July 22, 2010

Top News

Parents settled their students in class for the first day of kindergarten at Pleasant Union Elementary.

School Year Starts for Modified Calendar and Year-Round Students

The 2010-11 school year is underway for the Wake County Public School System.

School starts Monday for more then 3,000 students at five modified calendar schools: Southeast Raleigh Magnet High, Centennial Campus Magnet Middle, Moore Square Magnet Middle, Carver Elementary and Partnership Elementary.

For the 40,000 students at 49 multi-track, year-round schools, the new school year began July 9.

Wake County’s two newest year-round schools, Alston Ridge Elementary and Holly Grove Middle schools, both experienced smooth openings after months of planning.

Alston Ridge Elementary is a 103,806 square-foot school located in Cary serving more than 400 students this year. Holly Grove Middle is in Holly Springs serving approximately 975 students this year in 197,071 square feet.

Board Discusses Superintendent’s Job as Search Firm Holds Meetings

At its July 20 meeting, the Board of Education gave first reading approval to some changes in Policy 2110: Job Description of Superintendent. Proposed changes include:

• Organize central office administrative staff to achieve optimal effectiveness and efficiency with existing funds. The superintendent shall confer with the board prior to any reorganization of the central office administrative staff and shall obtain board approval for any increase in expenditure related to such reorganization.
• Submit to the board a clear and detailed explanation of any proposed procedure which would involve either departure from established practice or the expenditure of substantial sums.

The board discussed the policy in its committee of the whole meeting where Board Vice Chair Debra Goldman who has led the board’s search committee indicated she may have additional suggestions for updating the policy. A second vote of approval from the board is required in changing policy.

Final approval was given to revisions to Policy 2100, Employment of Superintendent removing requirements that a candidate hold a doctorate or equivalent or have held a position in school work for three of the previous ten years.

Staff from the Chicago-based firm of Heidrick & Struggles discussed the job of school superintendent with people who attended the July 13 and 14 listening sessions in the board room. The firm was hired to help conduct the search for a new superintendent.

Board Chair's Statement from July 20 Meeting

At the July 20 meeting of the Board of Education, Chair Ron Margiotta opened the meeting with these comments:

Ron Margiotta Board of Education Chair I acknowledge that during the last few month, the discussions of the Board of Education have focused on student assignment and devising a better method of offering choice and stability to all families. We have made every effort to be diligent in responding to the voices of parents. We believe that this new approach to student assignment will provide quality educational opportunities for all children by addressing the needs of families and communities that the district serves. The new assignment plan will overcome the inefficiencies of the past including a lack of stability, a lack of choice and stagnated student achievement, while increasing trust and collaboration between all stakeholders. This Board does not intend to create high poverty OR low-performing schools in the new zone assignments. Again, let me repeat that this Board does not intend to create high poverty OR low-performing schools in the new zone assignments. Our intention is to provide choice and increased stability for all families while increasing the focus on student achievement and methods to ensure academic success for all children. While there are those individuals who prefer to cause unnecessary distractions, this Board cannot and will not permit these distractions to divert our attention away from our priority of increased achievement for all students. I have requested from Superintendent Hargens, along with the support of staff, a detailed report using the most recent student achievement, once the 2010-2011 data has been verified by the Department of Public Instruction. This report will include a complete and thorough analysis of End-of-Grade and End-of-Course results, showing the gains and losses by grade level for every Wake County school. Based on this report, I have also requested that staff prepare a plan of action identifying the needs of students as well as strategies to address those needs. I have requested information for students below grade level as well as strategies for addressing the needs of students who are academically gifted. While this Board will continue to forge ahead in devising a new method for student assignment, I look forward to conversations during the next few months focusing on strategies to boost student achievement throughout the system.

More News

WCPSS Graduation Rates Hold Steady

Preliminary North Carolina graduation rate data show that the Wake County Public School System’s overall rate held steady at 78.4 percent for a second year in a row. Additionally, seven student subgroups showed improvement, while three subgroups had a lower graduation rate.

The three student subgroups with the largest four-year graduation rate gains are:

• American Indian – 9 percentage points
• Economically Disadvantaged – 5.5 percentage points
• Hispanic – 3.3 percentage points

“I applaud and commend our teachers and principals who have worked hard to achieve these gains,” said Ron Margiotta, school board chair. “I know through our continued hard work we can build on these improvements.”

Asian students continue to graduate at a high rate and showed a 3 percentage point gain, while White students graduated at the same rate compared to the previous year. Multi-racial, Limited English Proficient (LEP) and male students were the only subgroups to see a decline.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires schools that graduate 12th-grade students to report a graduation rate as part of the measurement of Adequate Yearly Progress.

The graduation rate is based on the number of ninth-grade students who graduate four years later. The NC Department of Public Instruction began reporting a four-year on-time graduation rate for each high school and district across the state based on the incoming ninth-grade class of 2002-03.

Test Scores Show Across-the-Board Improvement

Preliminary North Carolina End-of-Grade (EOG) and End-of-Course (EOC) test scores for 2009-10 show improvement in virtually every subgroup of students in the Wake County Public School System, and also show a closing of the achievement gaps between white, African-American, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students at several grade levels. Additionally, 85 percent of students taking EOC tests passed those exams.

"These improvements are a clear indication that our efforts since the 2007 Curriculum Management Audit of better alignment and focus of resources and efforts are paying important dividends," said Dr. Donna Hargens, interim superintendent and chief academic officer. "The teacher collaboration made possible by our Professional Learning Teams and their focus on data are showing results with these test score gains."

WCPSS Releases AYP Results

The NC Department of Public Instruction released Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) preliminary results under the federal "No Child Left Behind Law" (NCLB) showing that Wake County Public schools made 92.85 percent of total AYP targets (3,420 out of 3,683). Sixty-one of 159 Wake County Public School System schools met the AYP standard by reaching target goals.

Analyses of the state's End-of-Grade and End-of-Course tests are used in both the NCLB's Adequate Yearly Progress and the state's ABCs of Public Education, but each accountability program looks at the data in somewhat different ways. Adequate Yearly Progress measures student subgroups against a fixed performance standard. The ABCs of Public Education measures academic growth of students over the course of a year, as well as the percentage of students scoring at or above grade level. ABCs results for all schools will be released in August.

“We use EOG and EOC test results for both ABC and AYP reports to measure a student’s performance,” said Donna Hargens, WCPSS interim superintendent.  “AYP uses an all or nothing approach.  If one school misses one target, then the entire school is deemed to have missed AYP as judged under NCLB.”

In addition to the 61 WCPSS schools that made all of their targets in 2009-10, 54 missed one or two AYP targets. Under NCLB, schools must meet every target with every identified subgroup in order to make AYP.

The AYP passing rate targets apply to defined student subgroups. In order to qualify as a subgroup, there must be at least 40 students in the school identified under one of nine separate categories: White, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Multiracial, Limited English Proficiency, Economically Disadvantaged and Students with Disabilities. The school itself must also meet the target as a whole in order to meet the goal, and they must test at least 95% of their students in each of those defined subgroups.

Cedar Fork Enrollment Capped

Due to school crowding, on July 20 the Board of Education approved an enrollment cap for Cedar Fork Elementary effective immediately. The enrollment cap is 843 students. Any new base students enrolling today will be "capped out" and assigned to the overflow school, Weatherstone Elementary, designated by the school board. Students who go to Weatherstone will be provided transportation. Policy 6204 and its R&P give the details of the capping process.

Capped out families may also submit a transfer request to apply for their calendar option school. For six of the seven Cedar Fork base nodes the calendar option is Morrisville Elementary. For one node the calendar option is Carpenter Elementary. If the family submits a transfer request to their calendar option school and if there is a seat available, the WCPSS Growth and Planning staff will approve this request with school district transportation.

Preliminary Approval Given for Board Meeting Schedule Change

At its July 20 meeting, the Board of Education gave first reading approval to a change in Policy 1300 on board meetings. The changes to the policy would allow the board to adopt a new meeting schedule proposed by Chair Ron Margiotta.

Under Magiotta’s plan, the board would continue to have a work session followed by a board meeting on the first Tuesday of the month. The board meeting on the third Tuesday of the month would become a work session providing the opportunity for full discussion of issues and eliminating the need for standing committees.

Board members discussed considering additional changes to the meeting schedule such as later start times and meeting at different locations to increase opportunities for public participation.

Board Receives Update on School Construction Program

At its July 20 committee of the whole meeting, Chief Facilities & Operations Officer Don Haydon discussed the school construction program with the board. Haydon indicated there were savings accrued with low bids on school building projects that could be used to address the need for classroom space. Haydon said he would return at the next board meeting to ask board authorization to reallocate some of the savings, possibly to put toward design of new elementary or middle schools on property already owned by the district.

Preliminary Approval Given to Revisions to School Naming Policy

At its July 20 meeting, the Board of Education gave preliminary approval to revise Policy 2570 Naming of Schools. Board members revised the policy to provide for naming schools after individuals. A second vote of approval from the board is required in changing policy.

Revised Policy for Teacher Job Description Approved

At its July 20 meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to revisions to Policy 3219. Assistant Superintendent Stephen Gainey said the revisions would update the job description of teachers to comply with state changes to teacher evaluation guidelines.

Board Receives Update on Academically Intellectually Gifted Program Plan

At its July 20 meeting, the Board of Education heard from Darryl Fisher, the new WCPSS administrator for Academically Intellectually Gifted Program on the AIG plan for 2010-11. The state requires the school district to develop these plans with feedback from stakeholders to address the needs of gifted students and align with state standards. The board will be asked to approve the plan at its next meeting.