Education: Bill Fletcher Sept Newsletter

Wake County, NC — Thoughts for September 2014 from Bill Fletcher, Member Wake County Board of Education.

Coming SOON to a school near you: 2013-14 EOG & EOC scores!

When reviewing and/or sharing this information consider student academic growth as well as student performance. If a school’s score is relatively low, is that a low performing school or are the students in that school performing below their capability? If aggregate performance is high, did the students achieve a full year of academic growth?

What will an Equity Officer mean to Wake’s children?

Rodney Trice joined the District August 1. His primary focus will be on breaking down the barriers to academic success among our low income and minority children. He brings high expectations for rigorous instruction and a “no excuses” point of view. That’s no excuses for the students and their teachers and administrators.

Transportation system rocks!

This year the District implemented significant changes to bus routes and stops…to improve reliability of service and reduce costs. The feedback has been very positive. More than 75,000 children are safely transported to & from school each day. Additional challenges remain including setting service standards for students with two homes; transporting students to/from daycare; etc.

Budget update

The NCGA finally adopted the state budget. The local funds needed to match the new teacher salary schedule approximate $12MM. Where will these local funds come from? Schools opened without reductions in personnel allocation formulas. Adjustments must be made.

A new Strategic Plan for the District is being developed based on community input about what our high school graduates should know and be able to do in 2020. Phil Kirk and Dr. Marvin Connelly are leading a team of 40 to craft the new “one page” plan. Share your thoughts at www.wcpss.net/vision.

Draft student enrollment plan on view

Staff has unveiled a draft enrollment plan for 2015-16 to populate several new schools and to provide better calendar alignment between elementary and middle schools. Comment at www.envisionwake.mindmixer.com.

Accommodating growth in NW Cary

Educational/input sessions were held with the school communities at Alston Ridge and Mills Park schools. One request is for school construction to keep pace with residential construction. Sounds like there may be the political will to influence the County Commission to approve the construction of more schools.

Why consider calendar conversions?

One option to increase capacity of a school is the multi-track or year round calendar. Students attend 45 days and “track out” for 15 days in four groups with staggered start dates. Fully implemented, a school’s capacity increases by 20% to 30%. When a multi-track school is under-enrolled, it can be more expensive per student to operate as student to personnel ratios increase.

Questions about Student Enrollment for this year? 

Office of Student Assignment: 919-431-7300 http://www.wcpss.net/parents/student-assignment/ Foreign languages: 919-431-7404 http://www.wcpss.net/parents/center-for-international-enrollment/

Factoid #3

To enroll in a Wake County school one must first be domiciled in Wake County, i.e. have a permanent residence. Many families moving to our area expect to enroll prior to establishing domicile. NC law requires establishing a domicile first before enrolling.

Parent chats

1st Thursday, 1PM, Cary Chamber, 315 N Academy Street;
and 3rd Monday, 11AM, Caribou Coffee shop, 109 SW Maynard

Get in Touch

BFletcher@wcpss.net  ||  Voice Mail: 919-431-7332   |  Mobile: 919-880-5301

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Story by Bill Fletcher, Member Wake County Board of Education. Photo by Hal Goodtree.