News-Record.com

I was talking today with Howard Lee, state school board chairman, about the current budget proposal and toward the end of our conversation I asked him about the four-day school week idea being offered as a possible solution to rising transportation costs.

The doubling of fuel costs over the past year caught both state lawmakers and educators off guard and most of the fretting that typically takes place around budget season had to do with possible shortfalls in the fuel budget.

"It's an unanticipated predicament we find ourselves in" Lee said. "We cannot stop running the school buses and we cannot shut schools down just because of a lack of money for fuel."

(Fortunately, Lee told me, the state budget up for final approval this week makes those cost manageable for the time being).

Read more about the one-year-old initiative here.

Update: More Guilford County Schools teachers reported being pleased with their working conditions this year than in 2006, the last time a statewide survey was issued by Gov. Mike Easley’s office. However, the district again posted lower scores than the state average.

A few things stand out about the results, released May 15 (but apparently not announced to the media):
* Eighty percent of Guilford educators responded to the survey, a 10 percentage point increase from 2006.
* More teachers responded favorably to questions about Guilford County Schools in the areas of time, facilities and resources, leadership and professional development. For example, 54 percent of teachers agreed that they have reasonable class sizes, compared to 43 percent in 2006.
* Despite concerns vocalized over the past year about student misbehavior and violence, 85 percent of respondents reported that they work in a safe school environment. That compares to 72 percent in 2006.

You can view the results here.

Update: I'm late posting this but I found out that Gov. Easley did not meet with GCS because he was presenting his budget to legislators; instead his staff met with school officials.

From Guilford County Schools:

"In recognition and affirmation of efforts to improve energy efficiency in school facilities, Guilford County Schools (GCS) will participate in a meeting with North Carolina's Governor Mike Easley.

"The meeting takes place today at 1 p.m. and will be held at the Governor's Office in the Governor's conference room. During the meeting, individuals will discuss increasing energy efficiency in public schools. Representatives from the State Energy Office, the North Carolina, Department of Public Instruction, local universities and other school districts will join GCS staff for the meeting....

"GCS is the first school district in the state to develop its own set of detailed green design specifications, known as the G3-Guilford Green Guide. Northern Middle, which opened in January of 2007, features comprehensive and well-integrated green design, including a daylighting system, an underfloor air distribution system and solar heating. Additionally, a holistic water cycle approach catches rainwater for toilet flushing and takes it to a living machine, through underground irrigation and to an aquifer."