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Don't forget: the Guilford County Board of Education will be hold a special meeting 11:30 a.m. Monday at the Guilford County Schools central office, 712 N. Eugene St. in Greensboro.

The meeting centers around the controversial proposal to move federal Title I money among several schools. Four high schools - Andrews, Dudley, High Point Central and Smith - would lose approximately $1.5 million. That money would be redistributed to poor-neighborhood elementary schools.

For the second week in a row, education news will occupy center stage in Sunday's News & Record.

Last week, we brought you the story on character education. This Sunday, we'll bring you a look at the new, revised SAT.

For the first time, test-takers will be required to write an essay. The new test also includes more higher-level math and grammar.

Our Sunday package will tell you what's new and why the changes were made. In addition, we'll have some real-life tips on how to help your kids get a better score. Hopefully, you will find this package to be both useful and interesting.

Judging by the comments here on The Chalkboard, I think it's safe to say that a significant number of Guilford County residents aren't pleased with the performance of the school board and school system. And every time I go grocery shopping at the Lowe's on Guilford College Road, I invariably see at least one "Get Terry Grier Outta Here" bumper sticker.

But local parents aren't the only ones demanding school change. In the state's largest school system, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, a half-dozen school reform groups are evidence of a rising tide of discontent.

Many of the issues, such as school attendance lines, student discipline and crowded schools, sound familiar.

One group, FUME (Families United for North Mecklenburg Education), is concerned about school crowding and the way construction dollars are divvied up.

Project Hope is looking into discipline problems and teacher turnover at Hopewell High School. Partners for Highest Quality Schools is working to improve schools in the East Mecklenburg High attendance area.

DUMPCMS ("DUMP" stands for "Don't Underestimate Mecklenburg Parents")offers a message board where folks can exchange ideas about school-related issues. And one group, FixCMS, offers a radical solution: divide Charlotte-Meck into several smaller school systems.

Nearly half - 45.77 percent - of all students in Guilford County Schools are poor enough to qualify for federally subsidized meals.

How to help those poor students, who as a group don't do as well on standardized tests as their peers, has taken a front seat in early budget talks.

The Guilford County Board of Education spent 90 minutes during a midday session on Monday going over a preliminary budget that includes a $16 million increase in county funding over this year. Read more about the meeting in today's News & Record. I'll update this post with a link after the story goes online.

If Superintendent Terry Grier has his way, the board will discuss and vote Tuesday night on his proposal for changing the Title I federal funding for poor schools. The board meets at 6:45 p.m. at its High Point offices, 900 English Road. The rest of the budget proposals likely have a long road to travel before the board votes on them. Grier's actual budget request isn't due to the school board until May 1. And the board has until May 15 to craft its version after members pick through Grier's recommendations and come up with some of their own.

A Greensboro psychologist will be discussing testing issues on an online chat tonight.

Dr. Ron Rubenzer will talk about "psychological testing of children" from 7:30 to 8 p.m. at Discover Teenergy, a Canadian website. Dr. Rubenzer will talk about issues such as test shyness, biases in testing, IQ tests, the new SAT and the best tests.

Just click on the Discover Teenergy link to participate. Dr. Rubenzer works at Triad Counseling in Greensboro and teaches psychology at GTCC.

For the last couple of weeks, ninth-grade academies have been a hot topic here in Guilford County. Officials at most of the district's high schools are looking at ways to create small, separate learning environments for freshmen.

This approach hasn't gone over well at Grimsley High School, where parents are adamantly opposed to the idea. Grimsley parents said the program isn't needed and will drain resources from upperclassmen. Page High School dropped plans for a ninth-grade academy after parents expressed concerns.

Similar concerns are being expressed in the North Carolina mountains, where Asheville High School is exploring dividing itself up into smaller programs. Parents there have many of the same worries as the Grimsley parents.

We just received an e-mail from Grimsley parent Melanie Rodenbough, who tell us that the school's proposed ninth-grade academy appears to be off the table, at least for the 2005-06 school year.

Instead, Rodenbough said Grimsley is looking at ways to help ninth-graders who need extra help. This includes students with academic difficulties as well as those who don't speak English fluently.

A ninth-grade academy is a self-contained environment for high school freshmen, where they are divided up into teams of students and teachers. Supporters say they create a nurturing environment where students can't fall through the cracks.

But Grimsley parents said that by concentrating more resources and teachers on ninth-graders, the school's upperclassman would lose out on course offerings. They also said that a high-performing school like Grimsley doesn't need such a radical makeover.

Grimsley officials still plan to pursue a Small Learning Communities grant, which would have funded the ninth-grade academy. A plan for that grant is due in the next 30 to 45 days. However, the grant doesn't necessarily require ninth-grade academies.

We'll see how this turns out, but it looks like the Grimsley parents have won out.

I hope everyone read Jennifer's story on principal turnover today.

Basically, Guilford County Schools has seen a whirlwind of principal turnover in the past four years. And more changes are on the way for the fall. Today's story documents the problem with a ton of data and addresses both the reasons for the turnover as well as the possible consequences.

To the school district's credit, they have started a "grow-your-own" program in an effort to train new principals from within the teacher ranks.

So what are your thoughts about principal turnover and today's story?

In a previous post, "r.i.g.o.r." asked about SAT scores under Supterintendent Terry Grier. I don't know how to link to our archives through the comment section so I created a separate post.

Generally, more students are taking the test (although the percentage has dropped from about 71 to 68) and scores are up. Districtwide, that is. Individual school scores are another matter.

Here is a link to a Sept. 1 story written by Bruce Buchanan. At the end is a school-by-school list. But it is difficult to read so I'm including here a link to an Excel spreadsheet with that same data. It should be easier to navigate.

I hope this helps. Remember, it will be difficult to compare the test results after this year because the revamped SAT adds another section. The top score a student can get will increase from 1600 to 2400.

If you've ever worked for a big company, you certainly have had one of those "The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing" moments. Well, I had one of those Friday.

I went out to Mendenhall Middle School and reported a story on the school's state champion Future City team. Future City requires students to design and plan their own mock city, using both computer simulations and 3D models.

Just completing a Future City project requires a ton of brain power and even more hard work. That Mendenhall was able to beat out private and magnet schools from across the state and represent North Carolina in the national finals is newsworthy.

It turns out that People & Places reporter Tina Firesheets thought so too. Tina does a great job of finding local news, so it doesn't surprise me that she was interested in the Mendenhall story. What I didn't know is that she had already been out to the school and written her own excellent story. You can read it here.

We've had a request to post today's column by Charles Davenport Jr.

Mr. Davenport tackles the always-controversial subject of the High Point high school reassignment plan. Since that is a hot topic here on The Chalkboard, it seems that this column is timely.

I'd also like to point out that Mr. Davenport now has his own Web site, which is filled with his columns on a variety of subjects.

On Tuesday, the Guilford County Board of Education reached an agreement with the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority to purchase land near the airport for the new Guilford Elementary. The school, which will open at the end of 2006, will replace the existing Guilford Primary.

I want to hear from everyone, but especially folks in the west Greensboro area. Is this a good location for the school? Is a new elementary school needed in that area? Just wondering what you think.

Sorry. I've been remiss. I promised an update on when the board's retreat will be and I forgot to put that up. Here is the agenda. The board is meeting from 1-7 p.m. this Sunday at the board's offices, 712 N. Eugene St.

1:00-2:00 Board Goals for 2005

2:00-3:00 Academic Achievement Report and Strategies for Continuing Achievement Gains

3:00-3:45 Sodexho Report and Discussion

3:45-4:15 Minority and Women Business Enterprise ( MWBE) Report

4:15-4:45 Governance Committee Report

a. Magnet and Options Schools Programs Policy

b. Volunteer Policy

4:45-5:00 Library Collaboration Issues

5:00-5:15 Board Evaluation

5:15-5:45 Board Compensation

5:45-7:00 Continued Board Discussion of Budget Issues, Including Discussion of Local Funding Formula Options

7:00 p.m Adjourn

Times and dates are subject to change.

I don't know if you've been following the controversy surrounding the Durham Board of Education, but, man, is it getting nasty.

The Durham board, like the Guilford County Board of Education, has allowed public comment at the beginning of meetings. But some board members apparently weren't happy that citizens were taking them up on that offer. In particular, African-American residents had used the public comment portion of the meeting to air concerns.

The board voted Thursday night - strictly along racial lines - to ban any public comment that doesn't pertain to that meeting's agenda. In other words, if you want to talk about redistricting and that isn't on the agenda, you are out of luck.

After the vote, a small crowd of protesters chanted, "No one can take my voice, it's not your choice. I have freedom to speak."

I'd like to hear your thoughts either on the Durham situation or how you think the Guilford County Board of Education rates in dealing with and listening to the public.

Over the weekend, the folks in the News & Record's editorial department wrote this about a push in Mecklenburg County to deconsolidate their massive school system.

With nearly 122,000 students, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is the largest school system in North Carolina and one of the biggest in the country. Some suburban parents feel it's too big and are pushing to break the school district up into smaller systems.

How would this play in Guilford County? Would deconsolidation be a good idea here?

And if so, how many school systems should we have? How should they be configured?

Well, either school officials are reading this site or they heard Barbara Ann McAbee's periodic pleadings on behalf of all Guilford County Schools employees.

A district press release today announces the new Employee of the Month program, in partnership with Sam's Club.

After reading the details below, tell us what you think about this new recognition program. I remember awhile back there had been a lot of chatter here at the Chalkboard about the Teacher of the Year recognition program, where one educator each year for the past few years has won a car, with other top contenders winning computers or gift certificates to Harris Teeter, which sponsors that award program.

Will this offer a morale boost to employees who weren't eligible for the teaching prize?

I'd like to post a "shout out" here to Ronda Evans, who suggested we start a daily or weekly poll on education issues at the Chalkboard.

Well, we're going to shamelessly steal that great idea. Thanks Ronda. We thought we'd launch the first poll today with a question based on Sunday's board of education retreat.

Here's the link to the poll:

One problem in covering a large district with schools on different calendars is that we can't give you a single day for when school will be made up due to bad weather.

So, here is the long list explaining the two make-up days so far this school year, from information provided today by the school district:

For Feb. 28:
•Friday, April 29 for schools on the regular district calendar
•Monday, April 4 for Hampton Leadership Academy
•Friday, April 29 for Oak Hill Year-Round Elementary
•Monday, May 2 for Brooks Global Studies
•Monday, May 2 for Johnson Street Global Studies
•Friday, June 3 for The Early College at Guilford

For Thursday (March 17, a not-so-green St. Patty's Day!):
•Friday, May 27 for schools on the regular district calendar
•Friday, June 3 for Oak Hill Year-Round Elementary
•Monday, June 6 for The Early College at Guilford (half day only)
•Thursday, June 9 for Brooks Global Studies
•Thursday, June 9 for Johnson Street Global Studies
•To be determined for Hampton Leadership Academy

At its last regular meeting, the school board heard from several parents upset with a recommendation to delay the annual testing of second graders to find the most academically advanced students.

That issue will be discussed again Thursday at the board's regular meeting. The session starts at 6:45 p.m. and will be at the board's offices on Eugene Street.

Read the entire board agenda here.

Other topics to be discussed include recommendations on handling school discipline and whether to name the replacement school for Guilford Primary after former principal Doris Henderson (she spent 14 years as Guilford Primary's principal) or to keep it similar to the current name and call it Guilford Elementary.

The issue about when to test for Advanced Learners has stirred concern among many parents.

Why is this timing important? Well, parents say that these students get bored with school because they're not challenged. They end up tutoring other students instead of advancing their own academic careers. The earlier they receive their own academic challenge, the better, parents say.

Under the proposal, students wouldn't get the more in-depth services until second semester of third grade. And the most advanced third-graders would no longer get to attend a special program at a separate site. Those students (VSN or very strong needs) would have to wait until fourth grade to attend the separate school program, which is moving from Wiley Elementary and Aycock Middle schools this year to the new Lincoln Middle next year.

For the second time in a month, tragedy has struck a local high school.

A Northwest High School student was killed this morning in a car wreck.

Just three weeks ago, two Southeast High School students died in a fatal wreck and two other students were injured.

The Northwest student, whose name has not yet been released, was returning from serving breakfast to the homeless at Greensboro Urban Ministry. A regular Chalkboard reader suggested we send donations to the ministry and I think that's a wonderful idea.

Contributions may be made to:
Greensboro Urban Ministry
305 West Lee St.
Greensboro, NC 27406

The phone number is 271-5959 and you can print out a pledge form off of their Web site. And as another reader said, our prayers go out to the family during this unimaginably difficult time.

Martha Snavely, the principal at Morehead Elementary in Greensboro, recently was honored with the 2005 Woman of Achievement award from the City of Greensboro's Commission on the Status of Women.

Snavely, who has been Morehead's principal since 1999, won in the Education category. Under her leadership, Morehead was named an Honor School of Excellence - the highest possible classification - on the state's 2004 ABCs of Public Education report card. Nearly 93 percent of the school's students passed state reading and math tests last year.

She's also been great to us here at the News & Record over the years. So here's a big Chalkboard congratulations to Martha Snavely!

Well, it's Spring Break, but instead of sitting on a beach, your humble servants here at The Chalkboard are sitting at our desks.

Don't tell our bosses, but Spring Break can be sort of slow on the education beat. There really isn't a lot of education news when teachers and students aren't in school.

But that'll give us time to get caught up. And one thing I've been meaning to ask y'all about is the ongoing debate about what to name Guilford County's newest high school.

This much we know: a 1,200-student, $41 million high school will open in 2007. It will be the district's 15th traditional high school and the first new one since Southwest opened in 1979.

On the surface, Northern Guilford High School appears to be the perfect name. It'll be located just east of Summerfield and will draw students from the current Northeast and Northwest districts. Also, it will complete the compass, as every other directional point (Southwest, Eastern, Western, etc.) has been taken for a high school.

But there are some, including this newspaper's editorial board, who are lobbying to name the new school Edward R. Murrow High School, after the legendary CBS broadcaster. Murrow was born in Greensboro, but the nine-time Emmy Award winner left the state to go to college and made his fame and fortune elsewhere.

So what should this new high school be named? The school board likely will make that decision soon.

You asked for it, so here it is, the results from last week's poll and a new question to ponder.

Last week the Chalkboard asked if the Guilford County Board of Education should raise its monthly salary.

The resounding answer: NO!

Here are the results:
No - 57.3 percent
No because they shouldn't be paid at all - 16.2 percent
Increase by $100 to $200 - 5.1 percent
Match the $1,225 paid to county commissioners - 21.4 percent

There were 117 votes with 254 page views.

What does it mean? Not much, really. The poll isn't scientific by any means. But it sure was fun to do. So, we're going to do it again.

For our next question, we ask you to name the new high school. As you know, the district is building a high school in the northern part of the county, between Northwest and Northeast high schools. The school won't open for a few years, but it's just begging for a name. Here's your chance to "Name that school."

Unfortunately, our technology does not have the capability to accept fill-in-the blank answers on these polls. So, if you choose "other" in the poll, feel free to tell us here at the Chalkboard what you think the school should be named.

SchoolMatters.com, a new national Web site, is now open for business.

The site includes test score, demographic and school spending information for schools all across the country. All of the local information already was available at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's site, but until now, there was no easy place to compare state-to-state.

This site provides that information: if you want to check out per-pupil spending in Georgia, for example, you can find it here. Plus, it's a lot easier to use than the DPI site.

It looks like North Carolina's legislators and top education officials don't necessarily agree on what constitutes a qualified teacher.

State school board Chairman Howard Lee and Superintendent Tricia Willoughby recently issued this statement. In it, they argue that a proposed amendment to the law governing teacher licensing and certification would water down the pool of teachers by automatically approving teachers who have out-of-state licenses.

The problem, Lee and Willoughby argue, is that some states might not have as stringent guidelines as North Carolina in determining what makes a teacher "highly qualified," which is a key component to the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

What are the teaching requirements, you ask? Well, first off, you have to have a degree, of course. Then, you have to take a test. In North Carolina, the PRAXIS Series is used for licensing, according to Teach4NC's Web site.

Teach4NC also states that: First-time out-of-state applicants for a North Carolina license must meet North Carolina testing requirements regardless of previous tests taken or scores required by other states. First-time North Carolina license applicants must take the PRAXIS II subject test(s). Individuals are required to take only one subject test (or set of subject tests) for their first North Carolina license even if they are licensed in more than one area, with the exception of the administration area.

In light of concerns about finding enough teachers for classrooms, are Howard and Willoughby wrong? Should the state automatically allow teachers who are licensed in another state to teach in North Carolina?

Or are they right and the state should continue to make out-of-state teachers meet the present Tar Heel requirements in order to teach here?