Assignment. The revisions will enable students participating in exchange programs abroad to return to their previous school upon return. The change was reviewed at the board work session on Oct. 5, 2010 and received first reading on Nov. 9, 2010.

State Board of Education Approves Revised Social Studies Standards

At its Dec. 2 meeting, the State Board of Education approved changes to the state social studies standards that will go into effect for freshmen entering high school for the first time in 2012-13. These students will be the first required under the new standards to pass two U.S. History courses in order to receive a high school diploma. The two required U.S. History courses mean that students will need a minimum of four credits in social studies and 22 credits overall (local districts may require more credits than the state minimum) to graduate. This is but one of several key changes to the state’s Social Studies Standards. You can read more about this story here.

N.C. Virtual Public School Second in the Nation in Enrollment

At its Dec. 2 meeting, the State Board of Education received the news that North Carolina’s Virtual Public School as the nation's second largest virtual school in terms of enrollment. The ranking was in this year’s “2010 Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning.” In just three and a half years, the school has become one of the fastest growing virtual schools in the country, topping 70,000 in enrollments by the fall of 2010.

Pizza for the Pupils Returns Dec. 15

Wake County Board of Education vice-chair Debra Goldman announced at the Tuesday, Dec. 7, school board meeting that Wake County Papa John's pizza restaurants would be donating a portion of their Wednesday, Dec. 15, proceeds to all schools in the Wake County Public School System.

The Wake County Corporate Operators and Franchisee of Papa John's Pizza will calculate a three-week average of Wednesday sales, and then donate 20 percent of all Dec. 15 pizza sales above that average.

All of the donated funds will be divided evenly between the 163 WCPSS schools. They will be deposited in principals' discretionary (Fund 6) accounts; principals are encouraged to use that funding to support their schools' technology needs.
A similar fund-raiser in October raised $5,233 for the school system. Proceeds are split evenly among the 163 Wake County public schools.