January 7, 2010

Top News

Board Names Anthony Tata Next WCPSS Superintendent

The Wake County Board of Education has named Anthony Tata to be the next superintendent of the Wake County Public School System. Tata will begin his duties as superintendent on January 31, 2011.

Tata currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Washington, DC Public Schools. He is a retired US Army Brigadier General who has served as a network television analyst and has authored critically acclaimed fiction novels.

Tata grew up Norfolk, the son of educators, and went on to attend the U.S Military Academy at West Point. He has earned degrees from The Catholic University of America and from The School of Advanced Military Studies. He attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard as a National Security Fellow.

During his transition from the military to a career in public education, Tata graduated from the Broad Superintendent's Academy, a rigorous ten-month program of study.

Superintendent Tata writes that his approach to the Wake County Public School System will include:

Coupling my service to the nation with my last 19 months as a member of the Washington, DC Public Schools management team, I know my strengths as an education leader. One of those strengths is to be wise enough to retain and hire the most talented team, particularly in the areas where I have comparatively less experience. Regarding human capital, my first step will be to ask Donna Hargens to remain as the Chief Academic Officer to provide continuity in that most critical domain. Meanwhile I will prioritize assessing the entire academic administrative chain from principals to chief academic officer to determine who has the energy and drive to make Wake County Public School System a high performing, world-class organization. Based upon that assessment and my instincts as a leader, I will move quickly to obtain the best talent within the teaching and learning parts of the organizational structure. Likewise, as a Broad Superintendents Academy graduate, The Broad Center will provide me three audits of any aspects of the organization that I desire, all at no cost to Wake County. I will first review the recent curriculum audits of Wake County Public Schools and then determine what type of academic audit, if any, will be helpful. At a minimum I will want to assess my central office academic organizational structure and effectiveness. Specifically, I will want to review the previous audit and its implementation and assess Wake County's: Academic standards, to ensure that they are not only aligned to North Carolina's standards, but are at a world class level Curriculum, to ensure that it is powerful and aligned to high standards Hiring practices for principals and teachers, to ensure we are attracting and retaining world class talent Performance assessment practices for principals and teachers, to ensure that the practices include support and accountability Professional development programs for principals and teachers, to ensure that the programs are focused on the best performance of children Having the right people and architecture will give us the energy and foundation for transformation. I intend to ask for a second audit to assess our data and accountability systems. Knowing where we are academically will provide the starting point for the reform road map we collectively develop. Additionally, The Broad Center will provide me a senior advisor for my first year, again at no cost to Wake County, and I will ensure that I choose an advisor with a strong academic background to advise me in this most critical area. Ultimately, I'm confident in my abilities now to focus on taking our academic performance to the next level, but also understand the value of a mentor. I believe I have the experience, heart, resources, and vision to help Wake County Public School System accelerate its drive to become a world-class education system. I will bring a primary focus to supporting schools and teachers so that they may achieve academic success for our children in the same way I delivered unrelenting support to our troops on the front lines as they served our nation.

 

Tata visited Wake County Jan. 6-8, visiting with community groups and talking with teachers and students at Millbrook Magnet High School, Baucom Elementary and Lacy Elementary. In a Friday afternoon news conference, Board of Education chair Ron Margiotta introduced Tata to the Wake County news corps. Tata answered a wide range of questions during the 30 minutes.

"It's a real privilege to be here today and to have spent two days touring Wake County," said Tata. "I am humbled to be the next Superintendent of Wake County. My message to all the parents and students and citizens of Wake County is that I will be the hardest working, selfless servant within Wake County to try to increase student achievement and make sure that we are competitive on the international stage as we move forward. I have had a great two days here visiting schools, meeting with mayors, meeting with chambers from around the county and it has just been a fantastic introduction to this great county and all the fantastic municipalities in the county."

"We've got this $100 million budget deficit that we've got to deal with and we've got the assignment policy. Those are the first two big things that I think we need to get after," said Tata. "I will have the full power of the Superintendency of Wake County and as I understand it, that is pretty considerable, and I intend to use that to focus all the considerable resources we have in Wake County on teaching and learning in the classroom."

"Statistics that are important to me are: are students at grade level," said Tata. "Over the course of a year has the teacher moved a student from one grade level to the next and how has the teacher differentiated between students within his or her class. And closing that gap for the student within that class and making sure the other students excel, and close achievement gaps on a larger scale within the principalship. Of course, graduation rates are critical. Those are some of the metrics that will be important to me moving forward."

"I have been impressed with the pride of ownership in the school's that I have been in," said Tata. "I was escorted around Baucom and Lacy earlier today by fifth graders and they were so proud. They were taking me into different classrooms and talking about how great this teacher is or how great that teacher is. What I want to see in the Wake County Public Schools is exactly that. I am proud of the students for having pride of ownership in their school system. My message to all the students is continue that, multiply that exponentially because you have a great school system here and you ought to be awfully proud of yourselves."

Tata greets students at Lacy Elementary with principal Marcia Alford.

Tata responding to a question during Friday afternoon news conference.

2011-12 Student Assignment Proposal Public Hearings, Online Sign Up Open

The Board of Education will hold public hearings on the staff proposal for adjustments to the student assignment plan for the 2011-12 school year at five high schools in January.  The Board of Education has also asked for community input regarding additional assignment changes that have been suggested.

Public hearings dates and locations:

Monday, Jan. 24	Cary High	638 Walnut Street, Cary, NC 27511
Tuesday, Jan. 12	Millbrook Magnet High	2201 Spring Forest Road, Raleigh, NC 27615
Thursday, Jan. 13	Heritage High	1150 Forestville Road, Wake Forest, NC 27587
Wednesday, Jan. 19	Southeast Raleigh High	2600 Rock Quarry Road, Raleigh, NC 27610
Thursday, Jan. 20	Garner Magnet High	2101 Spring Drive, Garner, NC 27529

The dates for the Cary High and Millbrook Magnet High hearings have been updated to reflect changes made due to winter weather. Each hearing is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Online registration for the public hearings is now open. People will also be able to register at the public hearing site immediately before the hearing begins. The board will first hear comments in the order in which people have registered online or by phone prior to those who sign up before the hearing.

More Students Included in 2011-12 Reassignment Proposal

The Board of Education received an update on the 2011-12 student assignment proposal from WCPSS Auxiliary Services Chief Don Haydon and Laura Evans of the WCPSS Growth and Planning Department in its committee meeting Tuesday.

The proposal provides for the opening of the new Walnut Creek Elementary and the new Wake NC State University STEM Early College High School, as well as addressing crowding at existing schools.

Haydon and Evans described a proposal that includes 68 changes requested by families, the school board and school principals along with recommendations from staff to the final year of the multi-year assignment plan. Another 83 suggestions are no longer under consideration for 2011-12 school year.

The staff proposal follows months of work where WCPSS Growth and Planning staff worked with school administrators, held community workshops and met with the school board and its student assignment committee to discuss assignment plans.

As a result of the updates to the proposal, WCPSS Growth and Planning staff is notifying by mail families who were added to the proposal.

The proposal currently includes 4,703 students including 2,625 in elementary, 1,103 in middle and 975 in high school. A number of those students may be able to continue at their current schools under grandfathering rules that would be adopted as part of a final plan.

The school system currently serves 143,289 students in 163 schools and expects more than 3,000 additional students in 165 schools for 2011-12.

More News

WCPSS Growth and Planning Considering 2012-13 Facility Needs

A comprehensive proposal to deal with crowding for the 2012-13 school year is being developed, WCPSS Auxiliary Services Chief Don Haydon and Laura Evans, senior director of WCPSS Growth and Planning told the school board in its committee of the whole meeting Tuesday.

The proposal will look at the changing use of school facilities under updated school board policies. As part of the proposal, school system staff recommends:

• Immediate consultation with principals to determine temporary classrooms targeted for mothball storage. This will produce some reduction in utilities, custodial and maintenance costs.
• The Magnet Department in cooperation with the Growth and Planning Department will conduct a magnet review and a review of non-magnet schools to identify schools for board consideration to magnetize or demagnetize. This review will include a funding analysis and recommendations for funding for any new magnet programs. Board direction for the objectives of the magnet program is requested prior to this review process.
• The Curriculum and Instruction Division in cooperation with the Facilities Department and Growth and Planning Department will study and make recommendations regarding changes in grade configurations, such as K-2, 3-5 schools, sixth grade centers, ninth grade centers, K-8 schools and using facilities for alternative programs and/or Career and Technical Education centers for better use of existing facilities.
• The Facilities Department and Growth and Planning Department will evaluate the use of additional temporary classrooms, modular units and other facility alternatives to address future crowding.

Public Offers Budget Savings Suggestions

A 160-page document containing public comments to a WCPSS website created to seek suggestions to address the $100 million budget shortfall anticipated in fiscal 2011. In the 160-pages were suggestions for creating or increasing fees for students in a number of areas and to generate savings in utility costs.

State resources currently pay for 54 percent of the total operating budget of WCPSS. The NC Office of State Budget and Management had requested all state agencies submit plans to reduce budgets by 5, 10, and 15 percent. On Nov. 22, NCDPI released a list of possible cuts of 5 and 10 percent reductions in public school funding. Details of the NCDPI budget cut proposal are available at their website. Some key elements include:

• Reducing local school district Central Office administration by 5 percent or 8 percent.
• Reducing the Department of Public Instruction by up to 9.2 percent.
• Classroom teacher reductions increasing class sizes at every grade.
• Teacher assistant reductions providing funding for assistants only for kindergarten.
• Assistant principal months of employment reductions.
• Services for children with special needs and academically gifted children reductions. Services for children with special needs would be reduced by 3.4 percent or 4.2 percent. Gifted students’ services would be cut from 5 to 10 percent.

You can find more information and offer your suggestions online here.

Board Receives Update on CIP 2006 Spending Plan for 2011

At its meeting Tuesday, the Board of Education received an update from WCPSS Auxiliary Services Chief Don Haydon on the CIP 2006 spending plan for 2011. The school board approved a slate of $106.8M slate of commitments for the upcoming bond sale. The actual request for appropriation of the funds from the sale will be at the February Board meeting.

Wake County staff will review general obligation bond scenarios with the Board of Commissioners in early February 2011. Scenarios will include a general obligation bond sale in early spring 2011 to support CIP 2006 building program needs between March 2011 and February 2012.

There are two main commitment changes in the proposed 2011 plan from the plan approved in February 2010: Life Cycle Replacement and Contingency/Reserves. The request for Life Cycle Replacement has been reduced since it is anticipated that $6.7M in savings from Walnut Creek Elementary and Wilburn Elementary will be reallocated at the February Board meeting to Life Cycle Replacement. There is also a need for approximately $5.6M of additional funding for Rolesville High. These funds typically would come from Contingency/Reserves, but the need can be funded from savings in prior CIP 2006 projects that have not yet been moved into CIP 2006 Reserves. The need for Contingency/Reserves has been reduced, but due to anticipated student crowding in 2012, there is a need for approximately $10M to provide crowding solutions. The Contingency/Reserves for 2012 may be used primarily to fund the construction of up to two new schools approved by the Board.

Board Receives Update on 2010-11 DPI 10-Year Facility Needs Survey

At its meeting Tuesday, the Board of Education received an update from WCPSS Auxiliary Services Chief Don Haydon on the 2010-11 NC Department of Public Instruction Facility Needs Survey. Haydon explained that DPI requires submittal of the Department of Public Instruction 2010-11 Facility Needs Survey results for the Wake County Public School System. The results of this survey, which includes both new school needs and renovation/repair of existing schools, allow the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee of the State Board of Education to assess unfunded projected facility needs for the next 5 to 10 years. In the past the data from these state-wide surveys have been used for determining the scope of State Education Bond Referenda. This survey uses DPI’s unit costs and ADM projections, and does not reflect costs or enrollment projections for Wake County.

Board Approves Preliminary Construction Document for Rolesville High

At its Tuesday meeting, the Board of Education approved the preliminary construction documents prepared by Cherry Huffman Architects, PA, for installation of a waterline to service the new Rolesville High School. This waterline will be an extension of the existing city water utility, which must be routed under the Rolesville Bypass, scheduled to begin construction by NCDOT in April 2011. Therefore, it is proposed to advertise an early Rolesville Road waterline extension package, before completion of the total design package.

Staff will present the award of this contract to the board for approval at the February meeting. The current project budget is $72,189,773 (based on a 2010 opening) of which $1,000,000 is from PLAN 2004 Start-Up, $71,007,898 from CIP 2006, and $181,875 from Offsite (Public) Improvements. Approximately $5,600,000 of additional funding will be needed to pay for offsite improvements, site adaption to the new site, and a delayed opening to 2013. The additional funds will be requested from CIP 2006 savings, in the spring of 2011 after the design of the site adaption is completed.

Board Approves Extension of Authority to Commute Long-Term Suspension Recommendations

At its Tuesday meeting, the Board of Education approved an extension to June 30, 2011 to the delegation to the Superintendent of the authority to reduce the length of long-term suspensions and to commute any long-term suspension to short-term. This action will allow WCPSS Student Services staff to continue to develop and implement a new system of student discipline in every school. It will also provide the time to (a) utilize a methodical process that includes soliciting feedback from principals, (b) BOE members to review proposed revisions and provide guidance, (c) train administrators on the new policies and procedures and (d) give reasonable advance notice to parents and students of any major changes. During this extension, the Discipline Review Committee will continue to review the suspension recommendations from the principals and make a recommendation to the Superintendent for approval.

Board Approves Revisions to Policy 2333

At its Tuesday meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to revisions to Policy 2333 – Reporting information to the principal and external agencies. The revisions received first reading approval Dec. 7 and were reviewed at the Work Session/Committee of the Whole meeting on Dec. 7.

Board Approves Policy 1340

At its Tuesday meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to a new Policy 1340 – Board Standing Committees. The policy that had been repealed by the board in July of last year was brought back to the board table at the Nov. 9th Board of Education work session when the board agreed to reinstate the policy with changes recommended by the board members, and the policy was approved as a first reading on the action agenda.