Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata announced today the names of eight of the 10 schools that will get special academic programs for the 2011-12 school year to make them more attractive to parents.

Tata said that Hilburn Drive, York and Aversboro elementary schools, Carroll Middle School and Knightdale High School will receive STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs.

Tata announced that Timber Drive, Jeffreys Grove and Stough elementary schools will receive Global Schools programs that will include things such as greater emphasis on teaching foreign languages.

UPDATE

In case I didn't make it clear in my budget post, Tata said today that he has no plans to cut back on the new STEM schools and Global Schools even in the face of deeper than projected state funding cuts.

More details to come later but there's been a change in which five under-enrolled Wake County traditional-calendar elementary schools would get additional staffing for the 2011-12 school year.

Wake Superintendent Tony Tata said today that Baileywick Elementary School is on the list because its enrollment has been declining sharply. He said that York Elementary is no longer in the running because new data shows the school's enrollment is projected to increase.

The other schools getting additional teachers are still the same as previously mentioned. They are Aversboro, Hilburn Drive, Jeffreys Grove and Root elementary schools.

The school board will vote today on allocating the $896,000 for the extra positions at those schools. Tata said he wanted the vote now to have the info out before they hold the teacher transfer fair.

Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata's budget proposal will dominate much of the discussion at Tuesday's school board meeting.

The agenda for the committee of the whole meeting that starts at 1 p.m. includes a board budget work session. Another COW topic is Tata's proposal to set aside $900,000 to provide additional staffing at "small elementary schools" such as Aversboro, Hilburn Drive, Jeffreys Grove, Root and York who are dealing with enrollment issues.

The public will have its say at 6:15 p.m. during the public hearing on the budget proposal.

There's some good news, bad news and some assumptions being made in the new 2011-12 budget proposed today by Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata.

Starting with the good news, Tata said his focus was to develop a budget that protects teachers and the classroom while setting conditions to make schools in high demand.

In terms of protecting teachers and the classrooms:

The 2011-12 Wake County student reassignment plan is now officially in the books.

The school board agreed today to reassign 136 additional students. When combined with the 3,500 moved on Feb. 1, you've got more than 3,600 kids on the move for this fall.

Among the moves approved today was to send 15 students from school board member John Tedesco's neighborhood from Creech Road Elementary to Aversboro Elementary.

Today's Wake County school board meeting will be long and touch on a variety of topics, including reassignment, bonuses to work at high-poverty schools, redistricting, bell schedules and the magnet review.

The school board will vote today on the last three potential changes to the 2011-12 student reassignment plan, including moving school board member John Tedesco's neighborhood from Creech Road Elementary to Aversboro Elementary. The plan calls for splitting off the part of the node that includes his subdivision to go to Aversboro.

Also as noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, the board will vote on setting aside $950,000 in Race to the Top grant money to provide signing bonuses and merit pay to teachers who will work at the four Renaissance schools: Barwell Road, Brentwood Road, Creech Road and Wilburn elementary schools.

New Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata got a first-hand look Tuesday at what school board meetings will be like, from emotional public speakers to bickering by board members.

Most of the 39 speakers who signed up railed against the school board over the student reassignment plan and the elimination of the use of socioeconomic diversity. Some speakers got even more personal, particularly  directing their attacks at school board member John Tedesco.

Several speakers welcomed Tata. But Tata was also warned by speakers to restore diversity or else he and the school district would face dire consequences.

New Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata will mark his first day on the job with a visit this morning to Enloe High School to meet with teachers, staff and students.

The visit to Enloe will put Tata right into the hotbed of opposition to eliminating the diversity policy. Tata met some Enloe students for the first time when they were among the protesters who gathered outside the Barbecue Lodge when he spoke to the Wake County Taxpayers Association meeting earlier this month.

In the afternoon, Tata will visit Carnage Middle School and Aversboro Elementary School.

Whether supporters of the diversity policy will support Tata now that he's officially on the job remains to be seen. During the reassignment hearings this month, people were still ripping into both the search process and Tata himself.

UPDATE

Click here to view the online story.

Supporters of the old diversity policy are in an uproar over Wake County school board member John Tedesco getting his neighborhood added to the plan today.

At Tedesco's urging, board members agreed to add consideration of moving the 76 students in node 504 from Creech Road Elementary to Aversboro Elementary. As a newly added move, the school board will send notices to those parents that they can speak at a public hearing next Tuesday before the board votes on the reassignment plan.

Tedesco argued that it would help fill Aversboro Elementary, which is slated to lose 120 students to Barwell Road Elementary. He said that the lack of enrollment will hurt what can be offered at Aversboro.

Next year's Wake County student reassignment plan is a work in progress with everything approved by the old school board under review with new suggestions coming in all the time.

During Tuesday's work session, Laura Evans, senior director of growth and planning, laid out to the board an explanation of the assignments being considered and the direction they're leaning toward. It will help to have your copy of the handout present.

The ensuing discussion showed how the thinking has changed to reflect the new student assignment policy. Multiple times, Evans talked about bringing students home, having them attend their neighborhood schools and moving the least number possible for stability.