News-Record.com

Superintendent Mo Green met with Gibsonville residents last night for another of his listen and learn, town hall meetings. The usual suspects came up for discussion; busing, discipline and AP course enrollments.
Many of these issues are complaints held over from the Grier years – and we know where most of you stand on that. Green said he is looking at all these issues but for the most part supported the key components.
While he said forcing kids into AP courses was wrong – a claim one parent made of the former administration at Eastern High School – Green added that he thinks AP courses should be a goal for students to work toward and the system should try to get as many students in those classes as possible. It’s a matter of striving for excellence, Green said, a mantra repeated on this tour of the county. However, Green added that schools need to begin preparing students for advance courses in ninth grade, not their senior year.
As for busing, Green noted that for as many opponents of busing there are as many parents grateful for the chance to send their student to a school outside their sub-district. But he is looking at the busing situation for ways to streamline the process.
And he agreed that there are students who must be expelled and given long-term suspension but every effort must also be made to support even disruptive students. Discussions about full term alternative schools also came up but Green made no definitive statement on the issue.

I’ve been curious for some time now about how parents deal with major events in history. I can remember my parents talking to me a little bit about the Challenger disaster and Tiananmen Square. But it wasn’t one of those sit down and really talk through the event, just this is happening, it’s too bad.
9/11, the wars, the financial crisis, this presidential election. Most would agree your kids are growing up in one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S. history. So what are you saying to them about it?
And if you’re not talking to them about it tell us about it and why.

I sat in on the school board’s legislative committee meeting this morning. The committee discussed listing the school board’s top priorities to lobby the state legislature for. Among the items discussed was school board funding autonomy.
Some school boards want the chance to separate their purse strings from the county commissioners. Meaning the school board could gain the ability to levy their own taxes. The proposed language would require both the local school board and board of county commissioners to approve of the change.
Many argue the school board has no business having that kind of power. Taxes will skyrocket, they argue. Others say it would hold them accountable and eliminate the “we could have done more if the county commissioners had fully funded our budget request” excuse.
The issue is a divisive one, with as many as seven school board members supporting the proposal.
The issue is at the center of one of the only two contested school board seats. At-Large incumbent Darlene Garrett supports budget autonomy while challenger Mike Stone vehemently opposes it.
Where do you stand?
* The legislative committee consists of board members Dot Kearns (At-Large), Walter Childs (District 1), Kris Cooke (District 7) and Deena Hayes (District 8). Hayes was not present Monday morning. Board member Nancy Routh attended the meeting.

So if you read the story today my question will come as no surprise. Should the school board, Greensboro City Council and county commissioners all get behind the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro’s proposal to consolidate the school system’s administrative offices and move to South Elm Street?
Who should pay for such a thing and do you think the parents and taxpayers would benefit?

I’ve not done much with the presidential and gubernatorial candidates’ stances on education. We’ve run some AP stories but I’m curious what you guys think. How closely have you examined the candidates’ positions on education in both races and what’s your take?

The spookiest day of the year is almost here – no not election day, Halloween. Since so many of you are parents I was curious what you’ll be doing Friday night. I grew up down east “in the county” as we like to say, so we didn’t really have a neighborhood to speak of. My folks would either take my brother and me into a few neighborhoods in town to go door-to-door or we’d have a party at our house.
So what about you folks? Do you send your kids around the neighborhood or do you look for an alternative? Do any of you let your kids trick-or-treat without adult supervision? Is there anyone who objects to the celebration and what do you tell your children?

Smith High School Principal Noah Rogers will ask for the school board’s support of a grant proposal for about $145,000 to fund a drop out prevention program. The program will pay retired teachers and Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor Howard Woods to work who would have otherwise been suspended.
Here’s the preview story.
Couple of questions. Should the public school system team up with religious groups to work with students and should public money fund those efforts?
Should the grant pay Pastor Woods $28,000 to manage the program? How about a social worker and security guard?

Guilford County Schools’ chief curriculum and organizational development officer, Beth Folger, has been named the systems chief academic officer. She will start the new position on Monday.

Folger will oversee all of the district’s 120 schools, curriculum and instruction, exceptional children and the Division of Student Services, which includes athletics.
From the press release:

“Folger began her career in 1991 as an elementary and middle school math teacher in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. Over the years, she has served as an educational consultant, an elementary school principal and an associate superintendent. She joined Guilford County Schools in 2005 as an instructional improvement officer. The following year she became the district’s executive director of secondary curriculum and instruction. In 2007, she was promoted to her current position. Since July 1, she has held the additional title of interim chief academic officer.”

“Folger, 41, holds a doctorate in education from Ashland University in Ohio, a master’s in school administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a bachelor’s in intermediate education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”