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April 16, 2021

On Sunday, I hosted a D9 Connection Meeting. I appreciate the feedback and concerns expressed. On Thursday, I attended the Wake County Indian Education Program (WCIEP) Virtual Public Hearing and Open House. It was informative meeting with special guests from the Parent Committee, Tribal Leaders, and WCPSS staff. Lawrence Kee, a Cary High School junior, did a fantastic job performing the Opening Honor Song. To view the presentation, visit this link. On Saturday, I will be closing out the week at Green Hope Elementary School's Beautification Day.

As a Board, we had one meeting on Wednesday, April 14th: Facilities Committee.

At the Wednesday, April 14th Facilities Committee:

  • Jack McAleer, Director, Project Controls; shared a positive update to the 2021 Executive Summary: $10 million is being restored by Wake County to WCPSS. Five million dollars in FY22 and five  million dollars in FY23. The restored funds will be returned back to the SNAP line item as that was where it was taken from when Wake County reduced funding in FY20. To access the 2021 Executive Summary, click here.

  • Betty Parker, Senior Director, Real Estate Services; provided three possible names for the E-52, a new elementary school in Southwest Holly Springs:  Rex Road Elementary, Careys Creek Elementary, and Southwest Holly Springs Elementary. Staff recommends Rex Road Elementary and the Committee informally agreed. To view supporting documents, visit this link.

  • Jim Martin, Chair of the Facilities Committee, lead the committee in a group brainstorming activity. Each individual Board member took time to list ideas under four categories: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. Then the committee broke into two groups and discussed each member's ideas. Afterwards, the committee came back together as a whole to review overall themes and ideas. Some of the ideas mentioned were: working on sustainability for existing schools (gardens, outdoor learning spaces, etc.), the feasibility of using some of the COVID-related funds to improve HVAC systems and air quality in our schools, improving districtwide coordination of individuals and businesses willing to donate goods and/or services for school needs, seeking more input from the community, and more.

  • Douglas Congdon, Program Executive, Facilities Design and Construction, shared the three month forecast for Facilities. To access the presentation, click here.
To watch the recording of the April 14th Facilities Committee, visit this link.

Next week, the Board has the following meetings (Please remember these meetings will be live on the WCPSS YouTube Channel.):
  • Tuesday, April 20th, at 1 pm: Finance Committee. To view the agenda, click here. The main item on the agenda is the 2021-22 proposed budget.

  • Tuesday April 20th at 3:00 pm: Work Session. The agenda can be accessed at this link. Please note there are several issues on the agenda: a draft 2021-22 single-track year-round calendar, an update on the 2021-22 Virtual Academy planning, and initial planning for the 2022-23 school enrollment plan.

  • Tuesday, April 20th at 5:30 pm: Board Meeting. You can access the agenda here. Please note this agenda is full of items: Budget Public Hearing*, changing the May 5th remote learning day to May 13, 2021, presenting Virtual Academy specifics for 2021-22 for Board approval (Per current staff recommendation, please be aware several schools-Mount Vernon Middle School, River Oaks Middle School, SCORE Academy, Connections Academy, Wake Young Women's Academy, Wake Young Men’s Academy, North Wake College and Career Academy, Wake STEM Early College High School, Vernon Malone High School, Wake Early College of Health and Sciences, Mary Phillips High School, Longview High School, Crossroads FLEX High School, and Bridges Program-will NOT have a VA option and extended content regional programs and occupational course of study programs will NOT have a VA option either.)
*There is a special link for the Budget Pubic Hearing (part of the Board Meeting). You can use this form to sign up to speak specifically about the proposed 2021-22 budget and to submit written or video comments about the budget. 

If you are interested in attending any of the meetings in person, please visit this link and click on the meeting you would like to attend. Each form should go live 48 hours prior to the meeting (Sunday, April 18th) and close at 5 pm the day prior to the meeting (Monday, April 19th). 

To provide in-person public comments, you can complete this form. Click here to submit written public comments. To provide video public comments, visit this link.

If you have feedback you would like to provide about Superintendent Moore's Proposed 2021-22 Budget and are interesting in completing the form I created, please visit this link. This week, I submitted several questions regarding the budget: For the ESSER II, in the amount of $95,998,256, I see the various items it would cover and possibly for two years. What is the dollar amount per item expected for 2021-22 and the anticipated use of the carryover amount? With $18.5 million anticipated carryover from ESSER I, $95,998,256 million from ESSER II, and an additional over $200 million anticipated from ESSER III (based on previous %--or even if it's half of that--an additional $100 million), what is the detailed answer to folks questioning the need for additional funding from the County?  How would the proposed budget change if the amount asked from the County was half than the currently proposed amount? Could have I have breakdown of how the classified employees will reach 15/hr based on the amount allotted for the next four years? How much of an increase would each classified employee (below 15/hr) receive next school year with the amount of allotted? Will more go to those making less an hour? Specifically, what is the breakdown of changes planned for grades 16-22 for 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-2025 (step specific)? What is the per pupil expenditure for each school for 2019-2020? I've been able to find the 2018-19 information at bestnc.org, but have not been able to access 2019-20 information. For next school year, what will be the ratio for social workers, guidance counselors, nurses, and psychologist to students be with the additional MOE added with this year's budget? Additionally, based on the proposed spending listed in the budget, what will the ratio be for each of the years left for the multi-year initiative (2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25)? What is the usage plan for the textbook funds? 

I will be hosting another D9 Connection Meeting on Monday, April 26th, at 7:30 pm. If you live in D9, have a student attending a D9 school, or work in a D9 school, please consider joining us. This is an informal time for me to listen to feedback and concerns. To join us, use this Google Meet link.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me at kcarter3@wcpss.net.





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