Superintendent Oakley Shares Important Updates for the New School Year

Greensboro, N.C. - Monday, Guilford County Schools (GCS) will welcome tens of thousands of students back into the classroom.

Ahead of the first day, Superintendent Whitney Oakley shared how the district continues to advance the strategic direction at the district’s annual back-to-school media briefing.

Accelerate Learning

Guilford County Schools has the best schools at each grade level in the state. The district is innovating through learning recovery efforts, and those efforts are getting noticed. The district is also launching partnerships with employers like Toyota and Apple.

GCS expects to see positive learning gains again this year with the continued implementation of effective learning strategies like learning hubs and high-dosage tutoring. Learning hubs will continue in high schools and a pilot program will launch in three middle schools. “While ESSER funding is coming to an end, our focus on helping students recover from learning loss because of the pandemic remains something we continue to work on,” Dr. Oakley said. To optimize resources, this year, high-dosage tutoring will be offered to students in grades K-8.

The popular Virtual Tutoring Helpline will remain online for all GCS students in grades 3-12 to provide additional support for students after hours. Families can access the GCS Virtual Helpline by visiting the GCS Tutoring Website at www.gcsnc.com/tutoring.

Strengthening Health Wellness and Safety in Schools

The safety and security of our students, staff and visitors is our top priority. Over the summer, the district’s school safety and emergency management team has been busy completing camera installations in our schools and making other safety enhancements, such as replacing radios in buses and installing vape detectors.

This year, seven new telehealth clinics will be coming online: Sedgefield, Frazier, Brightwood, Montlieu, Northwood, Hunter, and Alderman. During the 2024-2025 school year, the district will implement nearly $20 million to support student mental health services.

Recruit, Retain and Reward Top Talent

“With all the great work we are doing to support students, we cannot address learning recovery and transform student learning outcomes without our people,” Dr. Oakley said. The GCS human resources department worked diligently throughout the summer to ensure that all classrooms have a highly qualified teacher on the first day of school.

Despite the teacher shortages across the country, the district reported hiring 389 teachers since July 1, leaving 24 vacancies. GCS will continue to advocate for better pay and resources for staff. This summer, the Guilford County Board of Education asked the County Commissioners to place a fraction of a penny sales tax referendum on the November ballot. If voters approve the referendum, the money will help GCS increase pay for teachers and frontline workers.  

The proposed sales tax – which is again, a fraction of a penny (0.25%) – would be applied to all sales, with the exclusion of essential goods like gas, groceries and prescriptions. County officials estimate that the sales tax impact would equate to five pennies for every $20 spent on most goods and services in Guilford County.

Prepare Students for the World

Students can take college courses and earn industry recognized credentials while in high school, giving them a leg up among their peers as they enter the workforce.  This fall, several new Career and Technical (CTE) courses that focus on the public sector will come online at high schools across the county:

• Ragsdale will have Emergency Management courses with the ability to obtain an EMT credential.
• Northern will host the Firefighting program, which will increase access to the popular program at GTCC-Jamestown and will be available to all students in the Northern, Northwest, Northeast and Eastern parts of the county.
• Page will gain a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) program in partnership with Greensboro College and Bethany Medical.
• Northwest will host the Law Enforcement program.

Helpful Information for Families

In the fall, a new Welcome Center located at Andrews High will serve families and students in High Point. It is intended to be a one-stop shop for families in the High Point Community. Families can enroll students and get help with transportation, school nutrition and other important services. The High Point Center is still under construction and will be used as a pilot to determine the needs in High Point. A second welcome center will open in Greensboro this fall.

Homeschool high school students are invited to learn more about flexible education opportunities with GCS. GCS flex allows homeschool students to enroll in their assigned school half-time to take advantage of rigorous academic courses, opportunities to earn certifications in high-demand fields and wraparound supports like mental health services. Learn more at www.gcnc.com/gcsflex.

This summer, GCS crews completed 25 major HVAC projects. It is important to note that the first days of school are also the last days of summer, and often our HVAC units struggle to keep our buildings fully cooled in all areas. Parents are asked to please dress their children for warm temperatures and make sure they have water to stay hydrated.

The district is also excited that four schools, in addition to Claxton Elementary will open in 2025: Kiser Middle, Peck Expeditionary Learning, Foust Gaming and Robotics and Brooks Global.

Great news for families this year is that school breakfast and lunch prices will stay the same; $1 for breakfast and $2.85 for lunch. Even better news is that 20 additional schools will offer breakfast and lunch at no cost for all students through the Community Eligibility Program (CEP). For a list of our CEP schools, visit www.gcsnc.com/cep. Families whose children attend schools other than our 110 CEP schools should visit www.lunchapplication.com to apply online to receive no-cost meals.

The GCS Transportation Department has processed more than 37,000 on-time requests for transportation. If students did not apply for transportation before the deadline this summer, families should know that staff are working hard to get everyone routed as soon as possible. The department has also expanded its van fleet to support students in transition.

Non-Transport zones are being implemented and expanded in several schools in accordance with state law. Impacted families have been notified and should contact their principal if they have any questions.

Next month, GCS will name its Teacher of The Year, Principal of The Year and other staff recognitions at its annual Celebration of Excellence. The event is open to the public and will

Watch the GCSTV Media Briefing