May 27, 2011

Top News

Student Assignment Task Force Work Progresses

The Superintendent’s Task Force on Student Assignment published its work on wcpss.net on Monday and Superintendent Tony Tata has asked the community to provide feedback on the courses of action they developed.

Listen to Superintendent Tata's May 27 news conference 21 minute mp3 file

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Public Information Meetings 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 31 Enloe Magnet High Millbrook Magnet High Athens Drive High Wednesday, June 1 Knightdale High Panther Creek High Thursday, June 2 Cary High Garner Magnet High Holly Springs High Sanderson High Wake Forest-Rolesville High

Long-Range Student Assignment: A Community Review

The task force considered nine different courses of action, studying the assignment process for 22 different school districts and modeling those concepts against 18 different criteria.

“We conducted in depth research across the spectrum of how assignment may or may not affect achievement,” said Tata. “This period of study and discussion in my opinion was critical to establishing our foundation.”

In his conversations in schools and in the community, Superintendent Tata says there are three key points relative to developing a new student assignment plan.

• It is controversial.
• It must be grounded in data and research.
• It must be transparent.

“We think transparency and trust are an essential part of the process which is why we opened the doors very early in what will be a long process,” said Tata. “We are dependent on our community’s help to guide us as we move forward.”

Superintendent Tata has presented a timeline for approval of a new student assignment plan.

In June, the school board will be asked to approve a broad framework. The school system will work to determine the framework for student assignment that will best serve Wake County. The school system will work on transportation and costing studies.

From July through September, the school system will work within the approved framework to develop the business rules that will best provide for student achievement, stability and proximity. Work will focus on identifying feeder patterns, bus routes and new construction

From September to October, the school system will finalize details for the plan and present it to the school board for approval.

In February, the formal assignment process will begin.

“You will see that we are working from broad concepts first, then focusing down to identify formulas, rules, logistics that will help implement a framework that gets approved in June by the board,” said Tata. “Details will include such things as feeder patterns, bus stops and business rules for assignment. We are working through all of that right now.  All throughout the process, we intend to have an intense communications architecture and program that will help keep parents informed and help them understand their options to make the best decisions for their families.”

Public Comments on Task Force Work

In the first four days, the Student Assignment Task Force website has been available, there have been 168,757 page views, and 5,802 downloads. The public has provided 826 comments to date.

“That’s some pretty good activity. That’s some pretty good community involvement,” said Tata. “I want to thank the public for their earnest and well thought out feedback.”

Superintendent Tata encouraged parents and citizens to evaluate the blue and green frameworks at the macro level. The sample elementary schools listed on the website now, and the middle and high school lists that will be added in the near future are preliminary examples of what parents’ choices might be.

Based on the feedback on the website, four out of five people prefer the blue choice plan to the green base schools achievement plan.

“We should have lists of high and middle school choices available soon,” said Tata. “Keep in mind that since both plans are based on proximity to residence, the schools are essentially the same for both concepts. You just have more choice in the blue plan.”

In reviewing the comments that have been received, Superintendent Tata noted some have questioned why there is an achievement component in the green and blue plans.

“I want to be very clear, that’s not an option not to have that,” said Tata. “Academic achievement is a fundamental driver of these plans. We looked for the most feasible and acceptable models that are consistent with Board Policy 6200 and provided the best opportunities for achievement, stability and proximity.”  

Tata noted there were many comments about community schools, distance and choice.

“I believe this is why the blue plan right now is a four-to-one favorite in the comments that we have received to date,” said Tata. “Blue provides five elementary options and green provides two - all based on proximity. Blue also provides an achievement option. We’re seeing a lot of comments saying that folks appreciate the idea of having more options and being able to go to schools that may be closer than where they are attending now.”

Tata offered his thanks to the people who have offered comments.

“The feedback has been very helpful to us,” said Tata. “We are taking that feedback and discussing it and updating where applicable in the plans.”

The public can offer comments on the website through June 12.

Student Assignment Task Force Holds Information Meetings

The Superintendent’s Student Assignment Task Force will hold public information meetings at 10 high schools on May 31 to June 2. Members of the task force will provide explanations of the proposals.  The sessions begin at 6 p.m.

Superintendent Tata has recorded a telephone invitation for all Wake County Public School System parents that is being delivered by the school system’s automated phone system.

The task force will hold meetings at Enloe Magnet High, Millbrook Magnet High and Athens Drive High on May 31. Meetings will be held at Knightdale High and Panther Creek High on June 1. Meetings will be held at Cary High, Garner Magnet High, Holly Springs High, Sanderson High and Wake Forest-Rolesville High on June 2.

After the presentation, people will have the opportunity to provide written feedback on comment cards. Superintendent Tata expects in the coming months there will be many opportunities for public comment on student assignment. People will be able to question the superintendent about the issue during his next virtual town hall on June 3 at 10 a.m.

More News

Graduation, Athletics, American Idol

Wake County Public School System high schools held the first graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2011 this week.

“I attended the Wake Early College of Health and Sciences graduation on Tuesday night. This was their second graduating class. The 47 graduates earned a combined $700,000 in scholarships,” said Tata. “This was my first Wake County graduation ceremony. I can’t tell you how proud I was of those students who took advantage of the opportunity to earn college credit in high school and get a jump on their careers.”

Tata plans to attend the graduation ceremonies for Southeast Raleigh Magnet High on Saturday night. The remaining graduations begin on Friday, June 10.

The Leesville Road High girls’ soccer team will compete tonight for the state championship in Cary. The Holly Springs boys’ baseball team is playing tonight as they slug it out in the semi finals. The Holly Springs girls’ softball team is playing Fuquay tonight in round four of the state tournament.

Scotty McCreery of Garner Magnet High School won the title American Idol in a live broadcast of the Fox television show this week, highlighting a season of excitement for his school and our community.

“We are all very proud of Scotty and all that he represents. He is a role model for all of our students, and indeed, for all of us, as he has demonstrated poise, courage and talent under pressure,” said Tata. “Scotty’s success is just another example of how our music and arts programs, as well as our athletic programs afford opportunities to all of our children so they can aspire to achieve their dreams. The graduations, the state championships and one of our student’s fantastic success on the national stage should remind us all why we are here, which is to help our students succeed.”

Class of 2011 Valedictorians Celebrate Success

Wake County Board of Education members will honor the 26 Wake County Public School System 2011 valedictorians at the board's June meeting.

Each high school with a senior class names a valedictorian. Two schools named co-valedictorians this year.

Twenty-one of the students plan to attend North Carolina universities with nine going to UNC-Chapel Hill, five going to NC State University and three bound for Duke. Three of the students earned full scholarships to attend a NC university. Ioan Bolohan and Safiyah Ismail are Cain-Morehead Scholars going to UNC-Chapel Hill. James Turner is a Park Scholar going to NC State University. Other students plan to attend East Carolina University, High Point University and Meredith College.

Five are headed to out-of-state schools: Columbia University, Emory University, Harvard University, University of Miami and the US Naval Academy.

Six want to be doctors and five indicated interest in engineering. Other career plans include attorney, fashion photographer, psychiatrist and university professor. One wants to be a Navy pilot.

You can read more about Class of 2011 Valedictorians online here.

Websites, Applications, E-mail Will Be Unavailable During Data Center Relocation, May 27-30

All school and district websites, email and all computer systems will be unavailable to staff and the public over Memorial Day weekend (May 27th-30th) while the WCPSS Data Center moves to its new location in Cary.

However, barring unforeseen circumstance, the website, the Long-Range Assignment site and the address lookup site will be back online by noon Saturday.

Systems will start going offline at noon on Friday, May 27th. All systems are scheduled to be back in service by 9 am Tuesday, May 31.

Email sent to WCPSS staff and students during the move will be queued offsite and delivered after the email systems are back online at the new data center.