The School Connection

Goal 2008: WCPSS is committed to academic excellence. By 2008, 95 percent of students in grades 3 through 12 will be at or above grade level as measured by the State of North Carolina End-of-Grade or Course tests, and all student groups will demonstrate high growth.

October 31, 2005


COMMUNITY MEETINGS DISCUSS 2006-07 CROWDING SOLUTIONS
More than 400 people attended the first three meetings in the second round of community engagement meetings being held Oct. 24 through Nov. 3.

Dr. Ramey Beavers discussed the 2006-07 Crowding Solutions proposal to meet the demand for space in WCPSS schools. Beavers said Barwell Road Elementary, Brier Creek Elementary, Carpenter Year-round Elementary, Holly Springs High and Panther Creek High were the new schools originally scheduled to open in 2006-07. To provide additional classroom seats for next year, on Oct. 18, the Board of Education approved opening two more elementary schools and designating those plus Brier Creek and Barwell Road as year-round. Holly Grove Elementary students and staff will begin a year early in space at Holly Springs High School (opens with ninth and 10th grades) while the permanent school is being constructed. Similarly, E-19 or North Forest Pines Drive will start early in the modular complex on Spring Forest Road.

To further take advantage of available space at the new high schools, rising ninth- and 10th-graders will be expected to attend their newly assigned school. In addition, WCPSS will retain East Cary Middle as a ninth-grade center for another year, add another eight-classroom modular unit to the Wakefield High campus, and add up to 95 mobile/modular classroom units system wide.

Beavers explained that the new high schools will open with ninth- and 10th-grade students to allow juniors and seniors to remain at their schools. He said all high schools will be involved in the growth management proposal.

There were 182 people at the community engagement meeting at Green Hope High. In the public comment session, 19 people commented on services their children would want at the new high schools, concerns about opening Holly Grove Elementary in a high school and various views on year-round schools.

The last two community engagement meetings will be held Nov. 2 at Garner High and Nov. 3 at Leesville Road High.

The Office of Growth Management will incorporate data from these meetings into a draft proposal, which the department plans to release in December for the community to review and provide feedback. Growth Management will then review the input and present a revised plan to the Board of Education in January. The school board will hold public hearings and a work session before adopting the final plan in late March or early April.

BOARD OF EDUCATION SELECTS FIRM FOR SPECIAL PURPOSE AUDIT
At its Oct. 18 meeting, the Board of Education agreed to negotiate with Summerford Accountancy of Birmingham, Ala. for a special purpose audit of the school system. The Board instructed the board's Chair and Vice Chair with legal counsel to negotiate the contract with Summerford. The board issued a request for proposal on August 10 and held a mandatory pre-proposal conference on August 23 with 13 firms attending. Six proposals were received by the Sept. 13 deadline. After discussing the proposals at a Sept. 20 committee meeting, each Board member rated the six proposals. The finance committee met on Sept. 26 to review the ratings and narrowed the field to three firms. The firms made presentations to the Board on Oct. 4. The Finance Committee met Oct. 12 to discuss the presentations.

DRAFT 2007-08 SCHOOL CALENDAR PRESENTED TO BOARD
Draft calendars for the 2007-08 school year were presented by WCPSS school administrators to the Board of Education at its Oct. 18 meeting.

The draft traditional calendar contains 180 days of instruction for students, as well as 11 paid holidays, 10 paid vacation days, and 8 of 14 teacher workdays. The Division of Principals will make recommendations for the remaining teacher workdays. The first day for students will be Monday, August 27, 2007. Winter break would be December 24 through January 1. Spring break is March 31 through April 4. The last day of school for students will be Tuesday, June 10, 2008.

A year-round calendar committee met to review input from parents and staff and to review drafts of year-round calendars. The committee reviewed parameters for calendar development, annual testing dates, and inclement weather make-up days. Each track contains 180 days and the same state holidays as the traditional and modified calendars. The school year begins July 9 for Tracks 1-3 and July 30 for Track 4. Winter break would be December 24 through January 1. The last day of school would be June 3 for Track 1 and June 27 for Tracks 2-4. Currently, there are 15 year-round schools. The board has agreed to open five more elementary year-round schools in 2006-07.

The modified year-round instructional calendar combines features of the traditional and year-round calendar. The first semester is similar to Track 4 of the year-round calendar, and second semester is similar to Track 1. The calendar provides a summer break of approximately seven weeks. Plans are for this draft calendar to be used at magnet schools Southeast Raleigh High, Centennial Campus Middle, Moore Square Middle, as well as Carver Elementary, and Partnership Elementary. The first day for students will be Wednesday, July 25, 2007. Winter break would be December 19 through January 1. Spring break is March 10-28. The last day for students will be Friday, May 30, 2008.

The Board of Education will adopt calendars for 2007-08 at their meeting in November. The 2006-07 calendar was adopted in 2004. You can find the school calendars at http://www.wcpss.net/Calendars/

WAKE KIDS FOR KATRINA COLLECTS MORE THAN $293,000
More than $293,000 in Kids for Katrina contributions from Wake County school students were presented at the Oct. 18 Wake County Board of Education meeting to the American Red Cross to help the victims of Gulf Coast hurricanes. Students and principals joined Superintendent Bill McNeal, Chair Patti Head and Wake PTA Council Chair Derrick Byrd in presenting a check for $293,928.16 to Triangle Chapter of the American Red Cross executive director Barry Porter and board member Paul Phillips.

"This is an incredible amount," said Porter. "The need has been so great. We have to worry about keeping people alive, providing shelter and meals and cash assistance."

The fund drive took place in schools Sept. 12-23. It was organized by the Wake County Public School System and the Wake County PTA Council. Schools were encouraged to develop their own fund raising efforts and coordinate with their PTA leaders collections and disbursement to the Red Cross. WCPSS posted information about individual school efforts on the web.

GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES PLAN TO RAISE TEACHER SALARIES
Gov. Easley announced a plan Oct. 25 at Washington Elementary School to bring teacher salaries to the national average within four years. By the 2008-09 school year under this proposal, teachers in NC will earn an average of $52,266, above the national average estimated by the NC Association of Educators (NCAE) to be $52,206 for that year. Easley and his staff consulted with legislators, education leaders and teachers in developing the plan. The plan provides for an increase of $750 for teachers on an annualized basis this year, effective in the November paycheck. This permanent increase is in addition to the average 2.24 percent increase already provided in the 2005-06 budget. There will be additional average annual increases of 5 percent for the following three years. This increase will significantly increase pay for new teachers. Future raises may be provided as flat-rate, percentage increases or some combination of both to meet the state's goal.

GRANT AWARDED TO PLAN HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM
Gov. Mike Easley announced Oct. 18 that $1.035 million in state funds will provide planning grants to school districts, community colleges and universities to create 23 new Learn and Earn high schools across the state. Part of that grant money will go to WCPSS, Wake Technical Community College and WakeMed to plan a new high school due to open next year. The school will allow students to graduate in five years with a diploma as well as a tuition-free associate's degree or two years of college credit. The new school will serve 400 students and will be located at Wake Tech's health science campus adjacent to WakeMed on New Bern Avenue. The school will be based on a health and science theme and will be open to students county wide. Students will have opportunities through WakeMed for summer training, paid internships and other enrichment activities.

WCPSS READING PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTED
The National ERF Office has recognized WCPSS Project Enlightenment's Early Reading First (ERF) Program! The federally-funded program, "The Literacy Connection," was featured in presentation at the National Early Reading First Conference this month. After a review of the program by the Washington office, Mary Ashe, Coordinator of the program, was asked to be the key note conference speaker and to relate the experiences of Project Enlightenment in developing and implementing this exciting research-based literacy program for pre-kindergarten children, teachers, and families.

BOARD APPROVES DRIVER EDUCATION CONTRACT
At its Oct. 18 meeting, the Board of Education approved the amendment of the contract for Driver Education with Jordan Driving School extending the service to June 30, 2006. In July 2004, a new contract with the two-year renewal option was awarded to Jordan Driving School. WCPSS is in the second year of that contract. The N.C. Department of Transportation Allocation will fund all costs of the program for Driver Education.

BOARD APPROVES EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PLAN
At its Oct. 18 meeting, the Board of Education approved the WCPSS Educational Technology Plan. The WCPSS plan is aligned to state and local strategic priorities:

The plan is mandated by NC GS115C-102-6, and must be submitted to the NC Department of Public Instruction by Nov. 1, and updated at the end of two years.

ATHENS DRIVE STUDENTS SEEK TO IMAGINE NO HUNGER
Students from Athens Drive High have formed a group to fight hunger. Seniors Jill Willette and Nick Brust came up with the idea and enlisted their families to help. They began making trips to downtown Raleigh on Sunday night to provide food. They've served an increasing number of people and have enlisted the help of fellow students and businesses, which have supplied food. They call the group Imagine No Hunger. You can find out more about their efforts at http://www.imaginenohunger.com

WAKE COUNTY CELEBRATES RED RIBBON WEEK 2005
Across Wake County students took part in Red Ribbon Week during October 23-31. Red Ribbon Week is about encouraging kids to be drug-free. During the week, 60,000 WCPSS elementary students were given Red Ribbons, which stated: "Show Good Character: Don't Use Drugs." Wake County Commissioners officially proclaimed Wake's Red Ribbon week in recognition of drug free youth and the efforts of groups such as 4-H Youth Development Services of from Wake County Cooperative Extensions, Pines of Carolina Girl Scouts; Wake County/Occoneechee Boy Scouts; Boys/Girls Club of Wake County ; and Oberlin YWCA. For more information on Red Ribbon Week, visit http://www.wakeptacouncil.org/redRibbon.html

INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS PREPARE STUDENTS FOR GLOBAL SUCCESS
There are more than 40 teachers in WCPSS schools with the Visiting International Faculty Program this year, serving in international-exchange activities in local schools. They are among more than 1,700 VIF educators from more than 50 nations teaching in nearly 1,000 schools in 10 states. The VIF program is headquartered in Chapel Hill, NC. VIF is recognizing teachers its placed in local schools as part of International Education Week Nov. 14-18, which is sponsored by the U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Education. You can find more about VIF at www.vifprogram.com and more about International Education Week at http://exchanges.state.gov/iew/

CALENDAR

Nov. 1 2 p.m., Committee of the Whole-Board Conference Room (Board); 4 p.m. Board Meeting-Board Room (Board)
Nov. 2 7 p.m., Community Engagement Meeting-Garner Senior High (Board)
Nov. 3 7 p.m., Community Engagement Meeting-Leesville Road High (Board)
Nov. 5 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., WCPSS Magnet Schools Fair at Southeast Raleigh High
Nov. 8 12:30 p.m., Finance Committee Meeting-Board Conference Meeting (Board); 2:30 p.m., Policy Committee Meeting - Board Conference Room (Board)
Nov. 9 10:30 a.m., Facilities Committee Meeting-Board Conference Room (Board);
12:30 p.m., Human Resource Committee Meeting-Board Conference Room (Board); 2:30 p.m., Instructional Program Committee Meeting-Board Conference Room (Board)

School Connection is published electronically every other week for everyone interested in the Wake County Public School System. Is what you read in this edition helpful? What information would you like to see in future editions? Contact me by calling 850-1829 or e-mailing bposton@wcpss.net.

Bill Poston
Wake County Public School System
Communications Department
3600 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611

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