Thursday, July 19, 2007

The Challenge!

Back when I first started blogging about how the conversions where affecting my family, I attracted a concerned parent who supported WakeCares.  We battled back and forth a couple of times with my side in support of the conversions for overcrowding reasons and the other side being fundamentally against it.  After several blog entries on both our parts, she challenged me.  She challenged me to dig deeper in the YR program.  To take a closer look.  I told her that with the access we have to information today that it would be easy to find items that both supported and undermined the YR program but that I would look anyway.  So I did.

I have poured over statistics and numbers trying to some how show those that believe that overcrowding is not an issue that it is.  I have read more articles in the last month or so than I can count.  I have spoken with school board members and asked many questions.  I am currently waiting for Chuck Delaney to email me back so that I can talk to him also.  I may have to email him again I guess. 

I have learned that the BOE does feel that most people don’t understand the WHOLE story.  I’m not sure I do, but I did learn that the conversions were originally intended to happen over 2 years instead of just one.  So when you see empty class rooms and tracks are being cancelled and people are being shifted its because they have converted these schools with 2 years worth of growth in mind.  Isn’t this what we needed anyway?  We needed more space but now people are complaining about empty classrooms.  There is no winning here.

I looked at each Elementary schools enrollment numbers and compared them with their capacity numbers with and without the mobile units in place.  That was eye opening.  Of the 19 Elementary schools converted 14 of them were over 100% capacity with trailers.  Some severely like Pleasant Union at 122% with no mobile units and Hodge Drive at 123% with 5 mobile units.  Most of them hovered around 105% on average.  There were also the schools that didn’t seem to need conversions with capacities lower like Lockhart that is only at 86% capacity with 16 mobile units.  Also Leesville at 91% with 19 mobile units.  (I’m   unclear if these are numbers for last year and projections put together but they were listed for the 2007-2008 school year.  And the numbers keep changing.  With track 4 starting in a week we should be able to get firmer numbers about this.)  While other schools weren’t converted with capacities at 120% like Hunter, Joyner, Cary, Dillard, Conn and Bugg. 

I have heard many rumors, all which I can’t confirm at this point, of tracks being closed at Rand Road and 1 grade on track 3 needing to be closed.  I would love to give you this information but my Principle won’t return my emails or calls.  I will continue to work on that. 

One thing that I find just wonderful at our school is the fact that the music teacher now actually has a room to teach music.  Before she was mobile pushing a cart from room to room to teach what I believe one of the most important things in school.  (Yes I was a band geek and I wouldn’t change it for the world)  I was completely unsettled by the whole mobile cart teaching and appalled that people don’t see that as an issue to be concerned about. 

One person asked if it was true that the conversions cost $6 million and only helped us gain 500 seats.  No, that would not be entirely true.  The conversion did cost $6 million with a seat gain projected at 3000.  Now,  it cost approximately $22 million to build a new Elementary school that seats 600-800 (they are now building them bigger, used to be 500)  I think $6 million is a bargain!  The seats acquired number changes from story to story.  The N&O reported only 500 seats were gained but we can’t be sure of that because not all tracks have actually started.  Also the BOE projected number of 3000 may have to be adjusted related to Judge Manning’s ruling.  We still have time to figure this one out.  Still seems to be a savings though.

What it boils down to is that most of our schools were over crowded and now with the conversions they are better.  Let’s give this conversion some more time.  Let’s see what happens in the coming year.

I welcome your comments and would love to hear from Rand Road families.  Where are you guys?

Cindy,

OK!  It is 3 o’clock in the morning but for the life of me I can not figure out what you mean by GM.  Care to elaborate?

Sheryl,
GM (Growth Management WCPSS).
With all due respect Sheryl, if you did not know what GM meant this tells me that you are not very informed on the matter in which you are forming opinons. Drive by numbers and Drive by media does not always tell the whole and true story.  On the surface I can see your instant calculations about how cost saving these conversions were.  I can add 2+2 too.  However the bottom line with most people is the irresponsible manner in which this school system is taking its customers (parents). We would not even be having this discussion about YR vs. Traditional if the WCPSS spent and made wise decisions.  It is time to clean house on Wake Forest Rd.  It is time to stop the finger pointing (I am sick and tired of that)  It is time to applaud our County Commissioners because they could see the irresponsiblity and the wasteful way WCPSS was spending tax payer $$$$.It is time that ALL parents have a say in the manner in which their children are educated and not blackmailed,strong armed or FORCED into making such sacrifices for our children.
Chuck Delany talks a good talk.  I am not so sure he can Walk the Walk.  He is the first person that needs to go IMHO.
Have you been to any meetings? Have you been to any Community Engagement meetings? Have you been to any County Commissioner meetings?  Some of those meetings were heartbreaking to attend.  Parent after Parent begged pleaded cried all for the sake of their children and it was an insult to watch the very people that were supposed to protect us(BOE) from the monster on Wake Forest Rd (WCPSS) ignore the pleas.  They truely did NOT listen.  They said they did…but they did not.  They moved forward anyway.  Ignored their Parents, Igonored the CC’s they even ignored a Superior Court Judge (Manning).  I ask again.  How is that responsible??????

Cindy,
School assignment is done by central office growth management.  Track assignment is by the principal of the school.  I believe that the central office, via the board, can change that only by result of a parental appeal.  It is my opinion that this is another case where decisions are made at the central level, yet it is the hard work of our local school employees that are left to do the real work and make those decisions actually become reality.

Cindy,

I can appreciate the fact that you are upset about the MYR conversions.  Some people are but that is no excuse to be rude.  I asked a simple question.  What I don’t appreciate is your tone about what YOU think I know.  I have poured over more information and have learned more about the WCPSS than I had ever hoped prior to agreeing to do this.  Making assumptions based on what you think I know is just plain stupid and I am offended.  Moving on. 

The track assignments were completed by the schools’ principles as Rich so helpfully explained also.  I try very hard to not put things on here that I don’t believe are true but this I received from several credible sources.  I was also trying to not put our very fine Principles in a difficult position but putting this out there.  I believe many parents weren’t and aren’t aware of this fact and I wanted to protect those Principles from any vengeful parents. 

You have a very emotional reaction to this whole thing but I believe the emotion could be better used investigating a little more.  The BOE didn’t ignore Judge Manning, they did EXCACTLY what he asked them to do.  Get parental permission for YR schools.  And 2500, or so, choose to go traditional no matter the cost because fundamentally YR wasn’t going to work for them.  I believe the BOE listened intently to every single parent that voiced their opinion or feelings at those board meetings but they are trying to deal with growth in a very large school system.  County systems are too large in my opinion.  And the County Commissioners are directly responsible for allowing growth to occur unchecked.  It is very convenient that they also vote along party lines.  Politics has no place in my children’s education decisions.  They should only learn that in a political science class.

But thank you for your input.

Sheryl,
It was never my intention to offend you.  I did begin my blog entry “with all due respect”.  Sorry if my writing style offends you.

My understanding was that track assignment was done in 2 stages.

First, the track preference sheets were fed into a WCPSS computer and the initial track assignment lists were formulated by the computer and given to the principals.  Then, the principals had the job of making sure siblings were on the same track, children of teachers were on the same track as their parents, and students with older siblings at MS and HS were given their 1st or 2nd choice.  Then, the principals gave any changes to WCPSS and the assignment lists were finalized by WCPSS after the principal input was given and changes were made.

That is the way I understood Track assignments. Rich you may want to check on that!

Sheryl,

I am still waiting for your answers from the questions I presented above.  Have you been to any BOE meetings? Community Engagement meetings? County Commisioner meetings? How about the commitee of the whole meetings?  Oh yes and have you been to any General Assembly meetings? Just want to know how you are forming your opinions.

There may be a computer generated track sheet, I don’t know.  But I do know that the principal is given final say in all track assignments that can be overridden only by an appeal upheld by the Board.

I have attended BoE meetings, the misnamed Community Engagement Meetings, spoken with Commissioners and my NCGA rep.

Cindy,

I have not physically been to any meetings due to my job and family constraints.  That being said I have read almost all BOE meeting notes since 2006.  I am currently attempting to get video copies of those meetings to help fill in the gaps left by the notes.  I have watched online several county commissioner meetings.  I have poured over several articles and have a three ring notebook full of information.  Even some of it provided by someone who has an opposing view.  Listen, I am a very open minded person and try not to make snap judgements about people, things or events.  I’m also not perfect, I’m human.  I will continue to look into the information that I have received with that same open mind.  I will admit that some of it is complicated and hard for me to interpret without time to do so.  But just because I haven’t been to a meeting doesn’t mean that I don’t have a valid point or opinion.  The debate for me is about whether or not there is a growth problem.  I believe there is.  My opinion.  Not yours.

Sheryl,
Is growth the problem or how our elected officials deal with?

To me that is the issue.  Growth is here, it is a sign that we have a good thing (bad places don’t grow) so blaming it does nothing.  We need to have our school board stop focusing on the growth and refocus on the schools.  That is their job.

I believe their job is both.  You can’t have a BOE that ignores the growth problem while they are trying to fix a broken curriculum.  Then they would have people complaining that there are 30-40 kids per class, which affect the children’s’ abilities to learn due to overcrowding.  It’s a no win situation for the BOE. Again, the county wide system is just too large to handle.  We have areas in the county that have grown in the past but are no longer.  Then there are areas that still have the room to grow.  These areas are the ones adding new students to the system.  The growth has occurred faster than they can build schools.  Schools cost a boat load of money and require time to build.  If the BOE members of the past could have looked into their crystal ball and predicted this problem then we would have no problem. 

And please don’t get me going on the curriculum or NCLB.