August 13, 2010

Whose community comes first? 

Well into the most recent school board meeting – after another round of arrests and yet another set of budget cuts – a debate broke out about where to build the next round of schools in Wake County.

It was notable, in part, because the debate was held among members of the school board majority. Members of the board minority played a relatively small role in this discussion.

It was important because it clearly illustrated the challenges the school board faces as it tries to balance the district’s continuous growth with the creation of a new “community-based student assignment plan.”

The discussion was triggered by a rather pedestrian request to spend $2.4 million on the early design of three new schools. Two of the schools would be in the northern reaches of Raleigh and one would be to the west in Apex.

Based on conversations earlier in the day, school board member Chris Malone understood there might be enough money available – about $700,000 – to squeeze a fourth school onto the early design list. He suggested a spot just north of Wake Forest, which is where he lives.

The suggestion didn’t sit well with board member John Tedesco, who is also chair of the student assignment committee. “I’m generally concerned about the direction we are moving,” he said. “We need some schools in southeast Raleigh.”

Without new schools, Tedesco said, there won’t be enough seats for both community school assignments and magnet schools in the central corridor of the county. He suggested the board wait before approving any new school designs.

His comments were immediately followed by board Vice Chairman Debra Goldman. “I concur completely,” she said, “especially if we are looking at a new assignment model and we are trying to get kids going to school closer to home.”

Malone was unmoved. The Wake Forest area has far more students than available seats. Growth projections suggest many more families are on the way. A new school is inevitable.

The root of the disagreement comes down to whether it makes more sense to meet a pressing need today or wait until the new student assignment plan replaces concept with detail.

Board member Keith Sutton also wasn’t thrilled with Tedesco’s intense interest in the schools of southeast Raleigh. That’s because Sutton – not Tedesco – represents southeast Raleigh. Tedesco represents the adjoining district to the south.

In theory, a community-based school assignment plan would mean most of the students living in Sutton’s district wouldn’t attend the schools in Tedesco’s district – and vice versa.

In the end, Malone failed to convince a majority of the board to add the Wake Forest site to the early design list. Tedesco and Goldman failed to persuade the board to wait before approving any additional school designs.

By a 6-2 vote, the three proposed sites won out over creating more capacity in the central corridor.

This is a debate likely to be repeated in many forms during the coming months. Regardless of how people believe students should be assigned, there is only so much money and so many seats to go around.

Enrollment projections are an inexact science, but every model used by the county suggests rapid growth outside the central corridor and moderate growth in the county’s interior. Launching a new approach to student assignment simply makes it harder to predict where new seats will be needed.

Ultimately, a child’s school assignment will be decided by how the board balances all of these interests. By any standard, it is a huge task. The results will shape the system for years to come.

Six more arrested in school board protest

Six protestors, including a Middle Creek High School student, were the latest group to be arrested during the public comment portion of this week’s school board meeting.

The arrests came after Seth Keel, 16, finished reading his prepared remarks criticizing the school board for its decision to remove all references to diversity in the system’s new student assignment policy.

The Associated Baptist Press reported that four of the six protestors were from Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh. Pullen Memorial has been deeply involved in previous protests through its pastor, the Rev. Nancy Petty.

Unlike previous protests, Tuesday’s arrests were relatively quiet. Keel finished his remarks almost 30 seconds before his allotted time of two minutes and he simply stood in silence with the five others who joined him.

When board Chairman Ron Margiotta asked him to step aside, he only responded by saying “In good conscience, I will not leave the podium.” The group then began an almost hushed call-and-response, chanting “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.”

They were placed in hand restraints by police and led away to a nearby room.

Several board members referred to the protest as “sad,” but Keel’s mother wrote a letter to the editor published in the News & Observer defending her son for taking a stand on an issue he believes is important. Twenty-nine people have been arrested in the past three board meetings involving protests about the new student assignment policy.

Principals to get latitude in long-term suspensions

Hoping to find a way to help more students succeed and eventually graduate from school, the Wake County school board has turned its attention to the large discrepancies among students who are given long-term suspensions.

Under state law, only a small number of offenses require principals to suspend students for the remainder of the school year. In Wake County, however, students are kicked out of school for the rest of the year as part of every long-term suspension. The policy does not distinguish between a suspension handed down in September or one imposed in May.

More than 800 students were given long-term suspensions last school year.

“When children are left to the streets for a year or better, they'll do drugs and join gangs and not likely come back," said school board member John Tedesco.

The change, scheduled for final approval next month, has unanimous support among board members. It allows principals to use discretion in long-term suspensions, requiring only that the suspensions are longer than 10 days. This is consistent with state law.

Marvin Connelly, Wake's assistant superintendent for student support services, said the change is one of several he will suggest to the board. Other changes will include providing more alternative programs for students who are disciplined. While district enrollment has more than doubled the past 20 years, the system has added only one new alternative school program of significance, Connelly said.

Noteworthy

… With one last round of cuts, school board members finally adopted a 2010-2011 budget this week totaling $1.2 billion. The last round of changes, which included the loss of nine positions, put the total reduction for the coming year at roughly $22.5 million. The new cuts included six positions in the transportation department funded by the state. Three locally-funded positions were cut to restore some of the services eliminated earlier from a parent counseling program known as Project Enlightenment.

… Despite sharp criticism from some citizens and a lack of support from the board minority members, standing committees will be abolished and general meetings that include public comment will be reduced to once a month beginning in September. The changes, approved 5-4, are being made in an effort to streamline board business, said board Chairman Ron Margiotta.

… An article this week by GreatSchools.org ranked Raleigh’s schools first among large cities and Cary’s schools third amid mid-sized towns, with a special mention of the district’s approach to school diversity. But the district’s national reputation appears to come with a caveat these days based on the summary for Cary’s schools. In a reference to recent changes, it states “the future of this stellar district is in doubt.”

Wake Education Partnership is a 501(c)(3) non-profit created in 1983 to support public schools, in part by educating the community on current school issues. We are supported in part by contributions from readers such as you. Please send comments or questions to Tim Simmons, VP of Communications, at tsimmons@wakeedpartnership.org