Background material for each agenda item is available online under the Board Meeting Materials link

CONSENT AGENDA

The Board approved the following items on the Consent Agenda:

• August 2005 Minutes – August 9 Regular Meeting and August 25 Regular Meeting
• Personnel Action Report
• Contracts for Additions and Renovations at Peck Elementary
• Contracts for Additions at Morehead Elementary and Peeler Elementary School of Performing Arts
• Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Project Ordinance Revisions

STAFF REPORTS

Update on Class Sizes

Dr. Grier and Chief Human Resources Officer Mike Harris discussed class size information for the district's elementary schools. Equity Schools have 15-to-1 student to teacher ratios in grades K-3 and Equity +2 Schools have 15-to-1 student to teacher ratios in grades K-2.

The district wide class size averages are as follows:

•  Kindergarten: 18

•  First grade: 17.9

•  Second grade: 18.2

•  Third grade: 19.6

•  Fourth grade: 23.49

•  Fifth grade: 23.3

The state class size maximums are 24 for kindergarten thru third grade; 29 in grades four through nine, and 32 in grades 10 through 12.

Mr. Harris informed the Board that staff would be making a few additional changes in order to balance class sizes.

SAT Update

Staff presented to the Board information on SAT performance in the district from 1999 to 2005. The report, which provides data disaggregated by ethnicity and by cohorts overtime, offered several key findings. According to the report, the number of students in the district taking the SAT increased from 2,253 in 1999 to 2,842 in 2005. In addition, the percentage of African American students who took the SAT has considerably increased, from 26.7percent to 33.9 percent, since 1999. While SAT performance in the district had increased.

Staff also presented plans for the district to help students prepare for the SAT. The plan included immediate strategies to implement as well as outlines long-term strategies to ensure that performance improvements are sustained.

High Point SCALE Site

Chief Academic Officer Peggy Thompson and Director of Construction Joe Hill updated the Board on staff's search for a High Point SCALE site and recommended that the Chestnut Street site be approved for the program. The High Point SCALE site for the 2004-2005 school year was located at the Pisgah Church Road facility in Greensboro. To better accommodate students, an additional site was investigated for High Point .

Board members expressed their concern with the Chestnut Street site's close proximity to High Point Central and asked staff to continue to look for other potential sites for a SCALE site in High Point . Mr. Hill informed the Board that a High Point SCALE site would not be ready until the beginning of 2006 regardless of the option that the Board chooses.

Proposed Redistricting Plans

GCS' demographer Eric Hoekstra led the Board in a discussion regarding the proposed redistricting plans as discussed at August 9 and August 25 meetings. Mr. Hoekstra shared information based on Board member requests regarding High Point Central and Ragsdale as well as a mini attendance zone for Andrews.

The Board asked Mr. Hoekstra to prepare proposed attendance lines for the new Guilford Elementary School and to share the proposal at a community forum scheduled by the Board. Mr. Hoekstra was also asked to prepare an alternate attendance zone map for the new Northern area middle school.