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A busload of students in Charlotte escaped a potential tragedy this morning when their bus driver was arrested for drunken driving.

The driver appeared to be falling asleep at the wheel, witnesses said. A high school student with a cell phone called 911 and police pulled the bus over.

A couple of years ago, there was a big national debate about cell phones in high schools. Critics said they were an unnecesssary distraction and should be banned. But many parents said they were an important safety device. This story puts a mark in the "important safety device" category.

School employees are a generous group by nature, but the staff over at Smith High School may have set a new standard for giving.

Smith recently won the 2004 Employee Spirit Award from the United Way of North Carolina, in the category of educational institutions with 51 to 200 employees. Smith beat out 75 other schools and companies across the state to win the award.

So how did they do it? Well, 80 percent of Smith employees gave to the United Way last year, raising a total of $5,770.

"We talked about the agencies United Way sponsors that directly help our students," said Smith English teacher Cynthia Valleau, who led the school's campaign. Some of those agencies include Communities in Schools, the Black Child Development Institute of Greensboro, the Sickle Cell Disease Association and Kids Path.

Smith officials will receive their state-wide award at a ceremony next Friday at Pinehurst. And we'll add to it a hearty congratulations from The Chalkboard!

Good question. Got any more? We'd like to know what questions and concerns you have about the revamping of the SAT, the college entrance exam taken by about 1.4 million high school students annually.

The test is growing up this year. The College Board, which administers the SAT, is adding an essay and higher-level math questions. Read more about the changes here. The board last made changes to the exam in 1994.

Education Week published a story (Registration required) online today about changes to the test and how parents and educators are reacting.

Locally, the old SAT will be offered one more time Saturday at Grimsley High School, High Point Central High School and Page High School, according to the College Board Web site. It was postponed from January because of bad weather. In March, only the new test will be given.

Tell us what you think about the changes. Let us know what questions you have. We'll do our best to find the answers for you.

Post your questions here or send them to me at jfernandez@news-record.com

In case you missed them, we had a couple of interesting education stories in today's paper.

The first, written by our Rockingham County colleagues Cynthia Jeffries and Kory Dodd, tells how offensive graffiti caused Reidsville High School to close Wednesday.

The second story details the new state dropout rate report. Once again, Guilford County Schools was a shining star. Guilford's dropout rates were well below the state average and were the lowest of any of the state's urban districts.

For those who say there isn't any good news in the paper, I would direct them to the dropout story. The school district (and, yes, that includes Dr. Grier) has done a slam-bang job of keeping students in school in recent years. The middle college high school programs give kids who don't fit in at traditional high schools a second chance.

One of the best events in Guilford County Schools takes place this Saturday morning.

Morehead Elementary will host its seventh annual Men's Breakfast at 9 a.m. Saturday. The annual event brings fathers, grandfathers and other male to the school so that they can get involved in their student's education. The speaker will be former Virginia Tech football standout John Lewis and Rich Brenner of Fox 8 will host the event. Rep. Howard Coble also is scheduled to appear.

Last year's breakfast attracted about 400 people. But the Men's Breakfast is about a lot more than sausage biscuits and doughnuts.

"It's just a chance for the men to sit, have breakfast and spend a little time with their child," said Morehead teacher Brian Walker, who is organizing the breakfast.

Most elementary school volunteers are women. But Walker hopes the breakfast will help make Morehead men more at ease at the school.

Walker said there are volunteer opportunities available for everyone. For example, if someone doesn't feel comfortable working as a reading tutor, they could help with landscaping around the school.

Morehead Elementary is located at 4630 Tower Road (just off Muirs Chapel Road) in west Greensboro. For more information, call the school at 294-7370.

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UPDATE: To read the News & Record's coverage of the 2005 Morehead Men's Breakfast, click here.

In Fairfax County, Va., a school board member sent principals a letter "urging them to ensure that students hear the views of people who believe that homosexuality is a choice and a 'very destructive lifestyle,' " according to a Washington Post article (registration required) published today.

At-large board member Stephen M. Hunt sent the letter to the district’s 24 high schools on his own, not as an emissary of the board, according to the article. The superintendent told the paper the letter was not sanctioned by the full 12-member board or administration. "We want our schools to be seen as welcoming places for all individuals," Superintendent Jack D. Dale told the Post.

The American Psychological Association contends that sexual orientation is not a choice.

The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States states that a "comprehensive sexuality program will respect the diversity of values and beliefs represented in the community and will complement and augment the sexuality education children receive from their families, religious and community groups, and health care professionals."

What happens when there are opposing views, such as whether sexual orientation is a choice or not?

Is Hunt right? Should both views on homosexuality be taught in public schools?

Cover your ears, because yours truly is branching out into radio - at least for a few minutes.

I'm going to be on "The State of Things," a popular public radio show focusing on North Carolina news, today at noon. The show is on WUNC 91.5 FM.

We'll be talking about the state's proposed new high school graduation requirements as well as a new high school dropout report, which shows that fewer North Carolina and Guilford County students are leaving high school than five years ago.

"The State of Things" will be rebroadcast tonight at 9 p.m. And in case you can't figure it out, I'm the one with the really thick Southern accent!

The News & Record is starting up an exciting new project: a weekly Teen Page, where local high school students will serve as writers, photographers and illustrators.

This is a great opportunity for Guilford County teens to hone their skills and express themselves in print. For us, it's a chance to get some younger voices and ideas in the paper. After all, who knows more about what teenagers want than teens themselves?

Former News & Record business reporter Amy Joyner will serve as the Teen Page editor. They couldn't have picked a better person for the job. Of course, I may be a little biased about Amy, seeing as how she's my wife.

If you (or your son or daughter) is interested, here are the details of the News & Record's Teen Page.

The Guilford County Board of Education loves to meet. So board members will be in hog heaven during the next couple of weeks, as they have four "School Talk" meetings scheduled with local teachers.

The meetings give board members a chance to hear from teachers in a less formal setting than a traditional board meeting. However, these meetings, like all school board meetings, are open to the public.

Here's the schedule:

- Thursday, 4 p.m., at Grimsley High School. A meeting with teachers from Grimsley, Page, Smith and Dudley high schools, along with the middle college high schools.

- Monday, Feb. 14, 4 p.m. at the GCS Central office, 712 N. Eugene St. in Greensboro. A meeting with teachers from Andrews, High Point Central, Southwest, Eastern, Western, Northwest, Northeast, Ragsdale, Southern and Southeast high schools.

- Wednesday, Feb. 16, 4 p.m. at the GCS Central office, 712 N. Eugene St. in Greensboro. A meeting with teachers from Allen Jay, Welborn, Penn-Griffin, Ferndale, Southwest, Northwest, Kernodle, Guilford, Aycock and Allen middle schools.

- Thursday, Feb. 17, 4 p.m. at the GCS Central office, 712 N. Eugene St. in Greensboro. A meeting with teachers from Hairston, Mendenhall, Northeast, Eastern, Jamestown, Southeast, Jackson and Kiser middle schools.

Cooperation apparently isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Greensboro Police recently pitched an idea for a School Watch program in Guilford County Schools. Modeled after Community Watch programs, School Watch would train school employees, and possibly students, to recognize signs of drug use and gang activity so they can share that information with police.

But so far, the school district has thumbed its collective nose at the police.

School board member Deena Hayes particularly is opposed to the idea. She says it would turn students into snitches and increase the flow of minority students into the prison system.

Frustrated by the lack of response from the school district, police have been taking their case to the public. They plan to bring the training to parents and other community members. The first such meeting was held Wednesday night.

So what do you think? Are school district officials correct in being wary of School Watch? Or should the school system be more cooperative with police?

Wanted: a new principal for Andrews High School.

As reported here, Andrews Principal John Wittmann Jr. won't even finish out his first year at the school. Wittmann cited long hours as a major factor in his decision.

Wittmann is the second High Point high school principal to leave this year. Cassandra Barker-Carr had to step down as High Point Central's principal due to health issues.

So are you concerned by this leadership turnover? And how will this affect the controversial High Point reassignment plan? I know you guys aren't shy about when it comes to that topic!

Beyond the specifics of High Point, I wonder if too much is expected from high school principals.

Many of them work 12, 14, even 16-hour days, which means they must sacrifice any semblance of family or personal time to do their jobs. They are expected to attend school plays and football games after hours, even if that means not seeing their own children that day. And they often get abuse by the truckloads from students and, yes, from parents, too.

Is that fair? And how do we fix it?

Well, the first batch of numbers are in - and they don't look good for High Point's ninth-graders.

Andrews, High Point Central and Southwest high schools are in the first year of a controversial reassignment plan approved a year ago by the Guilford County Board of Education. The plan started shifting students between these three schools, beginning with this year's ninth-grade class.

However, first-semester reports from the three schools show a dramatic increase in the numbers of ninth-graders failing at least one course. The number of freshman getting suspended is way up, while the average daily attendance is down.

So what should we make of all this? I'd like to hear from people on both sides of the reassignment plan debate, but let us know what you think.

The school board's agenda for Thursday night looks deceptively light. Don't be fooled.

Two heavy hitting topics are up for discussion: the continuing saga of magnet schools (remember Craven, the school set to get $1.5 million in renovations but still has no program for next year?) and the academic progress of the district. Last week the district released some pretty dismal numbers about how the three High Point high schools are faring. Here's the school system's report, "High Point High Schools First Semester Data Analysis".

The new, districtwide data to be released Thursday night should give us an idea if the problems are even more pervasive or just in High Point.

The full agenda can be read here. (Click on Feb. 24 link.)The meeting will be at 6:45 p.m. at the board's offices, 712 N. Eugene St., Greensboro.

The board might be meeting again this week for one of its annual retreats. Saturday had been suggested as an intense, one-day retreat instead of spreading it out over two days, which is typical. So far, the meeting hasn't been confirmed. Once we find out, we'll post the particulars.

Many parents at Grimsley High School aren't happy about a proposed ninth-grade academy at their school.

Last night, a crowd of about 200 people debated the issue in the Grimsley library and from what I heard, the parents and the administration still are far apart on this issue.

But the idea of ninth-grade academies - self-contained teams of ninth-grade students and teachers - isn't limited to just Grimsley. A bunch of other Guilford County high schools either already have them or are planning them.

So what do you think about these academies, either in general or at your school?

I cut and pasted this from The Editor's Log because John said it better than I could. Anyway, I've been working on this project for the last couple of months. Keep an eye out for Sunday's paper and I hope to see you at Tuesday's forum:

Opening doors and building community occurs in brick and mortar as well as cyberspace. We held a community forum on school discipline in December that filled Finch Chapel at Greensboro College. We're continuing the discussion at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 1, at Penn-Griffin Middle School in High Point.

This time, we're drilling deeper into possible solutions, focusing on character education. At every school, across all grade levels, students are taught character education -- how to choose between right and wrong. Is it the answer to discipline problems? Does it work? Is it even the role of schools? We'll address those questions and others in a special report by staff writer Bruce Buchanan Sunday.

The forum will feature brief comments by our panelists and then the floor will be open. The panelists are: Dr. Peggy Thompson, chief academic officer for Guilford schools; Kyra Seaver, a teacher at Jefferson Elementary; Kayleigh Scott, a student at Eastern High; Justin Jefferson, a student at Smith; Lewis Ferebee, principal at Fairview; Charlie Abourjilie, character education coordinator with the state Department of Public Instruction; and Susan Mendenhall, a school board member. It will be moderated by Dr. Alberta Haynes Herron of High Point University.

Want to ask the panel a question? Go here.

By now, I hope you've had the chance to read the Sunday story on character education. And I hope you will attend our character education forum tomorrow night in High Point.

This story took me nearly two months to report and write. I encountered lots of great educators at schools all cross Guilford County; they really are doing some wonderful things in trying to teach kids right from wrong.

Unfortunately, we didn't have space to include everyone. So here is my effort to at least acknowledge them.

Chalkboard regular Debora Mauser asked me to post this. We love getting requests and I think it'll make a great discussion topic:

"How about a topic on block vs traditional scheduling? I would love to hear both positive and negative about this. Interesting that NW and Grimsley are both on traditional and have the highest scores and most scholarships - Is there any correlation?"

In a traditional schedule, high school students attend six courses, usually for 50 minutes to an hour each. They stay in those same classes for the entire school year.

In a block schedule, students attend four courses, typically for 90 minutes each. But each course only lasts for a semester and at the start of the spring semester, they get four new courses.

Grimsley and Northwest are the only two Guilford County high schools that use the traditional schedule. Most local schools switched to the block in 2001, although a few, such as Andrews and Southeast, used it earlier.

It's true, as Debora points out, that Grimsley and Northwest have the highest test scores in the district. But it's also true that those two schools had the highest scores even before the other schools switched to the block schedule.

And I bet if Grimsley and Northwest went to the block and the other schools went to the traditional schedule, Grimsley and Northwest would continue to excel. Those two schools have prepared students, high standards, excellent teachers and involved, well-educated parents. That's a recipe for success, no matter what type of schedule you use.

Having said that, there are plenty of pros and cons to both the block and the traditional schedule, so let's discuss them!

Superintendent Terry Grier has proposed a change in how the district doles out its $7.7 million in federal (Title I) aid for schools with large numbers of low-income students. Every year the district reviews its formula. Some schools are winners and some are losers.

The money has historically gone to elementary schools. I'm not sure when middle schools were added, but in recent years the district decided to share the wealth with high schools. The money usually helps pay for extra teachers, tutors, materials and the like.

The latest proposal would pull about $1.5 million from four high schools: Andrews, Central, Dudley and Smith. These are also the schools that Grier argued needed the extra money just a few short years ago. What changed his mind? Read the News & Record's Tuesday edition to find out what Grier, some school board members and others say about the proposal. Once the story goes online I'll add a link here.

Some of the money involved is local funding that also is funneled to poor schools. Changing the funding formulas would affect the district's budget for 2005-06. The board hasn't voted on the proposal and it could change drastically. Board member Nancy Routh said there likely will be a meeting to discuss the proposal before the board's next regular meeting, which is March 8.

We'll keep you posted if that meeting materializes.

Speaking of meetings, no definitive word yet on the annual board retreat. The latest is that it will be on Sunday, March 20. I haven't gotten that confirmed yet and there is nothing on the district's Web site.