News-Record.com

I have never liked or know the true benefits of the IIO and SSO so perhaps this is better. I don't think that more than a few small percent of parents know where or care where or have ever been to the downtown offices. Perhaps we will be better served with more regional offices.

I can't figure out how he will do this for no increase in salaries. And what schools have room for 4-6 offices? None that I know of.. any thoughts out there about location?

It's a mistake to put all of High Point together. They are always viewed as being unequal and less than the rest of the county.

My vote is none of the above...now where is my brick wall my head needs adjusting again.

Garth,
is your main concern the 'division' of the county? If so, I am not sure it will matter, the county schools are still left out of many things, like Magnet schools, many new programs etc. In the previous discussion Eastern lost something to Dudley, magnets have always been about diversity not letting kids have equal access to different programs.
Not sure it will make alot of differnce in real life.. what did you think of IIO/SSO.. no one knows what they did unless you are in adminstration.

This is just a very expensive proposition that we should not incur at this time. Our board needs to step up and put a halt to this insanity.

It is time to tighten our belts and get rid of administrative positions not replicate them by five.

Garth...

Stick to your guns..

We should not go from 3 districts to 1 district to 5 districts....we cannot afford it.

1 Gun vs 10 guns = "bloody mess", brick wall sounds safer

I don't understand the need for any additional administration - at all.

What for?

My family has never needed, or expected, anything extra from anyone at school.
My kids respect their teachers, who do a good job.
We work hard as a family to do homework, sometimes for hours every night.
We do the necessary projects, paperwork, whatever we're supposed to do, correctly and on time.
They go to bed on time.
We get up on time.
They eat breakfast on time.
And we get to school on time.
It's hard, hard work - for all of us.

Then we do it all over again the next day.

What's the problem?

did anyone read in todays paper that Wake County might do away with their schools for suspended students. To cut cost; the solution online classes. Of course not sure that is an option here, we just redid the English Street building for Scales.. or maybe we should use that for one of the regional offices.

Debora,

I didn't see that article - but my suspicion is that that approach would be useless. Kids who are suspended tend to be low performers - they need an in-person teacher to teach them. I would think that trying to learn from a computer would be worthless. And, what if the kids don't have computers at home?

Has anyone checked the open postions in Guilford County...

It looks like MO is going ahead and hiring people for positions that the board has not even approved yet.

Does anyone need to remind Mo who hired him
and that he does need board approval to proceed with the regional plan?

The schools have supervisors which report up the chain....I see no need for this regionalization....and we just don't have the money for it if it was a great plan.....

I read where it cost Charlotte Meck 8 million to implement.....pray tell...where is that going to come from....

Garth.....you are going to get a concussion if you try to make sense out of this one....

Repeat.... no mo money MO!!....

the regionalization plan was approved at the last board meeting. The only thing left is to divide the district, and the board voted to ask for two maps and they would pick. That is on the agenda for tomorrow night.

The board should close down the IB programs at page and Grimsley and build up the Smith program.

They wont because they talk out both sides of their mouths.

Can somebody tell what it actually means to the kids of these schools?

How does it affect my child?

The IB program is in name only. They place these students in regular AP classes and double their work load...but they do not receive any more credit than an AP student...Matter of fact they do not have the opportunity to receive as much AP credit..All students would be better off taking just AP or Honor courses.

Our board members are ALL fools for voting for anything without knowing the financial impact.....Once again we will never know the truth.

ragsdale,

Your school is going to loose teaching positions to support staffing 5 districts. They are telling teachers right now that they will not renew their contract because of loss funding.....yet where is the money coming from for these high paying positions.
Some classes will no longer be offered.
Art programs will be closed down.
Your student will receive extra credit for bringing in a pack of paper.
We will have 40 - 50 students in our classroomss....again......

So, you say its redistricting.

Why would it increase the number of students in Ragsdale classrooms?

I am confused. This new Superintendent is implementing something that we dont understand.

Is this Grier all over again?

The question I have is what are these enrichment zones?

What does it mean?

I agree with the above poster. Its too big of a change and we (the parents) dont know what it means to the bottom line. Our kids and us.

How can the people we have voted into these positions agree to this?

We are moving to the area, but we haven't been able to decide on a high school yet. Where is the board meeting to be held tomorrow night?

Paul,

What is your opinion on these regions? I would really appreciate your thoughts on this.

What does each proposal mean to me and my child.

As you know our schools has been dragged down by certain elements being bussed in from other areas. Does this mean more bussing? I know this will not affect my son who is a senior at Ragsdale but will my daughter be bussed to Ferndale? You came onto the board on a neighborhood school theme. Garth says this is 10 against 1. Why arent you with him?

Newcomer.

Southwest High is the jewel in the crown if High schools in Guilford County.

This year we have kids that have got into Harvard, Duke, many to North Carolina.

You wont go wrong with Southwest.

I have had this plan explained to me, I have read it, I still do not see how it helps any of our kids or their teachers.

It is adding a new layer of bureaucracy and seems like it is all for pr.

Learning happens in the schools. More attention needs to be paid to assisting teachers to deliver the services their pupils need - directly. Not through administrators.

Exactly,

When I have a problem I go to the teacher, then to the Counciler, then the assistant Principal and then the Principal.

Most times I get the help I need somewhere along the line. When I cant, I get a good explanation of why not.

What else do I need?

I DONT need a local Terry Grier.

I need good teachers and assistant teachers.

This is BS.

These people are out of their minds.

If they can save money to do this then save the money but spend it on classrooms!!!!!!

This country is in RECESSION!!!

SCHOOL BOARD. STOP IT!!!

QUESTION!
QUESTION!!

Please run our County's schools like an efficient Company.

All the companies in this country at the moment are getting back to basics. They are cutting bureaucracy.

Dont approve this with your eyes closed. Good management has to say NO sometimes.

So....Say NO!!!!!!

Do your Duty!

I look forward to see Paul Daniels comments on this.

Naomi,

Do you think any of the school board members actually asked the question "how will this help the kids"?

Do you think it's possible that Mo Green himself doesn't want to interact with the public - just like his predecessor?

By adding area superintendents, he's one step further removed from the public.

You would think by now that the School Board would be interested in informing the public about these types of decisions. I hate the way most of them have the attitude that they know better than the parents.

To implement regionalization now shows a total disregard to the sacrifices others are making for the schools to have their funds. Mo went to this concept before because his mind was made up long before he got here. This is an expensive waste of time and money.

the regions have nothing to do with redistricting and will not affect where your child goes to school. The cut in teachers is due to a cut (proposed up to 7% ) from state funding. Now I agree if we lose IIO SSO's and do not do the regionalization then there is more money for the schools, but I think parents outrage is about 3 months too late. Mo put his plan out in Jan.. that is when complaining would have helped, not after the BOE has voted.

The overcrowded classrooms come from teacher cuts/program cuts. less classes choice, means more students in the classes available

If most parents were involved and did like the above parent; talked to teacher, counselor, Asst Princ, and then Principal.. .how many will go above that? I do know that a few times that might be necessary, but at that point those parents are going to the elected BOE's.

I agree woth you Joe.

Its a blatant disregard to the realities of the world we live in in 2009.

They are out of their minds.

Why isnt High Point Central in an enrichment zone?

Ragsdale,

You will have 40 students per class because teachers are going to be laid off due to the economy....and additional teaching positions will be cut to fund your personal regional superintendent.....Once we have these positions in place we will never get rid of them..
One is overpaid what in the world will the next five superintendents receive.

Anyone read the paper lately......
"freeze on hiring".....is what most people due that know they are going to have a shortfall of funds...

I am not against Mo's idea....I don't understand the concept yet....but I do understand our financial woes and now is not the time to implement his costly project.

First he needs to look within and cut some of the current administration....then if he has postions he can redefine from Principal Supervisor - Regional Superintendent...I can buy this....but keeping the original staff and hiring new staff that needs office space is absolutely irresponsible and reprehensible!!!!

Our board has been trying to play nice .... I understand this to a point... but people these are tough times!!! Wake up!!

The first thing our company did when a new CEO was hired was evaluate the current staff and needs and released those that did not fit in the new plan...After clearing some office space and getting rid of high paid dead weight, they defined their current staffing needs and hired in qualified people for those positions. We are still no where close to our previous numbers...

Mo...have you done this.....Are the right people in place? Can you shift people around?

Board...we do not want to lose our on site school staff to support more downtown bosses...

The ones we have confuse things enough.

debora,

I don't think parents are outraged...by the plan..
I have been listening for the details....which as usual are hiding in the shadows....

You say this has been Mo's plan for three months, but this is the first time that even the board has seen anything in writing and there are still no numbers associated with the cost.

The board jumped the gun voting on air.....
a real company board would never vote on the little information that they have received and Mo obviously thinks he has the authority to do anything he wants
..whether he has the funds or not....
..regardless of what may be cut to support it...

Some board members have repeatedly asked what are the costs going to be...what are we giving up....and he has not responded....

Anita Sharpe......where are you?

taxpayer,
I agree with you that the numbers should have been there before anything was voted on! At the rollout at GCTC the regional plan was revealed and really nice books were handed out that outlined everything. I think it is like a new CEO coming in and reorganizing.. the IIO and SSO positions will be gone (not sure if those people will be gone.. or what role they will play).. I think that is the real question. Are we getting rid of positions and just moving people and then hiring more.. or will the same people be used and titles changes. At the last BOE Moe said there would be a regional supervisor, some other fancy title, at least 2 office assistants etc. I can't image this not costime more, unless people are moving from downtown.. and again; where will you find the rool for these offices? Does anyone have a school that they know of that has room for 4-6 offices? All the schools that I know of have trailers- or will have next year. Even at Northern we will be over capacity next year and need the unfinished rooms.

above should read.. costing more, not costime more (my mind runs faster than my typing)

All:

My starting position for all of this is that the School Board hired a new CEO (Mo) to run the system and produce results. I think that if we are going to hold Mo responsible for results, we need to give him latitude to implement the programs that he thinks he needs to get those results (within fairly broad parameters). I don't think we hired Mo just to come in and do what we have been doing (you know what they say about doing what you been doing - you get what you been getting). It would be patently unfair to Mo to hold him accountable for results and then not give him the authority that he needs to implement the changes to get those results.

Further, I think that at some point the board either needed to get behind the Strategic Plan or pan it completely. Mo needed to know if the board would support him.

I said at the last meeting that there are something in the Strategic Plan that I do not agree with. Two particularly have to do with our elites' unhealthy obsession with race, class, ethnicity, etc. The SP states on page 24 that one of the goals is to "Increase the diversity of teacher experience and minority representation district wide as natural vacancies occur." Darlene objected to this early on an Mo explained that what he meant by that was that we would cast a broader net in recruiting, not that we would sacrifice the quality of teaching or that we would hire based on race.

The second plank that I objected to is found on page 14 of the plan where it says that the curriculum will be expanded to "culturally infuse units of study, which will allow GCS teachers to provide instruction through a variety of perspectives, with a focus on underrepresented cultures." Often what this means is that schools start advocating, rather than teaching. Take for example the feminist studies or gay studies, etc. at our universities which are completely in the tank for a certain perspective and cannot be considered scholarly by any objective measure. What these sorts of cultural studies tend to do is to portray a certain "underrepresented group", American Indians, for example, as all good, despite their treatment of women and other shortcomings, which they tend to couch in historical context (if they mention it at all) as a way of explaining it away, while at the same time demonizing European settlers whom they consider racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. They also tend to hold Europeans to objective, 21st standards, which are much higher. This is commonly referred to as revisionist history. Anyway, Mo and I had a long talk about this and I explained my concern - I have no problem expanding the cannon (heck, in my view, the history of American Indians and blacks IS american history) to include good scholarly and well-balanced work about the history of American Indians (for example) but what tends to happen is exactly what I explained above. Mo told me that he understood my concerns and that he agreed with me that whatever we teach should not be advocacy, but rather good scholarly work. Given what I felt were Mo's candid views on these two issues and the sentiments I expressed above about giving him room to do his thing, I supported the SP with a caveat, which is discussed below.

I explained briefly my objections to the board and told my colleagues what Mo had said in response to those objections, and that what he told me had satisfied me that we were not going to be hiring folks based on skin color and that we would not be advocating, but rather teaching excellence and with those things said, I told the board that I thought we needed to fish of cut bait on the SP.

While I supported the SP at the last meeting, I also made clear that the board were the elected officials and that we are ultimately responsible to the good people of Guilford County and that we were reserving our prerogative to intervene any time we believed it necessary. This caveat was part of the motion that was passed by the board.

With regard to the regional superintendents, my understanding is the idea behind that is that the system has gotten too big to be responsive to parents and students and we need to make it more responsive. The solution to this problem was to establish geographic regions, each managed by a regional superintendant. The expectation is that by making the units smaller, we will be able to better meet the needs of our constitutuents. Now, instead of trying to call Mo, for example, a parent can go to the regional superintendant who will, because of his or her closeness to the schools in the region, have a better understanding of what goes on in the system and will theoretically be in a better position to deal with any issues quickly. (This is only one of the supposed advantages of the regional model).

As to the costs of going to a regional model, the board has been very clear that we are not going to spend a lot of money to do this and that we expect the costs will be close to neutral because of streamlining of personnel. Mo has said that he has heard us loud and clear.
It has been represented that through streamlining 40 positions will go (if memory serves) and that we will have about 25 new positions. My recollection is that there is a net decrease of 16 central office positions, which is a fairly substantial savings.

Debora is right; the regionalization will not change where your children go to school nor will it redistrict. Each region contains high schools and their "feeder" schools, i.e., elementary and middle schools. So, for example, a region will include Alamance Elementary (and the other elementary schools the feed into SEMS and SEHS), Southeast Middle School and Southeast High School.

On a related note, I do support neighborhood schools and oppose busing. If I had my druthers, we would have gone to neighborhood schools before we went to regionalization. I will, however, continue to push for neighborhood schools at every opportunity and would appreciate any help any of you would like to lend.

If there are questions that I have not answered, please email me or call.

Best regards,

Paul Daniels

Paul,

What I hear you saying is that he is reorganizing his "closets", tossing out, and updating...

I have no problem with him putting in a plan that may increase responsiveness to local schools...

As long as we are still cutting down and trimming down those in house and that the trimming does not negatively affect our local schools....

For example, how will losing IT technical school support staff affect the schools?

I think they were cut down by around 9 - 10 staff members....

I think it is real important that we are clear on keeping the current administrative costs down....
and keep the public informed on how that is going to be accomplished....

I am much more interested in my child having the resource(teacher) he needs in the classroom....
than I am being able to reach a regional superintendent....most parents will never even know who their regional super is....the parents on this blog...will....

The majority of parents will not even know we have divided into 5 regions....

I have never had the need to try and contat the Superintendent.

This is a waste of money.

Paul,

In our company every project plan requires a cost analysis....you guys should have requested one....no required it before blessing the Strategic Plan.

This is a major shift in the administration and I read where it cost Charlotte schools around 8 million to implement...I don't know if this is true...

What I do know is that an IT tech staff member probably makes less than a proposed Regional Superintendent does?

It is your duty to demand the cost ...Anita would have three months ago...

It did not take you long to fall into the political pit?

You are not tying Mo's hand by asking a question that he should already have documentation on....

I would not dare go into a board meeting without more info than he has provided......the same old Terry Grier mentally..."Trust ME"

I trust him...now show me the money....

I know none of the new outlets in town have reported on it, but the axe has begun falling. Yesterday all the Media Assistants across the county were told that their jobs would be ending on July 1st. Apparently there are several other groups of employees who are also in line for layoffs. So, bad economic times have hit GCS. At the same time a reorganization is in the works which might or might not work and more county schools are considered inadequate and thus moved into the realm of "opt out" schools. How many does that make for the county, now? And exactly how will a reshuffling of personnel, regardless of expense, necessarily improve that? The question of how will it empact, hopefully in a positive way, the classroom, gym and library where the students actually receive their instruction and do their work?

Mo's henchpeople already informed whole divisions to reapply for their jobs before asking board approval for regionalization. Folks are losing their jobs over a costly reorganization plan that has no basis for need or effectiveness. Longtime faithful competent GCS employees are being hurt for no reason other than it was done in Charlotte.

if the schools mentioned in todays paper do not pass their AYP's then about 35 total will be in some sort of remediation or opt out situation. That is about 25% of our total school count. Remember that schools have to be Title One to even have to worry about AYP's.. We take Federal money, we have to live by their rules.

Paul:
Mo is seldom required, if it gets to that point a Board member is readily available as advocate for student or public, other board members may want a paid bureaucrat (regional superintendent) to run interference for them, myself, I get to know what is really going on. IIO’s were resources for principals to both supervise and support, train and coach where needed. If we do not need them now, we have wasted millions and are now preparing to waste millions more for another layer of bureaucracy. I am not convinced they were a waste (well some of them were in my arrogant opinion), but not all, I have yet to see a plan, a real plan, just a shuffle of the deck that makes people think something is happening. This is all I have seen that is of substance to his plan and the purported purpose is to facilitate public communication and replace one current layer of management and support with another. In our wisdom, we the board have jumped off the cliff in support of a set of goals (no I do not call it a plan) and now all actions are supposed to be part of this mythical plan.

Where is the Beef? I am still a bipedal mammalian carnivore with the mindset of the hunter. The longer I go without meat, the hungrier I get. I realize I am too dense to pick up on the plan aspect and need to be spoon fed, but you would think the lion tamer would try. Being in the circus ring with a hungry lion is not conducive to job security to say the least.

While I am wasting bits of a server space, I am also very displeased with the methods we are using to circumvent the open meeting laws. Pulling in groups of Board members for divided discussion and persuasion by senior staff rather than providing great reasons for public airing of issues brings back some memories of Terry Grier’s methodology. So far we have met without quorum on districting for new junior supers and opt out schools and by doing this senior staff has managed to avoid open meeting law requirements. The public has a right to know these things are going on. The press should be a bit miffed, if they even care. Open meeting laws protect our society, circumvention is a sad statement of the direction we are heading. I am a public official, a fair and open target for ridicule and whatever else comes with it. If looking dumb comes with this office, then let it be, but let it be public.

"Regions" will not teach kids to read.

More administrators spread around the county will not teach kids to read.

This system needs to figure out how to TEACH kids. If anything, I hope these new administrative pods set up around the county are going to go INTO the schools and help teach.

We need two things in this system.
1) A course that will teach our kids the value of the education they are being offered. (if you will a "this is what life is like without an education" course--it needs to be offered in 8th grade. Field trips to see accomplished adults at work, field trips to jails)
2) Back to basics education that focuses on reading and math skills.

I fear Mo is going off in the wrong direction. More administrators and more divisions within our county is the exact opposite of what we need.

Also, I find this comment odd:
"Southwest High is the jewel in the crown of High schools in Guilford County."

Really? You can base this purely on the chosen colleges of a few of its seniors from last year?

That's very interesting.

Patty,

Agreed.

The poster who said SW was the "crown jewel of High Point" must have been making a sarcastic comment. Everyone in High Point knows that Central High School has ALWAYS been the crown jewel of High Point.

Thats why they try to steal other peoples kids?

Its going to be hard for Southwest and Central to be in the same region.

Central is really jealous of everthing that Southwest does and acheives.

Back to the point children.

How can a school be jealous of another school? If this is the type of behavior that goes on between (parents) schools in this system, then I fear even more divisions or dividing up of the county will be detrimental. This has never been ONE system and this proposed plan will do nothing but divide it further--how sad for the kids.

to 4:53 p.m. anonymous posting

correction: that's why they try to steal other people's smart, white, and higher socioeconomic scale kids. only a fixed lottery could attempt to do that. note the work "attempt". past High Point board members "choice" plan failed. nuf said.

back on point: Garth, Paul: What is this regionalization going to cost us?

Patty,

You realize that all the comments made about Southwest and Central high schools were made by Southwest parents don't you. They have always been the ones to make the snide comments on this site. It gets old so don't fall into the trap of responding to their garbage.

Patty,

Yes, Southwest parents prefer to bring stuff out into the open and debate the subject.
Central folks prefer to do things behind closed doors.

I dont like this Region plan but if we have to have it put Southwest in any other region than with High Point Central!

I will take Smith, Dudley, anything.

I agree why are we doing this regional thing per the paper in the charlotte area is ran almonst 8 million to set up the program. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
Was Mr Green not hired to be the super ofbthe schools? If he can do the job then WHY DID WE HIRE HIM. With the JOB CUTS that he is talking about why not ust the money that he want to USE to set this program of HIS UP and keep the positions that would benifit more students and not just a select few. Maybe we need to find someone else to RUN our schools. Garth was right why not have a great deal of more information to present before you come to the board. This makes no since AT ALL. I DO NOT THINK THAT THE BOARD IS LOOKING AT THE WHOLE PICTURE. LOOK AT THE APPROXIMATE 100 PEOPLE THAT MORE THE LIKELY WILL LOOSE THEIR JOBS. THERE ARE VERY VERY FEW OPENINGS FOR THESE PEOPLE. WILL MR. GREEN BE PAYING THEIR BILLS,CHILDS EDUCATION AMONG OTHER THINGS? I DO NOT THINK SO? Instead HE will be drawing his pay BUT NOT doing all of his job for which he has been hired to do. Please voice your concern and MAYBE THE BOARD WILL SEE THE THE COMMUNITY IS RIGHT WE DO NOT NEED THIS.

Sadly a cut of 22,000,000 in spending is more likely to yield over 400 jobs cut, a small fraction if any will truly be head office, in a shuffling of the deck under the table you get what the dealer wants you to have. The Board has bought the proverbial rearrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic! Jeff Belton wanted details, he got cotton candy. Information has been less than forthcoming and yours truly has passed the boiling point. Deception of the Board and Public must stop and where it is occurring I will not say. We need not build new schools if we cannot pay to heat and staff them. Sadly budget information is being withheld until the very last minute when nothing other than that which is desired by the administration and unnamed others will prevail.

So,

Mo is just another Grier in diguise.....

Unless its the other people that are still there that are running the show the same way.

“Given the goal of limiting the division of municipalities, Option I was not recommended for consideration since this option significantly divides the City of High Point. Option II was not recommended for consideration due to fact that Option II is not fully geographically contiguous.”

This is simply silly.

Except for Organization Charts and Lines on a map nothing changes.
Other than the Enrichment Region ( nice words for failing schools ) any topography will suffice. They all yield the same thing

Same kids at same schools.
Same teachers/staff at same schools
Same books
Same educational methods
Same busses (I hope)
Same testing requirements.
Probably same administrators ( New Sup will more than likely come from existing staff)

Except for the space issue it is pretty much change the job titles and move the office signs. Other than the possible moved offices there should be little increased costs.

There will also be no improvement in actual class room education or for that matter response time to parents ( what ever that means).

It is in the modern vernacular ( Ms Carr's expertise ). A virtual organization.

We simple rearrange nicely colored blocks on an org chart.

In fact why move the regional Sup. To reduce their driving time 15 minutes?. Come on.

It’s all organized by a lawyer and his organization guru ( Communication/Propagandist )

What is the plan for education delivery in the class room?

When they decided to put together a team/plan/organization to develop the A bomb the team organizer was a Physicists ( Dr Oppenhiemer ).. He selected and organized the staff/structure.

Of course people with degrees in communications did not exist., thank God , or the Nazis would have beat us to it. I guess they could have used a lawyer.

People with communications backgrounds think that if the communication is good everything else works.. Well the best communicators in the world can’t remove an appendix ( and keep you alive) unless a Dr ( medical ) is directing it and doing it..

Garth

You see the problem but you don't force the other members to address the problem. I know you don't want to be the lone ranger. However, some of the members don't have an idea on how to get something done in a political environment. The support for much of what Mo is doing has never been revealed. He says "trust him". If the BOE does that without examination, we don't need a BOE. The staff is unable to offer candid advice to "Mo". They are afraid they will be cast aside or fired. The only people that can help Mo, is the BOE. However, he says nothing at the meetings and refuses to engage in careful examination of the ideas under consideration. The BOE, so far, seems to satisfied to be ignored. This is not goint to play well in the long run.

All:

This is an email that I sent to a concerned parents who had the same sort of questions you have regarding regionalization and whether it will improve outcomes.

"Speaking for myself (and I believe others on the board feel the same way), I
expect Mo and his staff to improve educational outcomes significantly. I am all
about results. If you saw my discussion with staff regarding school sanctions
for failure to meet AYP you will see that I have taken a very hard line on
producing results. I am not at all interested in hearing excuses as to why,
Ferndale, for example, has not met APY for five years. If Mo and his staff do
not produce the results that the board thinks are necessary, we will need to
address that in a very straight forward manner. Let me say this, however, while
I was not on the board and had no input into hiring him, I am rooting for Mo and
hope that he and his staff will do a tremendous job. At this point, it is too
early to tell (he has been on the job for only about six months and hasn't had
an opportunity to put into effect his vision for our schools).

With regard whether regionalization will have a direct impact on student
results, I think that it is important to remember that regionalization is only one part of Mo's Strategic Plan. I think that we have to look at
regionalization in the larger context as part of the Strategic Plan - and I do (and I believe the rest of the board) expect significant results from the Strategic Plan. Additionally, if we look at the Enrichment Zone (which is one of the regions), composed of low performing schools that have been selected as a "test group" of schools to see if we can, by intense focus on these low performing schools and by changing cultures and expectations, turn them around. I think that the enrichment region is certainly one in which we expect significant results based on regionalization itself.

I admit that like you and others, I am frustrated by the seemingly intractable problems at our schools. We never, for one reason or another, seem to be able to solve these problems. The board told Mo when they hired him that he would have latitude to implement his plan for our schools. I think that the board has
to honor that pledge (to the extent we feel it is prudent) and then test the outcomes to see if Mo is taking our schools where they need to go. " - end of email.

Trust me: I did not run for the school board simply to sit on a dias and govern the same old mediocre system. I expect significant results by the end of my term. While I certainly value all of the input (both constructive and otherwise) that you all provide, I have to do things in a way that I feel confortable doing it (for better or worse, I am Paul Daniels, and, as much as I esteem them, I am not Anita and not Garth). One thing, however, that you may count on me to do is to always "answer the phone" so to speak regardless of whether we agree or not.

Paul Daniels

Paul,
thanks for your honest assesment. My problem with waiting until your first 4 years are finished, is that it will be too late for my son and so many others. We have struggled with Terry Grier for too many years, with the full support of the vast majority of BOE members. We gave him raise after raise when the number of schools failing grew. We are worse now than last year and worse than the year before. Some scores go up, but not many. Now we have a new super.. can we afford to give him 4 years to see how his plan goes. I do agree that he has only been here for now 7months, but the first 3 were 'learning and listening'-- that 1/2 of a school year... time the students can't get back.

Debora:

Thanks, as always for your note. I guess I should have been more clear. I am with you; these are students lives that we are dealing with here and every year that goes by is an other class of kids who have been shortchanged. We need change now! What I meant to say was at the end of four years I would like to be able to look back of the time I spent on the board and know that it was time well spent, not that we can wait for year for changes. I don't think, however, given the size of GCS that we can expect dramatic change overnight. I expect that what we will see, as we try to turn this big boat around, smaller, but meaningful changes that when combined, give us a system that is much more effective and produces the sort of results that we all want to see.

I have to temper our expectations, however, with the understanding that schools, administrators, teachers, ect. are only one half of the equation. The other input is parents and students. We have got to get parents and students to do their share or we will never get to where we need to go. We need moms and dads to understant that what happens at home (homework, bed time, expectations) dramatically effect what goes on at school.

Paul

From Mr. Daniels

"system has gotten too big to be responsive to parents and students and we need to make it more
responsive"

"because of his or her "closeness" to the schools in the region, have a better understanding of what goes on in the system and will theoretically be in a better position to deal with any issues quickly. (This is only one of the supposed advantages"

Mr Daniels

How about an example of the quick responsiveness that is presently lacking. A specific example.
Because frankly I don't understand the issue.
Surely someone can point out a typical problem in the past this would have helped. Lets hear it.
What exactly are these response issues.that could not be handled under the present organization and or the new proposed organization with the regional Sup staying at based headquarters where they could share clerical help,ideas etc.and work together in a collaborative way

If this was a fire dept or police department where minutes count I could understand. But not this.
Some real examples of issues (specific ) this will solve

Also explain "closeness." Physical road distance?. What exactly are you talking about?

Other real specifics.What will change on the ground.in the class rooms.under this plan. Why will things/learning improve.

Kind of like what Obama has asked of GM and Chrysler.

I'm from a simpler time English, Math, History,
the curriculum at all schools is the same.Given our busing and diversity,teachers and students can't differer that much from school to school

If you were breaking regions into Elementary, Middle, High, or special magnet, etc I could understand. But lines on a map.
.
Why does Mr Green feel this is more homogenous per his selected regions ( enrichment excepted )

What am I missing?
I can be persuaded if given detailed logical explanations

Surely some one can answer these questions

Frankly I'm tired of nonsense.

Why would a school system have a motto
Striving Achieving Excelling, Rated in top 5%
of High Schools in America, with the list of great achievements listed on the WEB address below need to reorganize.

http://www.gcsnc.com/ind_success/indicators_of_success.htm

Somebody has been shucking and Jiving us

I urge you to take a look a the updated "regions". They are already moving schools from one region to the next. But looking at the numbers and track records - how did schools like CHS and Oak Hill miss enrichment?? Yes, the Oak Hill school was in "enrichment" originally. But now...seems things have changed. If you have all these "extra" efforts - they need go to the most needy schools. Watch the small details change as we keep our eye on the big picture. If "they" say schools like CHS & Oak Hill don't qualify as needing "Enrichment"...then I would love to hear a logical answering defending that one.

Mr Daniels

"We need moms and dads to understand that what happens at home (homework, bed time, expectations) dramatically effect what goes on at school"

We are having trouble educating the kids without taking on the parents.

Quite simply these parents in question don't know how to be parents and you are not likely to change that.
" moms and dads"
"homework, bed time, expectation" Come on.

This is like a Shirley Temple Movie.
Put on a play and save the school.

I actually had HS Principal;s tell me they don't believe in homework.

I kid you not.

And also Middle School principals - there's at least one active one who doesn't believe in homework.

My daughter is in for a rude awakening when she reaches high school and actually has homework for the first time since 5th grade.

Many schools don' t do homework because of their population. No help or expectations at home, therefore if 10% do the homework they will be so far ahead of the 90% that don't then it is harder to teach. This might hold water in elem. school where students need help, ie nightly reading etc; but by middle school the students should be able to do their own work.. SHOULD is the word.. doesn't happen often.