Guilford County Board of Education
Board Meeting
January 9, 2007

GUILFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
REGULAR MEETING
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

The Guilford County Board of Education met in a regular meeting on Tuesday, December 19, 2006, at 712 North Eugene Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The following board members were present: Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert (arrived at 6:07 p.m.), Dot Kearns (arrived at 6:15 p.m.), Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe. Also present were Superintendent Terry Grier and Attorney Arty Bolick.

Call to Order
Chairman Duncan called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance
Board member Anita Sharpe led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Moment of Remembrance and Silence
Chairman Duncan led the board in a moment of remembrance and silence in honor of those students who have tragically lost their lives this school year.

Recognitions

2006 Middle School Health Educator of the Year
The board recognized Cathy Hailey, health educator at Kiser, Northwest and Northern middle schools, as the 2006 Middle School Health Educator of the Year. Because of her many accomplishments, the North Carolina Association for the Advancement of Health Education was proud to bestow this honor on Ms. Hailey. Board member Kris Cooke presented the certificate of recognition to Ms. Hailey.

Public Comments
Chairman Duncan called on members of the public who requested an opportunity to address the board.

Carl Lambert, 220 Cherry Street, Mocksville, NC 27028
Mark Merritt, 4 Gwynedd Lane, Summerfield, NC 27358
John Glenn, 7813 Spencer Brook Drive, Summerfield, NC 27358
Ruth Spaulding, 3 Yardarm Court, Greensboro, NC 27455
Bill Spaulding, 3 Yardarm Court, Greensboro, NC 27455
Alfred Kraemer, 4613 Bentford Road, Greensboro, NC 27406
Caroline Webster, 4807 Worchester Place, Jamestown, NC 27282
Marie Purcell, 3901 Braddock Road, High Point, NC 27265
Clyde Gann, 1323 Covered Wagon Road, McLeansville, NC 27301
Mary Burritt, 2016 Fleming Road, Greensboro, NC 27410
Enricque Boyd, 2021 Hassall Street, Greensboro, NC 27401
Carla Chambers, 1625 Brookhaven Mill Road, Greensboro, NC 27406
Derrick Giles, 100 North Elm Street #138, Greensboro, NC 27401
Eric Huey, 6213 West Friendly Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27410
John Hamilton, 2107 Joe Lewis Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27401
Joe Stafford, 4604 Forest Village Drive, Greensboro, NC 27406

Approval of Agenda

Chairman Duncan asked board members to review the meeting agenda and called for a motion to approve or amend it. The suggestion was made to reorder the items under Staff Reports as follows:

1. Update on Eastern High School (previously item B)
2. VSN (Very Strong Needs) Update (previously item G)
3. U.S. Department of Education Character Education Grant Contract (previously item A)
4. School Construction Update (previously item C)
5. Update on Low Performing High Schools (previously item D)
6. AYP and ABCs Update (previously item E)
7. CPI (Cumulative Promotion Index) Graduation Rate Update (previously item F)

Motion was made by Nancy Routh, seconded by Garth Hébert, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.

Consent Agenda
Superintendent Grier presented the following Consent Agenda items:

A.   Personnel Action Reports
The consent agenda included personnel actions as noted in the monthly Personnel Action Report requiring board approval.

B.  Resolution for Acquisition of Land at Eastern High School Property
The consent agenda included a recommendation to approve a resolution showing appreciation to Mr. Eugene T. Painter for a fair and timely transaction in regard to the acquisition of land owned by Mr. Painter on Bethel Church Road for the construction of the new Eastern High School. A copy of the resolution is included in the minutes file.

C.  Contract to Purchase Replacement School Buses
The consent agenda included a request for the board to authorize staff to proceed with ordering 75 replacement buses at the cost of $5,185,154.01. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction will make the annual payments directly to SunTrust Leasing Corporation on behalf of the district and will notify the district when payment is made.

Motion was made by Dot Kearns, seconded by Walter Childs, to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Item A passed upon majority roll-call vote of 10-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Darlene Garrett. Items B and C passed upon unanimous roll-call vote.

Staff Reports

A. Update on Eastern High School
Superintendent Grier and Chief Operations Officer Kevin Lear presented to the board an update on Eastern High School.

Mr. Lear stated that the Eastern project is a two-track project, the first part being the Eastern High School replacement project. A project team is in place and working with the design firm, Shuller Ferris Lindstrom & Associates (SFL+A). At its first kickoff meeting on December 15, the project team laid out the Northern High School floor plan and worked on plans for adaptation to the Eastern site.

The second track of the Eastern project is to bring the Eastern students back together again. Staff has met with SFLa and Eastern High School Principal Lisa Cooke to identify requirements for a mobile classroom village constructed at the Eastern site. The modular village will utilize 10 pods at approximately 8,000 square feet each. The village will accommodate grades nine through 12 with all core facilities including a cafeteria, offices, media center and band room. There are no gym or auditorium facilities. The vocational building will be used and renovated following completion of the Eastern High School project.

Mr. Lear also presented price comparison information on renovation of the Carolina Corporate Center.

Chairman Duncan stated that that the board’s guiding star principles have been to get all students back together as quickly as is possible in one location and to get the students back to more traditional school-day hours, with the overriding goal being the safety of students. Financial costs and differentials must also be considered in making the final decision.

Motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Walter Childs, to proceed with the modular village concept at Eastern High for grades nine through 12 pending approval of funding from the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. This motion also allows staff to submit an item for the county commissioners’ January 18 agenda requesting approval of a project ordinance pending approval by the board of education at its January 9 meeting. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 10-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Darlene Garrett.

B. VSN (Very Strong Needs) Update
Dr. Eric Becoats, chief of staff, led the board in a discussion of the VSN program at The Academy at Lincoln.

Dr. Becoats discussed professional development requirements and strategies to ensure proper training for teachers. A training session is beginning in January for Advanced Learner (AL) certification. This training will be open to all teachers in the district, thus creating a pool of qualified teachers for AL. Additionally, the VSN office is currently providing ongoing staff development as it relates to curriculum planning within the actual VSN program staffing. This is being coordinated by Ann Barr, coordinator of advanced learning. Superintendent Terry Grier stated that the goal is for all VSN teachers to be AL certified.

Motion was made by Walter Childs, seconded by Deena Hayes, requesting Executive Accountability and Research Officer Gongshu Zhang to implement a study on the VSN program as it presently exists which will address the following components:

1. Scores and progress being made within the existing program
2. Comparisons regarding VSN versus AL at the home schools
3. Issues around race and socioeconomic breakdown in terms of participants within the program and any obstacles to entry into the program that may exist
4. Number of students tested in by a private testing service as opposed to testing in by their end-of-grade scores
5. Show how VSN students ultimately did in high school and post high school, that is following the progress or charting forward the progress of the participants in the VSN program
6. Chart the progress of the participants in the VSN program in high school and post high school
   

The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 10-to-1 as follows: The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 10-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick and Nancy Routh; Nays – Anita Sharpe.

Motion was made by Nancy Routh, seconded by Darlene Garrett, that no changes be made to the VSN program as it currently exists at Lincoln and that any recommendations for the future of the program be deferred to the AL committee, who will be reviewing the GCS AL program, with Amos Quick to serve as the liaison from the committee to the board. The motion passed upon unanimous electronic vote.

C. U.S. Department of Education Character Education Grant Contract
Dr. Terrence Young, chief information and student services officer, presented to the board a recommendation to approve a contract with the Character Development Group to provide services as project director of the Middle School U.S. Department of Education Character Education Grant for the 2006-07 school year for a total amount of $173,799. In July 2006, the United States Department of Education/Partnerships in Character Education Programs (PCEP) awarded nearly $1.5 million to Guilford County Schools and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in a four-year grant to study the impact of character education on the social, ethical and academic achievement of middle school students. Dr. Philip Vincent, character education consultant and author, will be the director for the grant in collaboration with the district’s administration. Six Guilford County middle schools have been randomly selected by the U.S. Department of Education to participate in the four-year study. The schools are Ferndale Middle, Jamestown Middle, Kernodle Middle, Northeast Middle, Northwest Middle and Welborn Middle.

Motion was made by ­­­Dot Kearns, seconded by Deena Hayes, to approve the contract with the Character Development Group to provide services as project director of the Middle School U.S. Department of Education Character Education Grant for the 2006-07 school year for a total amount of $173,799. The motion passed upon unanimous electronic vote.

D. School Construction Update
This item was deferred to a later date.

E. Update on Low Performing High Schools
Dr. Mack McCary, chief academic officer, presented to the board an update on low performing high schools. The updated included:

1. A brief summary of the history of rising expectations for high schools and the Guilford County high schools expected to reform or reorganize to meet these expectations. These high schools include: Andrews, Dudley, High Point Central, NCA&T Middle College and Bennett Middle College. Southern and Eastern would be involved next year if their performance composite is less than 70 percent at the end of this school year
2. The framework for action plan and leadership facilitator assigned to affected high schools
3. The requirement that high schools select a DPI approved model to either reform or reorganize by January 30, 2007, and use the remainder of this year to plan for full implementation of the selected model for the 2007-08 school year
4. A brief description and plan for investigating the models available for choice
5. The State Board of Education expectations and requirements for the district, superintendent and local board of education, to support the implementation of these reforms/reorganization models

F. AYP and ABCs Update
This item was deferred to the January 9, 2007 board meeting.

G. CPI (Cumulative Promotion Index) Graduation Rate Update
This item was deferred to the January 9, 2007 board meeting.

Reports from the Chairman

Special Called Board Meeting
Chairman Duncan announced that there will be a special called board meeting to discuss the proposed bond referendum update on Thursday, January 4, 2007.

2007 Legislative Agenda
Chairman Duncan called on board member Dot Kearns, interim convenor of the legislative committee, to lead the board in a continued discussion of the 2007 Legislative Agenda.

In addition to discussion of the many critical items referenced in the proposed 2007 Legislative Agenda, the Legislative Committee asked that the board consider including two additional items in the board’s legislative efforts for 2007.

Develop and implement national education standards in reading, math and science (as endorsed by the Council of Great City Schools)

The board approved this item upon unanimous electronic vote.

Support proposed legislation to change the October 16 birth date for enrolling kindergarteners to August 31 – meaning, enrolling kindergarteners must turn five by August 31 versus the current October 16 (as outlined in the article titled “A Simple Change”)

The board rejected this item upon majority electronic vote of 7-to-4 as follows: Nays – Dot Kearns, Jeff Belton, Garth Hébert, Nancy Routh, Alan Duncan, Amos Quick and Darlene Garrett; Ayes – Kris Cooke, Anita Sharpe, Deena Hayes and Walter Childs.

If legislation to change the age for enrolling kindergarteners is treated favorably, the board supports a component at state expense for funding of a pre-K program.

The board approved this item upon unanimous electronic vote.

The board then voted separately on the following items referenced in the proposed 2007 Legislative Agenda.

Critical State Funding Issues:

Bullet 6:
Support a $2 billion statewide school facilities bond referendum (NC public school construction needs are estimated to be more than $9.7 billion over the next five years)

The board approved this item upon majority electronic vote of 9-to-2 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Deena Hayes and Walter Childs.

Support for High Quality Teaching

Chairman Duncan led discussion regarding state funding to support teacher salaries in the Mission Possible Program. There was consensus among board members to ask the state to support funding for differentiated salaries in certain subject areas designated in schools that are highly impacted by poverty.

The board approved adding this item to the 2007 Legislative Agenda, with proper wording to be developed by the Legislative Committee, upon unanimous electronic vote.

Local Board Operation and Authority

Bullet 1:
Grant board of education taxing authority

The board rejected this item upon majority electronic vote of 6-to-4 as follows: Nays – Garth Hébert, Nancy Routh, Alan Duncan, Anita Sharpe, Deena Hayes and Walter Childs; Ayes – Dot Kearns, Jeff Belton, Kris Cooke and Darlene Garrett. Amos Quick was not present for this vote.

It was proposed that the state adopt a pilot program in a limited number of districts to allow taxing authority to local boards of education in order to make a determination of how well this option would work. Chairman Duncan called for board members to vote.

The board rejected this item upon majority electronic vote of 6-to-5 as follows: Nays – Garth Hébert, Nancy Routh, Amos Quick, Anita Sharpe, Deena Hayes and Walter Childs; Ayes – Dot Kearns, Jeff Belton, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan and Darlene Garrett.

Bullet 2:
Return flexibility to school districts regarding disbursement of ABC rewards

The board approved this item upon majority electronic vote of 10-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Garth Hébert.

Bullet 3:
Allow school districts as much flexibility as is allowed by law in the use of state allocations

The board approved this item upon unanimous electronic vote.

Bullet 4:
Give boards of education the authority to establish school start and end dates

The board rejected this item upon majority electronic vote of 6-to-5 as follows: Nays – Dot Kearns, Garth Hébert, Kris Cooke, Amos Quick, Walter Childs and Darlene Garrett; Ayes – Jeff Belton, Nancy Routh, Alan Duncan, Anita Sharpe and Deena Hayes.

Following board discussion, it was recommended to change this item to read as follows: Give boards of education the authority to establish school start and end dates within an expanded range

The board approved this item upon majority electronic vote of 9-to-2 as follows: Ayes – Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Jeff Belton and Darlene Garrett.

Critical Federal issues

Bullet 2, item 3:
Allow retests to count for adequate yearly progress (AYP) purposes
The board approved this item upon majority electronic vote of 8-to-3 as follows: Ayes – Dot Kearns, Jeff Belton, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Amos Quick, Deena Hayes, Walter Childs and Darlene Garrett; Nays – Garth Hébert, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe.

Bullet 3:
Urge commitment by members of Congress who represent Guilford County to sign the National School Board Association’s Pledge to America’s Schoolchildren

The board approved this item upon majority electronic vote of 10-0-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Abstain – Deena Hayes.

Chairman Duncan requested that the Legislative Agenda 2007 be finalized and presented for approval at the January 4 special called board meeting.

Board Comments

Board members were each allowed two minutes to make remarks, as they deemed appropriate.

Closed Session

At 10:55 p.m., motion was made by Deena Hayes, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to go into closed session to preserve the attorney client privilege and to discuss a lawsuit encaptioned John S. Clark v. Guilford County Board of Education. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.

The board returned to open session at 11:15 p.m.

Adjournment

With no further business, at 11:16 p.m., motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Garth Hébert, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.