On Monday, I hosted a D9 Connection Meeting. On Thursday, I attended the Green Hope/Cary/Wakefield/Broughton Swim Meet. It was great to see the students cheering each other on and the fast swimming. Well done swimmers! On Saturday, I will be wrapping up my week by attending the Cary Jaycees Christmas Parade. I'm looking forward to seeing many of our fabulous students in the parade!
This week as a Board, we had five meetings: Finance Committee, Work Session, Annual Meeting, Board Meeting, and Policy Committee.
At the Tuesday, December 7th Finance Committee Meeting:
- Tyler Baity, Managing Director with DHG (Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP), presented information about the audit results, required communication to the Board, financial highlights, and compliance audit. To access the presentation, click here.
- Mark Winters, Finance Officer, presented an overview of the Annual Comprehensive Finance Report (ACFR). To view the presentation, use this link. Click here to read the entire Annual Comprehensive Finance Report.
To watch the December 7th Finance Committee Meeting, use this link.
At the Tuesday, December 7th Work Session:
- Adam Mitchell, Tharrington, Smith, LLP/redistricting consultant; and Blake Esselstyn, Mapfigure Consulting/redistricting consultant; presented information about the required redistricting of Board Election Districts following the 2020 census. The purpose of redistricting is to rebalance the population in each district to comply with the constitutional principle of one-person/one-vote. The Board provided feedback about priorities to consider such as preservation of the cores of existing districts, consideration of the home addresses/precincts of incumbents, taking into account of postcensus development and population growth when balancing populations of districts, and more. Click here to view the presentation.
- David Neter, Chief Business Officer, and Dr. Muttillo, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources; presented recommendations for additional staff compensation for all staff. Use this link to view all the recommendations broken down by each staff category. I did ask about the noncertified staff on steps not aligned with their years of service. Dr. Muttillo researched the issue and reported that around 250 staff members are impacted. District staff will work to make the appropriate adjustments to their steps.
- Glenn Carrozza, Assistant Superintendent for School Choice, Planning, and Assignment; presented the Final Draft of the 2022-23 Student Enrollment Plan. Click here to read the presentation.
Use this link to watch the December 7th Work Session.
At the Tuesday, December 7th Annual Meeting:
- Monika Johnson-Hostler nominated Lindsay Mahaffey for chair. I nominated Dr. Martin for chair based on multiple reasons such as his willingness to ask for information and for his transparency regarding his votes and thoughts. Dr. Martin respectfully declined the nomination. Lindsay Mahaffey was elected as the Board's Chair.
- Roxie Cash nominated Chris Heagarty for Vice Chair. Chris Heagarty was elected as Vice Chair.
At the Tuesday, December 7th Board Meeting:
- David Neter, Chief Business Officer, presented recommendations for additional staff compensation for all staff. The Board approved the recommendations 9-0. There were a wide variety of recommendations. Since our budget discussions over six months ago, I have been asking for a specific plan to raise pay-specifically noncertified staff pay. This was the third budget of a multiyear priority to raise noncertified staff pay, but there was no specific year-by-year plan. I expressed my appreciation for staff bringing this specific plan. As a former SPED IA for nine years, I understand what it is like-firsthand-to earn around 11, 12 or 13/hr. Our staff deserve the respect and recognition they have earned. Increasing the minimum pay rate to $15/hr for our noncertified graded positions, moving regular education IAs and bus drivers to grade 20 and special education IAs and driver team leads to grade 21, providing all staff with pay increases, and more are all steps in the right direction. I look forward to our upcoming Budget discussions as Superintendent Moore has shared there will be additional pay adjustments considered at that time. To access the presentation and recommendations for additional staff compensation broken down by type of employee, click here. Please also take a moment to review slides 25-29. These slides include a comprehensive list of all our noncertified graded positions.
- Glenn Carrozza, Assistant Superintendent for School Choice, Planning, and Assignment; presented the 2022-23 Enrollment Plan for Board approval. The Board approved an amended plan 9-0 (Slides 31-35 of the plan were not approved.). To view the plan, use this link. Please note the slides not approved are noted on the presentation.
- Paul Koh, Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services, presented the Local Face Covering Policy for Board approval. Staff recommended no adjustments to the current policy. The Board approved the Local Face Covering Policy 9-0. Paul Koh did share that there would be three steps of adjusting the policy. Step one would be removal of the requirement of a face covering for athletes and extracurricular activities indoors. Step two would be removal of the requirement of a facing covering in the cafeteria when not eating. Step three would be the removal of the requirement of a face covering indoors. I did share my concerns around an increase in quarantines if the mask policy was adjusted based on the current quarantine requirements. I also shared quarantine data from a mask optional county in NC. I asked again for Dr. Tilson, State Medical Director, to be invited to an upcoming meeting to discuss quarantine requirements. I have been informed that Dr. Tilson and Dr. Mushonga will be invited to attend our January 4th Work Session.
- Dr. Muttillo, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, presented 2021-22 Salary Schedules based on the salary adjustments approved by the Board on November 2, 2021. The Board approved the salary schedules 9-0. I did express my appreciation for the work on these schedules but that I am glad staff will be bringing new salary schedules at a later date because of the pay increases we approved earlier in the meeting, Click here to view the salary schedules.
Use this link to watch the December 7th Annual Meeting and Board Meeting.
At the December 8th Policy Committee Meeting:
- Russ Smith, Senior Director, Office of Security, presented Board Policy 6325: Parking for Students and Visitors (a new policy), R&P for Policy 6324, and Board Policy 4335: Reporting Criminal Behavior (a revised policy). There were some adjustments recommended. Policy 6324 and 4335 will be presented for Board Approval at an upcoming Board Meeting.
- Dr. Muttillo, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, presented Board Policy 4040/7310: Staff-Student Relations (a revised policy). Some edits were recommended. This policy will be presented for Board Approval at an upcoming Board Meeting.
- Bob Snidemiller, Senior Director, Transportation; present Board Policy 6320: Use of Student Transportation Services (a new policy), R&P for Policy 6320, Board Policy 6322: Student Assignment to Buses (a new policy), R&P for Policy 6322, Board Policy 6340: Contract Transportation (a new policy), Board Policy 6321: Bus Routes and Stops (a new policy), and R&P for Policy 6321. There were some changes recommended. Policy 6320, 6322, 6340, and 6321 will be presented for Board Approval at an upcoming Board Meeting.
To watch the December 8th Policy Committee Meeting, click here.
Next Week as a Board, we have the following meeting (Please remember this meeting will be streamed live on the WCPSS YouTube Channel.):
- Wednesday, December 15th at 3:00 pm- Facilities Committee. At the time of this blog entry, the agenda had not been posted. When the agenda is posted, you can access it at this link.
If you are interested in attending the Facilities Committee Meeting, there is no sign-up form to complete to attend. Please report to the Board Room for the meeting.
I will be hosting another D9 Connection Meeting on Sunday, January 2nd at 4 pm. If you live in D9, have a student in a D9 school, or work in a D9 school, please join us using this Google Meet Link.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at kcarter3@wcpss.net.