The state Department of Public Instruction is ordering the Wake County school system to develop a new alternative program after determining that was put in place to replace the Richard Milburn High School isn't enough.

Wake had dropped Richard Milburn last year for budgetary reasons, replacing it with an online program to serve long-term suspended students. But in a DPI investigation of Wake's special-ed services, the state found that the new program wasn't adequate for meeting the needs of students with disabilities.

In the absence of Richard Milburn, the report noted that around 200 long-term students were receiving instruction at home on weekends and after-school. But the report found that the Wake was providing these students with less than six hours of weekly instruction.

Supporters of Project Enlightenment are hoping that the program's potential budget cuts won't be lost amid all the talk about calendars and student assignment policy.

As noted in today's article, parents and preschool directors are worried that Project Enlightenment will take a major hit when the superintendent's budget proposal for the 2010-11 fiscal year is presented Tuesday. More than 1,000 people have joined a "Save Project Enlightenment" Facebook group.

Project Enlightenment is part of the Central Services budget for the upcoming year that Supt. Del Burns ordered in November be cut by $20 million.

The days of Wake handing over the education of long-term suspended students to outside groups has come to an end.

As noted in today's article by Ray Martin, Wednesday night saw the graduation of the last class of students from Richard Milburn High School, which was the largest outside vendor for Wake's long-term suspended students. They and other providers were phased out to save money.

School officials said they could do the job cheaper in house.

Life could be rough in Wake schools this upcoming school year.

As noted in today's article, the district is looking at some cost-cutting measures that could affect the daily quality of life for students and teachers. Supt. Del Burns said they're at the point now where Central Services (anything not school based) is so "lean" that they can't make further cuts without having a direct impact on the classroom.

“We’re at the point now where it has a direct impact on schools,” Burns told school board members on Thursday. “It has a direct impact on classrooms.”