June 23, 2011

Top News

Board Adopts 2011-12 Balanced Budget Resolution

The Board of Education approved on Tuesday a resolution to bring its 2011-12 budget into accord with the Wake County budget approved Friday by Wake County Commissioners. The resolution includes $314.4 million approved by the Wake County Commissioners for the school system operating budget.

Chief Business Officer David Neter said he will present additional changes in July based on final state budget reductions.

Board Receives Student Assignment Plan Update

Superintendent Tony Tata recommended a choice plan for student assignment to the Board of Education in its work session on Tuesday. In making his recommendation, Tata discussed the work of a task force developing a new student assignment process. 

Trial Simulation of WCPSS Assignment Proposal Extended to June 24

The Blue Test Drive is Now Open

Tata and Student Assignment Task Force Chair James Overman described progress made in gathering data and evaluating student assignment plans. Then Tata presented a month-by-month calendar of work by the task force and proposed times for families to take part in assignment for 2012-13.

Overman said more than 18,000 participants used the online simulation of the proposed community-based choice plan, or blue plan, through June 21. The 11,500 unique computer addresses represent 1,175 of the county’s 1,329 nodes. In response to questions asked in the simulation, 91 percent of participants wanted multiple school choices, 89 percent wanted guaranteed school feeder patterns, and 88 percent wanted to attend the schools closest to their homes.

The school system encouraged family participation in the simulation. Superintendent Tata and principals made automated phone calls, all school PTAs were asked to alert families, and nine sites in the community targeted by node participation opened to provide families access to the simulation.

The superintendent extended the simulation until midnight on June 24. The task force will use the information from the simulation to gauge how parents might select their children’s school in a choice-based system. The simulation school choices are samples and will not affect students’ assignments.

Information from the simulation will be used by the task force for data analysis looking at costs, possible set asides, magnet seat allocations, achievement school seat allocations, community outreach recommendations and the impact of plan mergers and enhancements.

The task force has continued to review the base schools achievement plan, or green plan. Under this plan, the school system offers families a base school assignment along with calendar and magnet option schools.

The task force will consider ways to merge the best of the blue and green plans looking at historical feeder patterns, assignment of Level 1 and 2 students to achievement schools and making the default choice for non participating families an achievement school.

Superintendent Tata provided a month-by-month work plan on finalizing the student assignment process and communicating to families about their role in the process.

Margiotta Re-elected Chair, Tedesco Elected Vice Chair

The Wake County Board of Education re-elected Ron Margiotta as board chair and elected John Tedesco vice chair at its annual meeting on Tuesday.  The board retained Tharrington Smith as its legal counsel.

More News

Board Receives Report on the Need for New Schools

School administrators discussed the need for new schools with the school board during its Tuesday work session.  WCPSS Chief Facilities & Operations Officer Don Haydon discussed the need for additional classroom space in 2012-14 to accommodate growing enrollment, and shared two options for using available savings in the CIP 2006 capital improvement program to meet those needs.

Both options include the construction of the new H-7 high school in southwest Cary.  Both options propose additional temporary classroom space for Middle Creek, Athens Drive and Holly Springs High Schools, along with the establishment of two early-start elementary schools at modular campuses in Raleigh and in Wake Forest. 

Under one option, available funds would be used to build a new middle school in northwest Raleigh, and under the other option, a new elementary school would be built in Wendell.

Haydon said the school system has $91.3 million available in its school construction program. The elementary/high solution with E29 would total $113.6 million. The middle/high solution with M8 would total $123.1 million.  Haydon said the school system could reduce land purchases, reduce funding for designs for schools in the next school construction bond, and reduce the move of mobile units to provide funds.

Auditor Reports on Closing Achievement Gaps

The Board of Education received the results of an outside audit on closing achievement gaps between student groups. Dr. Lindsay Page of the Harvard University School of Education said the audit indicated WCPSS students score higher than the state average and are continuing to grow academically as the state increases instructional standards. Page noted there are different academic measures to consider. Composite results show the percent of students achieving proficiency. Scale scores are a measure of an individual student’s results on testing. Page said the different measures provide different information.

Page showed analysis that indicated composite scores and scale scores are improving over time, but there is little change in the achievement gaps between student groups. Substantial gaps remain between students who do not receive free and reduced price lunch and those that do, as well as Asian and white students compared with minority students.

Superintendent Tata said the audit report will provide a baseline for the school system in addressing students’ academic needs.

You can review the powerpoint presentation on the audit made to the board here.

Changes to Bell Schedules for 2011-12 School Year Considered

Wake school administrators are closely monitoring discussions at the NC Department of Public Instruction on adding five instructional days for the 2011-12 school year required by the NC legislature in its recently enacted state budget. NC legislators created a 185-day instructional school year, but allowed the NC Department of Public Instruction to provide waivers to school districts. The NC Department of Public Instruction is developing guidance to school districts on meeting these new requirements.

WCPSS would find it difficult to fit five additional instructional days into the year-round calendar and five additional days would add another $500,000 to transportation costs.

In case the school system is required to add the five days and a waiver is not granted, school administrators asked the board at its meeting Tuesday to provide a contingency of adding the instructional time to a 180-day school year. The board authorized a revised bell schedule adding 10 minutes to the end of every school day. The action provides the school system an additional avenue to address the requirement for 2011-12.

Board Gives Preliminary Approval to Student Discipline Policy Changes

The Board of Education gave first reading approval to changes to student discipline policies during its Tuesday meeting. The board revised a number of policies to scale back Wake County schools zero tolerance policy. The revisions eliminate mandatory suspensions except where required by law. The revisions should reduce the frequency and length of suspensions with the goal of keeping students in school, improving academic performance and increasing graduation rates. The changes will provide principals with the tools they need to keep schools safe and to administer discipline fairly and consistently. The revisions were discussed by the Professional Learning Team on Alternatives to Suspensions, the Economically Disadvantaged Task Force, the Superintendent’s Leadership Team and the Division of Principals and Assistant Principals.  Additional changes align policies with most recent changes in state law. All revisions were reviewed and approved by school board attorney Ann Majestic.