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Bruce/Jennifer,

Thanks for posting the article. I have a few questions.

1. Just how old is new principal Monique Brooks and how many years of experience does she have as a High School Principal?

2. How much will it cost to place all these extra central office administrators at Andrews to help out? Why not transfer the most seasoned, veteran, successful high school principal in Guilford County to Andrews?

3. Just exactly how will they make Andrews more attractive to both teachers and rising 9th graders playing the lottery next year?

4. Rather than asking the business community for help, they school board should have allowed Andrews to remain as a Title 1 school - eligible for much funding from the federal government.

All for now - I'm sure I'll think of more questions tomorrow.

"So Guilford County School officials are pouring more resources into helping Andrews."

What are these resources? If they are "pouring in" why didn't the article mention what they are?

"Former principal Debra Barham, a central office administrator, will act as a mentor to new principal Monique Brooks."

I'm afraid to ask what principal experience Ms. Brooks has had? Please don't tell me this is her first position as a principal? Because I'm the ultimate pessimist, I'm going to assume she's fresh from Nova University or at least just landing her first job as a principal.

If my hunch is correct, and if the "resources are pouring in" I'm wondering why our administration doesn't send a seasoned, veteran principal over to Andrews. I'm no brain surgeon but I would say that the best that Guilford County has to offer should be the person to help "create the new day" that Mr. Childs describes. Any good CEO would transfer his best manager to a new facility if that CEO really wanted to create the atmosphere of success. Just another question that will go unanswered, but why doesn't Grier give Andrews the gift of a proven principal like the one from a well-performing High School like Grimsley or Page?

The fact that he has not done this tells me that Andrews is still not a priority for our administration. They must make it look like changes are coming, but next year will be the same ol' if not worse. I believe this is their plan. Another year of failure so that when Jamestown is redistricted officially to Andrews, they will say that they "tried everything."

Poo-poo on you Guilford County administration. You haven't made a single tangible change at Andrews. Unless they've purchased a truck load of confetti, I don't see what all the hoopla is about. With 1/4 of the staff brand, spankin' new and a neonate principal, I'd say there better be an order placed for bullet-proof vests, the kids are going to have a ball.

Hey Quest!

I just read your comment above (which wasn't there earlier) and can see that we think a lot alike!

I wonder how many others were thinking the same thing too! Why we pay Grier so much is beyond me when the average Joe can come up with something better.

I really feel sorry for the kids at Andrews next year. I'm sure that Ms. Brooks is a great person, I'm NOT attacking her personally, but Andrews deserves to be let OUT of the experiment. How much failure does our School Board need before they will say, "uncle"??

Quest, we MUST meet sometime, maybe we can put our 2 cents together, call Grier and tell him how to fix this mess. ...never mind, he wouldn't listen.

The new principal is "new"-- she was an AP at Western Guilford last year (I believe this is true, if memory serves correctly)-- read todays article about redistricting-- it is coming to a theater near you! My guess is the lottery will be scrapped, Andrews will be a "weaver" type of school, not sure where they will put all the kids, since Central and SW can't hold them all... any input or thoughts?

new news on redistricting on the Chalkboard. Am I being paranoid or does my speculation make sense

Tim,

You make a ton of sense. You always have. Although the word is that these imbeciles have just about driven you out of town, please don't go. We need you. Please consider a seat on the school board. They definitely need a brain and it's time that our kids had a real role-model.

God bless you for still giving a crap about all this.

Tim,

It is as Henry Kissinger once said, "Just because I am paranoid, it doesn't mean that I don't have true enemies". And such it is with the school board. We may all be paranoid when it comes to the school board, but that doesn't mean that they aren't out out to "get" us. Make no mistake, this group always has a secret agenda, and that agenda isn't in our best interest. At least a tight core of them does, with a couple of the others circling that core being kept in the dark. It's the way of how the Reassignment Plan was conceived in darkness by the core, and perpetrated upon the others and the rest of us (watch out in the county for redistricting coming near you in the future). As long as that core exists and is in power, it'll always be that way with this board. But, perhaps, with the 2006 elections, a few of the core can begin to be peeled away. Let's start by peeling away Sykes and Mendenhall.

And, speaking of redistricting, why do you think that it was laid-out that Greensboro won't be affected much by redistricting? It's obvious that the targets will be High Point and the county schools. The board doesn't dare mess with Greensboro schools or they would be invoking the ire of the important people in the county.

School Board Troll,

No new news here. High Point always gets screwed. You are so right. Greensboro schools stay as is. Greensboro will always have the majority interest on this board the way the seats play out.

They may think they have a secret agenda but it is no secret if you follow the pattern and the main players. Many citizens who live in High Point know more than certain school board members know of what really goes on.

It is the way certain school board members want it to be. Follow which candidates had the support of the school board in the elections. It is always political.

Principal shouls be sometime polite sometime strick. But evry time he/she should be their for students as a friend or as a parents.

Troll,

The growth is in High Point and the county. Why do you think there should be more redistricting of the schools in Greensboro, which aren't seeing the same rapid growth?

How would you redistrict the schools?

Jennifer,

I thought this was a County School District, not Greensboro, County, and High Point school districts.

I would redraw the lines in a logical manner and forget if a student lives within the city of High Point but can walk to a county or even a Greensboro city school. The student would go to the school closest to his/her home.

So what if the growth is in High Point and the county??? Do you not think it appropriate for a child to go to the school closest to his/her home?????

Quest,

Troll was saying that Greensboro won't be touched very much because of political sway. I'm sorry, but I think it's more about logic than politics. Why would you conduct a massive redistricting of an area that is seeing little growth? If the growth is on the fringes, which it is, then the biggest changes would logically surround that growth.

I'm not saying the schools in Greensboro won't see changes. I just don't think they'll see massive changes. I mean, there are what, three or four new schools going in for the growing northern area? Those kids have to come from somewhere. They will come mostly from that area. I see it as a domino effect. The kids nearest the new schools will get pulled in there and kids will be pulled from other schools farther down the line to back fill. The farther away you get, the less effect there will be. Schools in Greensboro are farthest from the growth, thus, they likely will be least affected.

As for calling schools Greensboro schools, etc., I don't have this bitter history about the merger that folks here have. I'm from Ohio and came here long after merger. It seems silly to say "The Guilford County Schools situated in Greensboro" when what I'm really talking about is a school in Greensboro - not the old "Greensboro City Schools District," just Greensboro. A county school is one outside the city limits. We know they're all Guilford County schools. I'm just shortcutting to talk about their location.

I think at the heart of Troll's post is a valid question. Why is the redistricting expected to mostly affect the Guilford County Schools that lie outside city limits and the Guilford County Schools that are in the High Point area (see how cumbersome that is!)? My answer would be because the biggest changes will come where there is the biggest growth.

I'll ask you the same question I asked Troll. How would you redistrict?