News-Record.com

"Under the proposal, students wouldn't get the more in-depth services..."

Jennifer, you are more right than you know..Students WON'T be getting the same services that they are getting now because Grier has LIED and said that the testing is illegal--but besides that, he want's a more "diverse" enrollment. So he has taken away the test so that he can hand-pick the correct colors.

This will change the academic make-up of the program.

I'm SURE there is a GRANT behind all of this. Please investigate this. I know Grier and I smell MONEY.

Suspect worked at Jessica's school
His job at Homosassa Elementary gave him access to students. It is unknown whether he had contact with Jessica.
By COLLINS CONNER and BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writers
Published March 22, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOMOSASSA - For five months, convicted sex offender John Evander Couey worked as a mason's helper at Homosassa Elementary School, where 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford attended class.

A mason on the job said Couey had direct contact with students and teachers during the project, though it was unknown whether he had contact with Jessica.

Before that, Couey, who was formally arrested Monday in connection with Jessica's death, worked on the Crystal River Middle School remodeling project.

"Oh, my God," said School Board member Ginger Bryant. "I can't believe he ever set foot on any of our school sites. I feel yucky. I'm ready to throw up."

Think this can't happen here in Guilford County? Of course it can. It may already be happening. We've discovered Ex-felons, I'm sure there's some pedophiles out there. Let's see, 107 schools...I suggest that we get on with the more invasive background check idea. Please call our superintendent and inquire how many pedophiles work in our system.

Thanks

We need as many parents at the Thursday night school board meeting. Call 370-8100 to get on the public forum agenda. If you can't attend, send an e-mail to all board members BEFORE Thursday urging them NOT to approve the revision to the Plan for Advanced Learners. There is NO sound reason for delaying and reducing AL services.

If anyone would like to learn more about what the issues surrounding proposed changes to Advanced Learner Services, please visit www.hirewriters.com/VSN/Serve3rd (BoardPetition.doc will give you the best insight). Any parent in Guilford County should be aware of the proposed dilution of AL services.

2ND GRADE parents should be particularly outraged because they were told in August 2004 that their child would be tested in the fall to determine eligibility for services to start at the BEGINNING of 3rd grade. No communication was ever provided to let parents know that this changed and that testing didn't occur.

Administration will cite a change in a law that was amended in July that caused 2nd grade testing to become illegal (so why the communication in August?). The change in the law is under a section entitled Statewide Testing, and is not applicable to 2nd grade testing, which occurs district-wide (only a handful of districts test 2nd graders -- Guilford, Forsyth, Mecklenburg among them).

Now that parents have pointed this out to administration, they are claiming a different reason for delaying testing. They cite that developmental readiness is a factor. This argument doesn't hold water either, because they also proposed switching the testing instrument from the Otis Lennon Scholastic Aptitude Test to the Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT), which for 2nd graders, is a pictorial test that does not reward early reading and they claim is less biased than the Otis Lennon test. This would eliminate the "false positives" (identifying early readers as academically gifted, which by the way IS an indicator of giftedness) and "false negatives" (not identifying students who may qualify). I believe this to be another red-herring; the adminstration doesn't use facts to demonstrate the magnitude of this alleged problem. Delaying testing and the instrument are mutually exclusive.

All other programs such as Head Start and pre-K have been put in place because earlier intervention is the key. But when it comes to the highest academically gifted students, this somehow doesn't suit the administration's purpose.

In fact, the administration is in violation of another law that requires them to revise the Plan for Advanced Learners and submit it to the state Dept. for Public Instruction PRIOR to implementing changes. The reason for the meeting on Thursday is to get board approval for revising the Plan. This is after-the-fact.

URGE the Board to NOT amend the Plan for advanced learners. Whether you can attend the meeting or not, we need an influx of e-mails to the board members.

Here are their e-mails that you can copy directly into the "to" line of an e-mail:
childsw@guilford.k12.nc.us , mendens@guilford.k12.nc.us , dygarr@aol.com , alan.duncan@smithmoorelaw.com , sharpea@guilford.k12.nc.us , mcsykes6@aol.com , kcooke73@triad.rr.com , hayesd@guilford.k12.nc.us , quicka@guilford.k12.nc.us , nrouth@bellsouth.net , dotkendall@aol.com

While we want to ensure that all eligible students receive the services each child needs, let's not pit students against each other. Let's not look to identify one set of students by taking away services from another set.

The administration on Thursday will not focus on legalities or what's being taken away, they will focus on the "shiny new penny" that parents will now get instead and present it as something better. It's not. How can delaying services be better? How can lumping more students with different levels of need still be considered differentiated? How can providing children who would receive a FULL day of accelerated learning only 90 minutes a week be better? Why are we punishing students who demonstrate high achievement at an early age by delaying services? Students should receive services when they are ready, not a year later.

Isn't it odd that Dr. Grier wants to take away this testing but wants to force 8th graders to take Algebra and force more high school students to take AP/Honors classes, even if they aren't interested? I don't get it.

GSOMOM,
Someone also should ask Grier the NAME of the GRANT that he's pursuing that's prompting all of these changes.

If is looks like a grant, smells like a grant and tastes like a grant, IT"S A GRANT!!

Grier will chase ANY grant and will CHANGE ANY program to meet the grant criteria.

I wonder if the board members are even aware of WHY he's proposed changes?

Someone needs to put some smelling salt under the noses of our comatose board members.

Still reading all the material on the A/L change -lots to read - thank you for putting the link on there for all of us to see. I would suggest if you have friends whose kids are in this program that you let them know what is going on and supply the links.

With regard to the Algebra in 8th grade....If a kid fails it in 8th grade, he can pick it up again in the 9th grade. If he scores high in the 8th grade on the testing, that score is "banked" (that is how it was explained to me).

It is giving students two shots at Algebra I. Some are ready; some are not but they two get two changes to take it.

EVERY parent in Guilford County should be outraged at this proposed "amendment". ALL students will suffer, not just the highly gifted. Yes, they will suffer the most, and the quickest, but all others will as well. Each school's AL staff is going to be asked to deliver a mighty tall order. Peggy Thompson says they will start by serving ALL OF THIRD grade until the AL students are identified. GIVE ME A BREAK! They can barely serve the kids now that ARE IDENTIFIED! How are they supposed to work with every third grader, all the nurture groups, and the 4/5th AL students, oh and do aptitude testing and AL screening all in the first semester. Wake up folks! This is just phase one of the "Plan to Socially Engineer the Program". First, they must eliminate that pesky little requirement of testing so they aren't forced to serve kids that do not fit into their plan. And, I do not think there's a grant out there that pays a district to eliminate AL services TO ALL STUDENTS? The grant is supporting the k-2 nurture group program. Now they want to push that into third grade so the teachers can pick who gets served. And of course there are "guidelines" about who can be chosen (mind you "chosen", not evaluated). We have given the BOE all the reasons they need to see through this "illegal" testing charade. Now it's political. We need to pack the board room tomorrow night! Several Board members are up for election next year. Keep that in mind!!

As far as the A/P and Honors classes this should be up to the individual student and his family considering the student's ability; the advice of a guidance counselor and what career goals the student has in mind. It should be the student's ultimate choice.

All kids do now want college. Some kids do not have the ability to get into college. All kids will not make it into college but they still should be able to get a decent job and support a family if that is their desire. (Don't think this includes mime and puppetry.)

There is nothing wrong with a kid who wants to pursue a technical or trade field.

We will always need electricians; plumbers; mechanics, etc.

Think of 911 - it wasn't the stockbrokers and lawyers who were the heros. It was the policemen and the firemen and other every day "ordinary" folks.

posts a little out of order - my last two posts were addressing Mel's comment

L,

THANK YOU for posting the article on Jessica.

It has always concerned myself and some others about all the temps that Sedexho hires and the lack of background checks. Latest from the SB is they are taking care of this in the next janitorial contract. I hope other changes will be taking place to insure more detailed background checks of all GCS employees and contractors.

I inquired, once again, about ID badges. Many janitors do not wear a badge or worse plop on a substitute teacher's badge. Some of the temporary janitors have lasted only a few days once there backgrounds proved faulty; but in the meantime they were around young children intermingling.

Detailed background checks are the first step; ID badges are the second.

A friend told me that laws involving predetors being known to the public are different from state to state. People can still slip through the cracks. Hopefully, thorough background checks would help solve this problem.

I was told that badges are being pursued along with badges for construction workers.

With all the new construction forthcoming, this is an additional area of concern. I suggested that all the workers need to log in with name and social security number and someone needs to oversee this on the job site. There should be no room left for error on this.

As you see new construction and renovations at your schools, please be aware of any workers on the premises who do not have identification and report it to the school.

Thank you for getting involved for our children's safety.

Prayers to the family of the NW student.

I am outraged about the AL services, but not for the reasons others are. I find the AL services to be poor at best.

Science AL for 4th and 5th grade, has consisted of acting out a play.

AL in third grade focused on Multiple Intelligences...Not teaching to a the multiple intelligences of a group of students, which is what educators OUGHT to be doing in every class, but teaching kids ABOUT multiple intelligences. Not exactly what I would expect from a language arts AL. AL math was playing the game 24. The outcome for my third grade child was 2+ hours of homework on AL days. Pull out programs aren't good unless there is excellent cooperation from the classroom teacher, which has NOT been our experience for many years.

NC transplant,

Just wait till your kids get to middle school! It's a joke!

You are right. The pullouts are a punishment in a lot of the GCS schools. That's another debate. AL should replace classroom work, not add on to it. But, wouldn't you rather have the option of allowing your child to participate? Or, do you want the BOE making that choice for you because of a hidden agenda?

I guess I'm turning into one of those ranting, trolls because I'm beginning to feel like Guilford County Schools, as a whole, is punishment.

AL is a strange bird. My child is strong AL in math/lang arts/science and moderate Social studies. I have no idea what they do in middle school (6th grade). He is in a group of all al kids for math and lang arts; so I don't know what the difference is between his work and 'regular' work. Before this, during the 'pull-outs' it could be overwhelming. I was not unhappy with the AL work; just ticked that it was 'extra' not enrichment. I think it is extemely hard for teachers to be able to coordinate with the AL teachers to do "enrichment/enhancement" and not just extra! I would love to see the students grouped by ability and taught that way.

Debora,

Once again, some very good points. I remember those elementary A/L classes for my daughter. It was a lot of extra work and more like extra "projects". Also it was always up to the student to "get" the regular work from the teacher and remind her. At times, the homeroom teachers seemed bothered by this.

I totally agree that to be grouped by ability would make more sense and be a lot easier on all.

From a teacher's standpoint (and I know this from subbing), it is very distracting and disruptive to the flow of the classroom. You have kids leave for A/L; then the Special Needs kids leave; then the Speech children; then English as a second language. You finally say, "Okay, what time of the day will all of you be here in one room to take a spelling test?"

You will be in one lesson; finish it and the other students come back and you have to stop to fill them in on what they missed.

As kids come and go in groups, they come in talking so you stop teaching again to address the disruption to the rest of the class.

It would certainly make more sense to just teach by ability. I know at times the parents of A/L kids feel like there is homework and project overload (and there is) as they have to make up their regular day work.

Also what I remember from elementary school it seemed that many projects were on the same theme; i.e. Native Americans; the Incas, etc.

I thought in middle school it was just divided by the levels in the classes you picked.

Can anyone fill us in on how the middle school handles their A/L students?

In middle school, the teams are made up of kids with similar academic levels. In my son's middle school, there were three different levels. They take all their core classes with their teams and the "electives" with all levels together.

Yes, at our school also, grouped by levels-- just for math and lang arts; not science/social studies (of course we don't test for those yet so that may be one reason) At our school one of the subgroups testes that showed the least amount of growth was the AL kids. Not enough of a challenge pule the fact that many of them are at the top of the scale, so improvement percentage is harder. So why move backwards on this program? More needs should be addressed, quicker and more often; not less

I had a dream...

I had a dream last night that I was relieved of the daily burden of babysitting my school board.

In my dream, my school board representative was communicative, and sought the desires, questions and concerns of her constitutents.

In my dream, the neighborhood kids boarded the same bus, went to the school around the corner, and had a solid, strong curriculum in the basics.

In my dream, I was able to resume my old life. I went to work, I helped my kids with homework, I made dinner, vacuumed, folded underwear.....without the constant fear that our school programs were being tampered with.

Yes....last night I had a dream.

Today, it's back to reality. What has my school board screwed with since I went to bed last night? Yep, different day, same poo.

Debora,

Remember, that the number 1 goal of the school board is to narrow the achievement gap between white and minority students.

Could the Goal of our superintendent and board be to stall the progress of some students in order to allow others to catch up quicker?

This is just another smokescreen set up to make Dr. Griers resume look more inviting to the educational headhunters.

In reality, no students benefit from the lowering
of goals and standards in order to accomplish social goals.

The only one to benefit would be Dr. Grier.

Slakattak is right, again.

To call it "narrowing the achievement gap" doesn't mean that anyone's progress improves. If you bring all the high performers down, you have "narrowed the gap". Is that what they really want to do?

Dr. Grier and school board members: If you are reading this, is the goal to narrow the gap or to improve the academic levels of our students? There IS a difference!

There certainly isn't an effort to lower performance by any students - overall test scores are on the rise in Guilford County Schools and more schools are meeting state and federal test score goals. The system's stated goal is to close the gap and raise overall achievement.

However, I think you've hit on an issue that we might want to talk about.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act puts tremendous pressure on schools to get all students up to grade level. Now, this is absolutely a worthwhile goal. Far too many students, particularly poor and minority students, have been allowed to fall through the cracks over the years.

However, NCLB only requires that kids make it to grade level. And there are plenty of, say, fifth-graders in Guilford County who can read and do math on a middle school or high school level.

I've heard many parents of academically advanced students (we called 'em "gifted" back in my day) say their children don't get the rigor and attention they need. Because these kids already are on grade level, parents say they are deemed "okay" and the teacher focuses his or her attention on the struggling students.

Certainly, it's great that schools are spending so much energy helping kids who need assistance. But has that come at the expense of high achievers? What are your opinions?

And while it's easy to blame Terry Grier or the Guilford County Board of Education, don't forget that they are, to a large degree, playing the hand they were dealt by the No Child Left Behind Act. The Feds have said, in effect, you MUST close all achievement gaps, so it's no surprise that's where the district is focusing its manpower and money.

Why doesn't the school administration call it what it really is: "Creating the Achievement Gap."

They can toy with all the programs they want, shuffle students, shuffle tests, shuffle grades etc. and make the gap as narrow as they would like. They can fool the federal government, the media, taxpayers and future Grier employers, but they can't fool me. And once again, our students lose.

What fools. Their holiday is around the corner. Happy Fools' Day to you School Board and administration.

"There certainly isn't an effort to lower performance by any students"

And what do you base this on, Bruce? The WORD, the STATED GOALS of Guilford County Schools?

You mean we can take them for their WORD? Since when?

Can I get some more info on how AL is done at different schools?

Elementary School - My 5th grader has only math and l/a this year since her formerly f-t AL teacher is now only there 4 days and has double the students since moderate and strong are both pulled out by the AL teacher. The teacher also has a new "focus group" to work with - why did they even test for science/social studies since there is no time???
Ann Barr explained that many elementary schools had changes/cutbacks - is this true?

Middle school - At my 6th grader's school, there is one class of "strong" AL and one class of "moderate" AL kids. (^50 kids out of 250+ sixth graders). These kids are together for math/la/science/social studies. If you make AL for math (and not l/a) you are still in one of these AL classes (will be placed based on math scores since these are "transitional math" classes -using 8th grade book) - reverse is true if you make l/a but not math - still in one of the AL classes. So you end up with the teacher having to slow things down for the kids who are not AL in the subject being taught. Is this happening at other schools?

Also, what kind of projects are 6th graders doing at other GC middle schools? How much homework is assigned? done in class or at home? Just trying to find that elusive academic rigor...

In my search for academic rigor, I forgot to ask about extracurricular activities that middle schools students can participate in such as GC Spelling Bee, Battle of the Books, Odyssey of the Mind, Challenge 24 - what is being done at different middle schools around the county?

Thanks - any info is appreciated (although it will probably depress me about the education my son is receiving).

Troll,

No, I certainly wouldn't take the word of school officials on something like this!

I'm basing it on state End-of-Grade and End-of-Course test score results. Those results show improvements at virtually every grade level and subject during the past five years. In many cases, there is a double-digit gain, although high school students aren't improving at nearly the pace of elementary school kids.

Breaking it down, 90 percent of Guilford County's white students passed state reading and math tests last year, as did 91 percent of non-poor kids and 92 percent of students whose parents graduated college. These are your highest-performing groups and their scores aren't declining.

Intentionally lowering the performance of some students would be foolishly counter-productive. It would make the district look weaker on paper, not better. The numbers show it simply isn't happening - and it would be easy to detect.

I think the more valid questions are, "Are advanced learners being challenged to reach their full potential? Or are their needs being ignored to aid other students?"

"These are your highest-performing groups and their scores aren't declining." --Bruce's words.

Okay, they're not declining, but who is concerned that they just may be stagnet? "Hold em' so's the other's can catch up"--that was my point.

Your point? So let them be?? Just turn your attention away from these students because they are "fine?" They need not only challenges but the opportunity to USE their knowledge. "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I learn, INVOLVE me and I remember.--Ben Franklin

No and yes to your last questions. I have a "strong" AL student. It's laughable. Of course he's ignored. He doesn't need help so what teacher is going to give him the time of day? I basically consider myself a home-schooling parent since we introduce at home what I believe that he's missing at school.

He's bored and is losing interest fast. Only the disruptive students get the teachers attention. Da!

And I'm a troll because EVERY new, ingenious plan that this board has come up with lately affects my family.

--Last year, Choice Plan, yippee for us, we had an 8th grader.

--This year, mess with the AL program. Yep, I've go 2 of those, maybe three, depends what happens to k-2...

What's next? Can I just get the BASICs please. I'm tired of having my kids used as lab rats.

If you want a good dicussion, let's talk about vouchers. I just want MY money so I can use it to educate my kids the way I CHOOSE.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I never said it was okay for the school district to turn its attention away from advanced learners. Never even implied that.

My point was, "I've heard this is happening. What do you think?"

No, Bruce. I don't think the advanced learners are being challenged to reach their full potential. Think about it. If they continue to offer services to the VSN students in the 3rd grade, if they challenge the "gifted" students, the achievement gap between the high performers and the low performers might actually GROW!

I am not saying that they are 'intentionally' lowering the performance of some students but if they keep them right where they are, there is not such a big gap to close. This superintendent and his staff have been known to take the easy way out.

Cynthia,

Thank you, you get it. I bet you'd take your voucher money and run, wouldn't you?

But, like "poo-poo" above said, that would only be dreaming.

By the way, "Poo-Poo" I've had that same dream. (Minus the vacuuming and folding)

Several points-
yes the AL program in being watered down. More people qualifed/less teachers=less attention per child. That is a no-brainer. Is it the teachers fault? NO! There is never enough money. And Bruce, yes its obvious that more money is going to get kids up to the grade level; so money for programs to help the high end isn't a priority.

I don't see as many exciting innovative things happening- 2 years ago my 4th grader and his al math group made a village to size with dimensions/percentages/etc. They designed and built an entire small down town area in miniature. Very Cool! Last year the 5th graders studied the stock market, bought, sold and traded stocks in their math class; again very cool. This year in 6th grade. Handouts and work sheets-this in not the transition class, just AL math. His team has 4 teachers/130 students-- AL strong are grouped together for math/Lang arts. Not sure about moderates, but for science and social studies they are totally mixed; strong, moderate and all others.

I think it must be an incredible challenge to keep the classroom in a somewhat orderly manner, teach kids with many levels of ability and try to do more than the 'minimum.' That is why I admire our teachers. The main difference IMHO is that today kids are so disrespectful. I can't believe the attitude that comes from middle school students. In the stone age, when I went to school, if you misbehaved there were some severe consequences both at school and worse.. at home. Now the teachers/administrators have little support from alot of parents; you all know what I mean. "not my child" "the teacher didn't tell him" blah, blah, blah. Too many parents have let down their children believe that they deserve everything; even without earning anyting!

If there were cost savings from delaying the eligibility for VSN students from 3rd grade to 4th grade, what do we all KNOW that Grier would do with it? He would dump it into a magnet program that he could list on his resume. He would never think to use it to help the struggling students with the basics.

By the way, has anbody seen pg 5 of the new Rhino? Are Central, SW and Andrews magnet schools or not? I want to win $100!

DETAILS please for those of us who don't have immediate access to a Rhino!!

I LOVE that paper!!!

well, once again the GSC board makes a decision that not only flies in the face of common sense, but is not in concet with the wishes of the parents/taxpayers? Why is it that the board just doesn't seem to get it? We take away from the advanced kids, water down academics, and generally lower standards, under the guise of "casting a wider net" GCS spends little time analyzing and debating the big issues, but spent at least an hour at every meeting for three months debating Craven Elem. and in the end decided to do nothing.

What is it going to take to get the school boad to do the right thing???

The school board, with its current make-up, will NEVER do the right thing.

The question is: WHEN will VOTERS do the right thing? They had their chance last November and fell into the Cooke and Kearns TRAP. I hope those that voted for them are happy.

I W-W-K-D? It's too late now, but I wonder ..... What would Kirkpatrick do?

Let's clean house this next election cycle.

PLEASE! GCS is now officially a JOKE.

I am too tired to comment long - and most has all been said - the writing is on the wall. It is up to the voters in 2006.

But for Kirkpatrick - he would have tried hard to get rid of the violence in our schools and restore common sense, discipline, fairness and order. He is a good, decent and smart man.

Today is also a tragic day.

The Guilford County School board has just voted in the last bit of insanity, and I can take no more.

The Advanced Learner (AL) program is now gone.

Why doesn't the board just call it what it really is: "Basic Learning for under-Achievers To Create the Illusion that All Guilford County Children are Advanced"

What's next?

.. admitting ALL High Schoolers to The Early College @ Guilford?

...Forcing 4th Graders to take the SAT?

...Forcing Kindergarteners to take Algebra I?

This new policy is a smack in the face to our high achieving students and families. It is saying to them that their education is 2nd priority to the under-achieving, struggling students.

Only Darlene Garret and Anita Sharpe could see through this smoke-screen. I believe others on the board can see it too but they've already fallen under the "I can be bought out" spell of Grier.

What a sad, pathetic system we have.

Why don't they just send notes home with the children that says: "if you are up to grade level, please leave our system. We have to shuffle again to make it look like we're teaching the others."

I agree. It's up to us as voters now, not as concerned parents.
As you may have read, my son Jimmy did his family and all of Guilford County proud last night. After the last board meeting he saw me on television and started asking questions about what was being considered. He was so bothered, he decided to write to the Board. He said he wanted to go and read his speech himself last night. So, I let him. I am very proud of him.

When we left the board meeting last night (and had of course lost), I told him, "it doesn't matter what happended, because we are winners. If you do the right thing and lose, you are still a winner when you stand up for what you believe in." And Jimmy said, "That's right Mommy. And you know what else? When you do the wrong thing and win, it's still wrong."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Kim,

I read about your son in the paper this morning and look forward to hearing him on the replay at 1:00 (Channel 2).

I know you must be proud and while I do not know you, I am also proud. I am proud that you and others have done tremendous research, analysis, and interviews with elected officials in Raleigh to prove your point to any reasonable and logical person. But alas, we are not dealing with reasonable and logical people on the school board (less Darlene and Anita).

I am very sorry that the decision made last night was not the right one.

As I am sure you are now well aware, the motive of the School Board (less Darlene and Anita) is to ram social engineering down the throats of us all.

Funny, the goals of the Board of Education is NOT to educate children - rather to make some Marxist statement.

Yes, WWKD - I can tell you - Kirkpatrick would have done the RIGHT thing and he would have tried with all his might to convince the others to do the RIGHT thing.

There is no hope until November 2006.

Who's willing to take on Marti, Alan, Susan, and Deena???

Way to go Jimmy! You're awesome and I can't wait to watch the meeting later to see you. You should be very proud.

Jimmy is a fine example of the gifted children of this county. And because you are a fine parent and example to him, our administrators believe that all "Jimmys" will do "fine." --So why teach them? They know that mommy and daddy will.

They have used this thinking as their "ticket out" of teaching all the students.

The only way to make sense of this is to remember the unstated goals of our school system:

"Go to whatever lengths necessary to make it LOOK as if the Achievement Gap narrows."

I'm sorry it's at the expense of all the Jimmys of this county. I don't know how our administrators can live with themselves. Except for Ms. Garret and Ms. Sharpe, I hope they all fall right into that gaping "GAP" that they created.

By the way, last year, Alan Duncan and I were discussing overcrowding at Northwest High School. He told me that he wasn't worried about the students at Northwest. He stated that most of those children had 2 college educated parents and would succeed even if there were no teachers in the classroom!

Yes, he said this. Does this tell you anything???

Yes, Quest, it does tell me something. It tells me that Alan must NOT be aware of the massive drug problems over there at this rich, white-collar school.

Did anyone get beyond page 5 of the Rhino yesterday? (I have to admit, page 5 was hard to put down.)

Mr. Hammer had a great article about Guilford County's history of building HUGE high schools and the benefits of SMALL high schools.

He makes such a good point. My child attends one of the "mini" high schools and I have to admit that the things he wrote about are true. The principal DOES know all the students by name. The principal HAD LUNCH with every family this year--just to talk about ANYTHING! Yes, there is NO dicipline problems. Yes, there is NO violence. Yes, my child LOVES attending.

I think Mr. Hammer is on to something. How do we convince our school board that they DO need to SCRAP the plans of this HUGE school and go back to the drawing board? It'll be too late to wait until 2006 when our NEW board is elected.

What will it take to get this board to listen? A school shooting?

Kim,

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES!

You have raised him to do what is right.

We are so proud of him to. I was so impressed when I read about him in this morning's paper and getting up to speak.

It is always right to stand up for what you believe in.

I would love to have 4 small schools, but that won't happen. Too much money and not enough diversity.-- the reason the 'mini' schools work is that we don't have to build a building. As you probably all know, the cost of building is going up. The new school is suppose to have 1200 students (that is almost half of what NW has at this time-they have over 2100) so although I would love to have a school that has 400 kids, I know that is a pipe dream. Everything is money oriented. My fear is that the school will be overcrowded on day one. Most of you have followed the building/board for a long time, if you have then you know the first bond built in areas that did not need class rooms, and left other areas out to dry. With the vast majority of growth in the county area (all areas) outpacing the two large cities in the county this overcrowding and large schools will continue unless all of us are willing to pay more; much more in taxes.

Small High schools have some benefits, but the principal and vice principals have so little to do with most High School kids that the benefit is minimal. I came from a High School of Almost 4,000 - most of us went on to college. Violence, drugs etc were not a problem. We had a great diverse educational program because of the size. Many electives and great college prep. A new 2,400 student High School near the current High Growth corridor in North High Point would allow for Southwest middle campus to be turned into an 6-7th grade campus and the current High School Campus could be turned into an 8-9th grade transitional campus.
This would allow for trailers to be removed, and allow for 5 to 7 years growth in the area as well as reduce busing costs.
The right citizens group could persuade the 2 large developers in the corridor to buy the land and donate it. (this is for their benifit and would increase the value of their projects). The city has earmarked funds for a new Park and rec center - this could be used for a park next ot the school that both could co-use, current enlargement budgets for the Southwest High School could be applied to new construction of a true performing arts/traditional college prep High school with Bond Money from High Point City used for a new Theatre/Performing Arts center shared bu High Point and the High School.
Innovative partnering between private sector/city and school board can solve some problems and help jeal a broken trust.

Garth,

You could take the best idea, put it on a silver platter, present it at the next board meeting, and the current board would vote it down.

I have lost the last bit of respect I had for this board.

Unless your idea includes ways to create college graduates out of failing, drop-outs, our board doesn't want to hear it.

They could care less about North High Point, if you're white, or if you're right. They want us to be ashamed of being white and middle class. We're supposed to feel guilty and move over so the under priviledged can have our seats. I honestly think they are doing what they can to drive families to private schools. Each family that leaves is one less they have to deal with and more money in their pockets.

I'm done. I used to bake, tutor, chaperone, rake, paint, etc...for these schools. I'm DONE. No more free help from me. If the goal is to cater to the minority, then they can get help from those parents. I'm done being used as a doormat.

Adios, GCS.

Outta here, enjoyed your comments, just a few minor issues.

First of all if you put an idea on a silver platter in front of this School Board, you would come back with your idea and they would keep the silver platter, your silver fillings, and your gold watch if you happen to be wearing one.

Don't feel guilty for being from right, being white or from North High Point. I know they want you to say "I'm white and I'm ashamed". Don't listen to them or more importantly don't let your children listen to them.

I agree with what you say about it's time to let some other people carry the load. It is clearly time for all of the free lunches to be over.

Just got through watching the school board meeting.

Just a few thoughts before I go hide the eggs.

Would someone inform Deena Hayes that these meetings are not a soap box for the NAACP.

As a school board member she should have all students best interest at hand.It seems that her only reason for being involved is to bring another racial healing need to our attention.

Amos Quick had a nice DUDLEY sweatshirt on at the meeting,Do you think we could get Susan Mendenhall to don a SOUTHWEST COWBOY sweatshirt at the next show??

What is worse? Chinese Water Torture or listening to Dot Kearns castrate a topic with 10 minutes of incoherent mutter.

Happy Easter To All!!!

One more thought.

Is Amos Quick beginning to look like a Grier Puppet?

Buckmountain you always make us laugh because you tell the truth in such a witty way. I am bringing you many, many wonderful Easter eggs and treats. One of them contains a voucher when you open it so your kid can go to private school and not have to be doing the Bunny Hop at SW Dance Class.

Dear Disgusted Easter Rabbit,

Please join me and bring all the great kids of North High Point some nice treats. They really deserve it. They have had a tough year.

You can save the rotten eggs for certain school board members. You know which ones. If not, ask Santa, he already has them on the "naughty" side and brought them coal.

You can forget that Southwest shirt for Susan. I heard she will only wear one with the big C on it. Anyway, many people aren't going to the shows anymore. They are tired of the same old repeats.

My husband just made an interesting comment to me.

He said sooner or later there will be no achievement gap as they are chasing so many parents away whose kids are succeeding. Something to thing about, but I really think they don't care.

I just got done watching the beginning of the SB meeting and listening to the A/L parents plead their case. Talk about dejavu. It is sad to watch this and, of course, you know how the vote will go after the last school board meeting. Once there are "reasons" for changing something that has been in place for years, you just know how the vote will go.

Sorry I missed Jimmy's speech, but I am taping the meeting so I will get to watch him in action.

It is another sad day in Guilford County School. The students whose needs are the strongest academically will be getting the weakest education.

Your tax dollars at work folks.

Does anybody reading this blog use the Public Health Department for their family's medical needs? (Not that there is anything wrong with it) I only know of a few people that have done it. Maybe they were uninsured or maybe their insurance didn't cover immunizations. Maybe their co-pay was too high for certain services. Whatever.

I will give public education in High Point 10 more years and I think you will see that it will be just like the Public Health Department. Only those that HAVE to, will use it - only the poorest people in town. The performance of the schools will get worse and worse. Everybody else will be paying extra for private schools and happy to do it.

Of course, Terry Grier, Dot and Susan will be long gone by then but....we'll always remember the part they played in it. ALWAYS!

btw

THANK YOU DARLENE AND ANITA FOR VOTING FOR WHAT IS RIGHT BY THESE KIDS.

Can we actually hope that Dot & Susan will be gone in 10 years?!

While watching the replay of The GCS board meeting, I heard the question raised about how many students had left NW Middle because of the "hit list" and events afterwards. The best # that the principle could give was 3. Bruce or Jennifer, do you have or can you get any numbers about how many students have left High Point Schools? Also, is their a process to find out how the Boards decision on AL services will effect the possible departure of families from public school? Thanks for any help you can provide!

Kay,

I thought the same thing. I thought I read it was 3 in today's paper out of a large number of kids.

It would be good to know how many left HP schools because of the "Choice" Plan; how many left to private; how many to home school; how many moved to Northwest district; how many kids/families had to go to counseling because of the stress this forced situation has put on them.

Right now, I can name 5 families I know personally who pulled their kids out; others whose homes are on the market because of the "plan". I am just talking "families" not number of kids in each family. Some have several kids. I know others who are applying for transfers out of state with their jobs to leave Guilford County Schools.

It would be good if Bruce and Jen could somehow do some kind of survey to cover this question.

I would do a separate one for leaving because of the "Choice" Plan and another for leaving because of A/L services being cut.

I can verify that 3 children left NW. Unfortunately they didn't feel safe at our school. I hate that the actions of one student (person that wrote the hit list) has made these children feel unsafe. I believe for the most part that NWMS is safe. We have very little violence; but the amount of disrespectful actions/words/attitudes seems to be growing. No one has been arrested for the 'hit list'-- the sheriffs dept obviously didn't have enough evidence to make that decision. Here is something to think about. We have 1178 students- 2 asst. principls, no video equipement. There are 5 middle schools with populations of around 600 that have 3 asst. principals. I can't even quess the reasons, but if we had more personnel they would have a better chance of knowing the students and maybe identifying problems before they escalated to this extinct. I was embarrassed for our school.

Hey Bruce,

why don't you do some research into how much growth the private schools in the area have experienced in the last year or two. I'll bet it would be a fairly effective barometer of what the well-to-do think about the quality of education at GCS.

Hi all....
I gave up reading the blogs a while ago but was "sucked back in" with this discussion (Sandy still reads them daily). Here's a related post that I left on David Hoggard's site. To weigh in on the raise issue.... give them a dime for every returned call or e-mail and a dollar for every WOTHWHILE meeting attended (worthless meetings have no value)!

As a reply to Pam, it was Dr Grier who said he was constantly trying to do "More with less". My comment back to him was to change his paradigm 180 degrees and do "Less with more".

What I meant by that was for Dr. Grier and the Board of Education to stop creating all of these specialty/magnet programs that focus the school system's resources on the top 10% students academically. Instead take the time, monetary and human resources and reallocate them back to a basic education that focuses on math, reading and science. This type of focus would benefit the 88% of Guilford County's student population NOT enrolled in a magnet program.

Additionally, the principals in Guilford County don't have the backing of the central office to do something as courageous as principal Wren. If a school principal ever tried something like that here, she'd be moved before she had a chance to succeed. Success at a local level "de-centralizes" the power. Therefor, it won't happen here as long as the current superintendent is in power.

In January, I spent a considerable amount of time drafting a 3 page letter to the BOE that gave specific examples of how they might approach such a "radical", back to basics idea. Only Darlene Garrett and Amos Quick responded. The current board has a solid voting block of 6 that votes as one. They fall "lock-step" behind Alan Duncan's lead. Until that changes or until Dr. Grier takes his Guilford County experiment-filled resume' elsewhere, we can expect more of the same. (Just ask the VSN parents)

Someday, sanity will return and our best educators will feel empowered to be as courageous as principal Wren. Until that time, I feel it is our responsibility to affect those things we feel we can/should change and to support the educators bold enough to care to try to make a difference.

Simply said, "Less specialty programs, MORE basic education!" "Less central office control, MORE local control" "Less shuffling of principals, MORE stability" "Less bussing, MORE community schools" (The list is endless!)
Tim Mann • 3/25/05; 9:55:16 PM #

Hey folks, the vote on Thursday was just another nail in the coffin not only for VSN services but AL services in general.

The only minor (and I emphasize "minor") victory we scored was that the administration last minute revised its plan so that AL services will now begin in November rather than 2nd semester. The corker is that the CogAT test will now be scored "in-house". Call me cynical but I don't trust that one ioda. Objectivity out the window.

Only the children suffer here as this is all about numbers. Last year, when the Plan for Advanced Learners (PAL) was being revised, Grier gave the team lead by Ann Barr an "unofficial" goal of 40% non-white participation in AL services. This decision is not based on serving children, academic needs or anything else other than "making numbers". Children receiving "nurture" services in K-2 are not identified by need only by racial background and economic status. And now that there's no test to be able to prove any of this, teachers are now being outright asked to subjectively select students, but they can only select from a certain pool of students. We'll never have access to test scores or any information that will allow us to appeal the decision.

Pre-EOG test scores, a minimum based achievement test is now one of the components used to determine AL eligibility. Now I'm not denying that minority and "underserved" children need to be nurtured to reach their potential. But these kids, who can't yet demonstrate achievement, will be placed side-by-side with other AL students already demonstrating achievement. This is a lose - lose for everyone and will continue to fuel the resentment between the races, and it's not the fault of the kids. When we continue to make decisions based on race rather than academics, we continue to promote the very problem that they claim to want to fix. VSN students get the worst end of the deal, which was clearly admitted to the board by administration at the meeting, because the services they will now receive "will not be as rigorous" as what has been provided. Hey Bruce and Jennifer, why don't you start to track AL test scores by level over time. You'll watch that this group of students' scores will decline. The program is being so watered down in the name of "serving numbers" rather than students. The AL specialist at each of the 65 elementary schools (there's some consistency in service for you) will now be responsible for testing, serving nurture groups K-2, serving all 2nd graders until AL services begin, serving moderate, strong, and very strong needs children. All this from typically one human being. No how, now way. The independent study that VSN students will now "have the benefit" of will consist of what they've been doing already since Kindergarten, and that is sitting in a corner and reading. Or as has been said by so many above, they will just have more. So they'll do the busy work during school, and then get dumped on after school with 2+ hours of independent project work. This isn't differentiated, it's only a way to discourage every bright student from wanting to do his/her best. These kids will be burned out before they ever hit middle school. And you don't think this will cause more discipline problems? What a mess.
The problem is that there's no private schools either in GSO that can teach to gifted students. There's no place to go other than out of the county. And that's not an option for us.

I've got an idea...let's all check the multiracial box on all forms and test booklets. Then there's no gap to close and maybe we could actually focus on the academics. I'm seriously considering instructing my kids to do this. It only works, though, if we create a "movement"!

GSOMom,

Great idea about the racial identification on school forms.

From this day forward, my kids will be listed as "OTHER" on all forms.

I'm going out on a limb with this one: Here's a question for the VSN and other AL parents:

In the November 2004 election, did you vote for

Kirkpatrick or Kearns?

Davidson or Cooke?

Until the county wakes up and votes correctly, these illogical decisions will continue to be made.

Bruce/Jennifer,

Interesting article in today's paper: http://www.news-record.com/news/now/easley032605.htm

regarding Easley's decision to veto a cooking school in NC.

If Terry Grier hears about this, he'll take a highly successful school, like say, Northwest High and turn it into a Cooking school magnet. Surely there must be federal money (not state) somewhere to support this??

Also, I saw where a major truck manufacturer in Greensboro is working with GTCC to start a truck automotive program.

Look out Grimsley/Page - you could be next with a magnet for truck mechanics. That sounds good, doesn't it!

Limb: We still would have lost 7-4!!

GSOMOM,

You underestimate the leadership that Jim Kirkpatrick possesses. He would have led many of the others to the reasonable decision.

Right now many of the board members look to Alan Duncan to tell them how to vote. Just notice the "block of 5".

Kirkpatrick has true leadership and instead of these lazy members asking Duncan how to vote, Kirkpatrick would have provided the voice of reason to these members.

You can't say it would have been 7-4.

Limb,
I think you are also underestimating the quiet power of the "minority agenda". This whole issue is about social engeneering, not BOE leadership. They all knew this was not a good thing to do, still they did it. Dr. T. said he wants 40% minority enrollment because he's afraid to take on Deanna and the NAACP and stand up for what's right. I don't think 1 board member would have changed that. We need all 5 that are up for election next year to BE DEFEATED! Then, maybe reason will matter.

Since we're talking about school board elections, let me throw in a little history.

The current school board (with Alan Duncan as chairman) came to power at the end of 2002 because folks felt the previous school board didn't take enough of a hands-on role in running the school system.

In 2002, board chairman Calvin Boykin and vice-chairman Pam Allen were voted off, while long-time member Dewey Tedder chose not to run again. Deena Hayes, Nancy Routh and Marti Sykes were elected in their place.

The previous board gave the central office a lot of leeway in running the day-to-day operations. They thought their role should be to set policies and monitor results, but not to actually run the system.

At the time, lots of people were clamoring for a change, saying the board had become a rubber stamp. They were excited to see Mr. Duncan and company take over.

And there's no doubt that the new board has been more hands-on. The High Point reassignment plan, for example, was a board plan, not something dreamed up by the central office.

Bruce,
So, it was the Boards idea to put together a program that would be dependant on a grant for funding, then screw up the application for that grant? Then when they questioned the legality of "their" idea, they were "told" by their attorney that this plan was in fact legal (there's that word again) because the bussing that would be done was being based on soci-economic basis and not race. So, all of that was the board's idea? This group is not that creative. Evidence the still vacant Craven School.

Well, the central office had to implement the plan (and, as you noted, botched the magnet grant application.)

But the idea to move kids around between Andrews, Central and Southwest, using a lottery, was the school board's idea, primarily Alan Duncan.

That's not saying that Dr. Grier doesn't support the reassignment plan, because he does, but he and his staff didn't come up with the idea. If you recall, the central office's proposal was to redraw attendance lines for Andrews, Central, Southwest and Ragsdale. The school board backed off of that plan after Southwest and Ragsdale parents protested, then they drew up the reassignment plan.

Bruce,

So why, do you think, was Ragsdale left out of the mix in the Reassignment plan?

That's a great question. What school officials said at the time was that Ragsdale wasn't geographically close enough to the other three schools to make a four-way reassignment plan feasible.

However, given the reaction of Southwest parents to the plan, I also think the board didn't want to anger two groups of parents. I suspect that Ragsdale parents would have reacted in much the same way as the Southwest parents and from a political standpoint, I don't think the board wanted to alienate that many parents.

That's just a hunch on my part - no board member told me, "Oh, we knew the Southwest folks would be mad, so we didn't want to tick off the Ragsdale people, too." But I've been following this deal from the beginning and that's my honest assessment of the situation.

Bruce,

Thanks for your honest assessment. I agree, but would like to go one further. When you say, "from a political standpoint, I don't think the board wanted to alienate that many parents." I say they didn't want to lose that many votes in the next election. You say "alienate", I say "political suicide".

When you say, "Ragsdale wasn't geographically close enough to the other three schools", surely you must know that Ragsdale is the closest school to MANY of the North High Point residents fighting this illogical decision.

This leads me to a request of you - it appears that residents of High Point are not allowed to be reassigned to Guilford County or Greensboro schools. For many of us, the closest schools are (in order): Ragsdale, Southwest, Western. Even Grimsley is closer than Central. If this is a merged school system - why the boundaries in assignment? Do you know?

Quest,

Where does Andrews High School fit in in regards to your ranking of high school locations. For many people in Jamestown, Andrews would be closer to their neighborhood than Southwest High.

Sandy,

Andrews is at least 4th closest (or perhaps even further than that). I have clocked Ragsdale, Southwest, Western, Central, and Grimsley - both for distance and travel time by car.

Here's a real treat for those early Christmas shoppers:

You can order your own cd copy of "PR Power Hour - Working with Superintendents" with Terry Grier discussing "the value of communication in school district leadership."

WOW!!

For only $22 plus S&H, this can be yours. Order at:

http://www.nspra.org/cgi-bin/catalog.exe?ft=e&ef=viewdetail.htm&iid=90

I also think I saw Grier in a commercial!

I'm not sure, he was sitting there with some woman, and they were talking about how he had enough "power" to keep going,

and going

and going?

Was he advertising this "Power Hour" CD?

..... Or was that a battery commercial? No, maybe.... Viagra? I don't know!

What the heck IS he doing in his spare time??? And where do the proceeds go for his business ventures?

He's HOT!

Just got my "Power Hour" CD!

GOSH, I wish it was a VIDEO! His VOICE!! Oh, oh, oh,..... oh, oh,....ah..... so MOTIVATING!!!!!

(There really should be a Rating on this thing!)

Ohhhh, the POWER I'm feeling!!!!!!!

I think this should be mandatory for ALL GCS employees!

Hey, I just tried to order one of those X-rated Grier CD's and it says: 'OUT OF STOCK'

Please SHARE! Can I rent it from you? I LOVE his voice. Sometimes I call his home phone just to hear his voice. And I admit I go to the School board meetings just to watch him.

I agree, he's a HOTTY!

I hope the school board keeps him around for a long time. Does anyone know if the rumor is true that he's available again?

I'm checking Ebay, maybe I can find the CD there. If anyone's got one, I'll pay BIG bucks!!

Okay, this is getting silly.

Getting back to the previous discussion, It's true that some folks in north HP are closer to Western than they are to Andrews or Central.

However, Western's enrollment is at capacity and growing, while Grimsley is several hundred students over capacity. Don't forget: part of the reassignment plan was to relieve crowding at Southwest while filling empty seats at Andrews and Central.

Also, while it isn't far from Southwest to Western, students in south High Point would have a really long drive if they wanted to attend a program at Western or Grimsley.

Finally, the more schools you involve, the more complicated it gets from a logistical standpoint (bus routes, class schedules, etc.) Running a reassignment plan with three high schools is much simpler than a plan with five high schools.

So for those reasons, it didn't make much sense to include Western or Grimsley in the reassignment plan. I'm sure a lot of Southwest parents don't think it makes much sense to include any high schools in the reassignment plan!!

Bruce,

Thanks for your response and for stating that Western is closer to North High Point than Andrews or Central.

Aren't all high schools (less Andrews and Central) either at capacity or over capacity? The real answer is to STOP new EXPENSIVE magnet plans and programs and start building new schools that teach the fundamentals.

And, I don't follow your logic with south High Pointers going to Western. My point was limited to North High Pointers attending Western or Ragsdale or any of a number of schools which are CLOSER than either Andrews or Central.

Why are North High Pointers limited to attending High Point Schools? If we are truly a merged school system, we should attend the closest school to our home regardless of the city limits.

The board made bad decisions in adding seats to Andrews and Central. The citizens of North High Point should not be made to pay for those bad decisions.

Let's do the right thing - assign students to schools closest to their homes. Let's decrease transportation costs. Let's increase academic achievement by teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic.

It's quite simple and proven effective.

Wonder if anyone at GCA will realize how much gas costs? This has got to put them in the red for this years transportation costs. Yet... we added more magnets for next year. We did cut attendance zones (we meaning the GCS-not me) for many of the magnets. If it was up to me, there would be a small 7-10 mile zone around each magnet that provided transportation. If you CHOSE to go to a magnet school (true magnet not HP Choice) then you should take responsibility and provide transportation for your own child. Over half due that already. More money for magnets equals less for the other 88% of the children.

Debora,

You're absolutely right!

I like your motto: "More money for magnets equals less for the other 88% of the children."

This has a catchy ring and oh, so true!

"More money for magnets equals less for the other 88% of the children."

It bears repeating.

I like the quote too! Sounds like a good campaign slogan!
Another question about transportation......why is it that our kids can't visit each other during football games, but can ride the same "hub" bus on game day?
My son went to the Andrews/SW football game. He went to the Andrews side to visit friends from the previous year of MS. He was told he couldn't be there and to return to the SW side. I thought we were trying to build unity and not division among our schools.
Are we implying that our bus drivers can better handle controversy among our students than administration and police officers?

Bruce,

You made the following comment in a previous post:

"Don't forget: part of the reassignment plan was to relieve crowding at Southwest while filling empty seats at Andrews and Central."

I would appreciate it if you would provide for me and others an accounting of how the random reassignment plan has relieved crowding at Southwest. It is my understanding that overcrowding at Southwest is worse this year than last. And, if there are empty seats at Central, why do they have classes exceeding 30 students and hold classes in the basement? I still don't think that I buy this argument.

Also, since improving the educational experience of all students is the major goal of the school board (or at least it should be), how has this plan actually accomplished that? I'm still looking for one documented academic benefit attributed to the plan. Can you help me on this?

Make sure to check out Grier's Friday Notes from March 25. Following is his discussion on the rising transportation costs, yet we continue to offer more and more magnets and force the students of High Point to bused against their wills.

How dumb is that!

"Diesel Fuel Price Continues to Skyrocket – Crude Oil at All-Time High!

Fuel prices for the week of March 15 were: Unleaded $1.5206 per gallon; Diesel $1.5828 per gallon. Fuel prices for the week of March 22 are: Unleaded $1.5602 per gallon; Diesel $1.6357 per gallon. One year ago we were paying $1.03 per gallon of diesel fuel. As of March 1, we’ve already spent $110,432 more for diesel fuel the first eight months of this school year than we spent for all 12 months last year. Based on increased bus mileage caused by 16 added buses this year in support of new students and new programs, we project consuming 150,403 gallons more of diesel fuel this year than last year so we’ll consume 464,573 gallons the remainder of this school year. Based on today’s price, $1.6357 per gallon, we’ll spend an additional $759,902 this school year for diesel fuel bringing the total spent to $2,034,670, which is $870,334 more than we spent last year. For more information, please call Jim Moen, Director of Transportation, at 370-8920."

Has anyone spoken to the Commissioners about this obvious disregard for financial responsibility?

Grier and company are going to ask the Commissioners for millions of dollars more this year than last, yet they waste precious tax dollars on unnecessary transportation costs.

The Commissioners need to Just Say NO!!!

Teddy,

Relieving crowding at Southwest and filling seats at Central and Andrews was one of the goals of the reassignment plan. That goal has not been reached, although a little bit of progress was made this year.

According to numbers from the state (not GCS), enrollment at Southwest is down about 50 students from last year, while enrollment at Central is up about 50 kids. Andrews' enrollment is about the same.

So crowding shouldn't be worse at Southwest and, in fact, should be a little better - a little, not a lot. Fifty students isn't a huge change either way.

As for academic benefits, there haven't been any so far.

I wrote a front-page story that ran Feb. 19th saying that through the first semester, the number of ninth-graders at the three high schools who failed at least one course is up a whopping 54 percent from last year. Suspensions are up considerably at Andrews and Central, but not at Southwest, and ninth-grade attendance is down. There's no doubt those numbers are incredibly troubling.

End-of-course test scores from first semester are less conclusive. Some are up a little and some are down a little. But there's no evidence of any overall improvement from last year.

In all fairness, these are just first-semester numbers. They're sort of like a halftime score in a basketball game. The first-year numbers, which we'll get at the end of spring semester, will be far more telling.

Bruce,

In your opinion, how long should this program be allowed to fail before the Board does the right thing and stops it?

There is not one single academic achievement of the High Point Choice Plan.

There are numerous academic and other failures.

Well, that's up to the school board and, indirectly, the public. But like I said, we should know a lot more after the end of one complete school year.

Two points

Students only have 4 years in hs so experimenting with each class has a limited amount of time to fail or achieve for each graduating class.

If the County Commissioners don't fund GCS at the level asked for, who do you think will suffer? Magnet schools, new programs or basic educaton?

Debora,

I know that the question you pose is rhetorical; however, I feel the need to respond.

"If the County Commissioners don't fund GCS at the level asked for, who do you think will suffer? Magnet schools, new programs or basic educaton?"

BASIC EDUCATION for 88% of the population will suffer.

So, this year is truly an experiment.

And next year too? How long do we trial and error? It sickens me that my child is being used in this experiment.

The Guilford County Science Fair doesn't allow living creatures in projects, how can the administration get away with it?

Dear info,
Agreed! So do we ask the CC not to fund GCS or do we continue to fight GCS to try to use the money wisely? There really isn't a right answer. If the GCS doesn't get the money, then they will tighten their belts (I would love to cut out major trans. for magnet schools) but you know that the new and magnet schools will continue to get what they need. Ann Barr of VSN said that the new AL changes would mean that they need 10 new teachers and they would be hard to find(probably hard to fund also). On my part I will continue to fight for the smart use of our money. I urge everyone to write NC legislators and ask them to fully fund state mandated laws (school nurses, funding of EC kids and more)-- I have been actively supporting this plan for several months. If the state funded these initatives then there would be more money for basics. Of course I will then have to fight GCS BOE to be smart with that money! I hope for a lottery to ADD to the state funding of education. If the lottery passes we must have it be in addition to current money not in place of-- okay off the band wagon!

It'll be a cold day in....you know where...before I will lobby for more money for these schools.

That's like raising the allowance for a shop-a-holic child.

What we need to do is bring in Suze Orman to teach Grier and Company how to do with what they have.

Bruce/Jennifer,

Isn't today the day for the poll results and for the new poll question?

Dear Accountable Accountant,
My point was if the money came from the state then it would have to be spent where the law says-- one nurse per 750 students. At our school we have a nurse 1 1/2 days for 1178 students- we should have 1 nurse full time and 1 half time, but since the state doesn't pay for it-the county can manuever out of it. If the state gave the correct funds, there wouldn't be the shortage. Same thing for EC kids. Currently funds are capped at a percentage that our county surpasses. If all initiatives were funded these students would have their needs better addressed. I understand your frustration, I am there also; but its the kids that suffer the most. How do you propose to help them? Other than vote, which I am sure you probably did. I did also, and my atlarge candidate lost.

Debora,

I understood your point. And I appreciate all you do to try to fix this system.

My point was that I have NO faith in these schools. If we had ALL the funds for mandated programs, then the remaining money would just be be MORE money for Grier and friends to WASTE.

Speaking of nurses. A friend of mine IS a nurse. She's licensed by the state of NC. She VOLUNTEERED to help at a particular school where the student/nurse ratio is similar to yours and her FREE help was declined.

Does that make sense? These questions are not for you in particular, just as a reminder that we are NOT dealing with rational people.

Empty school buildings...does THAT make sense?

Kids PASSING each other and OTHER schools on the way to the RIGHT school, does that make sense?

Taking away the Otis Lenon to create more "diversity" in the AL program, does that make sense?

Teacher-less classes more than 1/2 way into the school year, and many classes that are publicized but don't exist...make sense?

You can understand my anomosity towards these schools as soon as the word 'money' comes up. Money is NOT the solution to the problems that our kids are facing.

Intelligent Leadership is the solution. Let's seek out some intelligence for the next election. My AT-large candidate also lost. Same man? I hope he's still interested.

I'm not sure that I could sit next to some of these board members and remain civil. I hope all the good candidates haven't run off.

Thanks again Debora for always offering a good suggestion. You see, I live in High Point, and I cannot be so optimistic.

Quest,

You're right; today's the day for the poll. We're putting one together now and will post it soon. Thanks for the reminder!

I'd forget my head it it wasn't attached, at least, that's what my mom always tells me!

Bruce,

Thank you for our honest assessment of the random reasignment plan to-date. I understand the analogy that it similar to the halftime of a basketball game, but the good coaches that I know will make some serious changes in the game plan when they are being trounced at halftime. Those coaches who continue to proclaim that victory is only 20 minutes away, when they are down about 50 points at the half and getting beaten in every aspect of the game, usually don't get their contract renewed at the end of the season. Why do Tery Grier and our school board feel comfortable in theirs? Where I come from that dog don't hunt, Bruce. Perhaps, Terry Grier has his house for sale for a good reason; coaches with losing records usually get prepared in advance to get out of town ahead of the alumni club's tar and feather party.

He's a waste of good tar and feathers...and carbon.

To Sandy 3/28 - this will be quick - just in for a few hours then off again.

Why do some folks keep insisting Andrews is closer for some Jamestown folks than SWH? NOT TRUE. This has been tested over and over, driven and clocked at different times of day. It may seem closer on a map to you. BUT you go through several busy intersections and through Montlieu School zone. Give it up. Ragsdale, YES; Western, PROBABLY - I haven't clocked it.

SWH was originally a county school; many folks who have a Jamestown address live in the county still and are NOT in High Point OR Jamestown. Their affiliations and daily lives take place in the county.

The distance/time issue was proven in 1999. This was spoken about at length at Smith Stadium in Winter 03. PLEASE DROP IT.

Regarding last post to SANDY ALLEN. Everyone understands that Andrews did not get treated fairly in the 1999 redistricting. Parents are trying to help. SW and Jamestown Area parents DID NOT create this situation. Your local school board did; so please quit begruding the kids who live along the Guilford College Road their closer school.

Three phrases should be among the most common in our daily usage. They are: Thank you, I am grateful and I appreciate.

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