Choose a blog

Wake County school board member John Tedesco warning he might not be able to support school bond issue

Wake County school board member John Tedesco is warning he might not support the fall school bond issue.

Tedesco gave the warning during Tuesday's school board work session as he complained about this $925 million proposed list of projects. He's upset that the list doesn't include funding for renovations at two Garner schools and only a small amount to start work on Garner High School.

"Excuse me if this is not a priority list of bonds from somebody who's been a vocal advocate for our bond thus far, saying we need it, telling others that we need it extensively," Tedesco said. "This is not one that I could support."

1366894864 Wake County school board member John Tedesco warning he might not be able to support school bond issue The News and Observer Copyright 2011 The News and Observer . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Wake County school board talks about creating Office of Diversity and Equity

Is creating an Office of Diversity and Equity something that the Wake County school system should look at exploring?

As noted in today's article, the school board told staff on Tuesday to revise the budget proposal to come up with up to $200,000 to create this new office. Board members say this office, along with the revisions in the student assignment policy to minimize concentrations of low-income and low-performing students at schools and the new equity policy will help promote equity for students.

School board chairman Keith Sutton has been the big backer of creating this new office, which is modeled on one in the Guilford County school system. It's because of Sutton that staff developed a business case for creating the new office even though it wasn't part of the original budget request.

Wake County school board passes resolution supporting current election maps

As expected, the Wake County school board voted 7-2 tonight to pass a resolution supporting keeping the current election districts.

The vote comes a day after the state Senate passed Senate Bill 325. Democrats in the state House will likely point to the school board's resolution as they try to block the bill's final passage.

During the debate, board member Deborah Prickett referenced this 2011 Wake Ed blog post in which Susan Evans and Jim Martin both criticized the current election lines before they were elected to the board.

Wake County school board debates resolution supporting 2011 election maps

You've got a role reversal taking place about the 2011 redistricting map that were adopted by the Wake County school board.

The school board is expected to pass on April 23 a resolution endorsing the current election boundaries. It's one way of how the board is opposing Senate Bill 325, which would change when and how Wake school board members are elected.

What you're likely going to see, based on last week's board discussion, is that the resolution will be supported by board members who either voted against the 2011 map or who criticized it at the time. You'll probably see board members who voted for the map in 2011 not backing this new resolution.

Trying to find a compromise for the name of the new high school in Apex

Wake County school board member Susan Evans is being credited with helping work out a potential compromise over the name of the new high school that will be built in Apex.

The school board and the Apex Town Council had initially agreed on West Apex High School as the name. But the residents of the Friendship community want the school named after the community.

Now it looks like the compromise will be something like Apex-Friendship High or Friendship-Apex High.

Looking at what the Wake County school bond scenarios can fund

The lobbying and negotiating over what projects to include in the next Wake County school construction bond referendum is already in progress.

As noted in today's article, the scenarios presented Wednesday range from $609 million to $2.3 billion. It's understood that the $2.3 billion, which lays out all the district's needs, isn't going to happen.

The question is which projects to still fund in a reduced bond amount.

Wake County school system to lobby to save teacher assistant positions

It looks saving teacher assistant positions will be the major crusade by school leaders in Wake County and the rest of this state during this budget season.

As noted in today's article, school board members and administrators said Tuesday that Wake's loss of $12 million in funding for teacher assistants in Gov. Pat McCrory's budget would be "very detrimental." McCrory's budget would cut all $117 million in funding for TAs in grades 2 and 3, only funding them for K-1.

McCroy has touted how his budget would add 1,800 teaching positions. But Chief Business Officer David Neter said those positions are just to keep up with growth so they can't convert the positions to pay for TA positions.

Separating Susan Evans and Tony Gurley at the joint meeting

There's a different seating order today following last month's dust-up between Wake County school board member Susan Evans and Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley.

At today's joint meeting, Evans is sitting between school board members Tom Benton and Jim Martin. Gurley is sitting between school board member Kevin Hill and an empty seat set aside for school board member John Tedesco

Evans and Gurley were sitting next to each other at last month's joint meeting. Gurley accused Evans of calling him a jerk while he spoke, which she denies.

So far this morning, they're gotten an overview of the $2.2 billion that Wake County school administrators say is needed in the next few years for school construction. That number will be reduced by school staff to try to get a school bond passed.

Wake County parents asking for 8:30 a.m. school start times

One thing that became clear on Tuesday is that Wake County families really like 8:30 a.m. start times, especially those whose kids go to elementary schools that start at 9:15 a.m.

As noted in today's article, the school board approved Tuesday this revised 2013-14 school bell schedules for each school. A common theme voiced by board members and the public is the concerns families have with continuing to start most elementary schools after 9 a.m.

Wake operates a two- and three-tier bus system in different parts of the district. This means the majority of buses run two or three routes in the morning and afternoon to save money.

Wake County school board election bill drawing heated reactions

Is Senate Bill 325 essentially a second try for Republicans to hold a majority on the Wake County school board?

As noted in today's article, the stated main purpose of the new legislation is to give individual Wake County voters the ability to elect a second school board member. But the bill also lets state Republican lawmakers rewrite the boundaries for Wake's school board districts.

This comes after the redistricting plan approved by the former Republican school board majority in 2011 didn't turn out as some thought that it would in ensuring GOP control of the state's largest school district.

Cars View All
Find a Car
Go
Jobs View All
Find a Job
Go
Homes View All
Find a Home
Go

Want to post a comment?

In order to join the conversation, you must be a member of newsobserver.com. Click here to register or to log in.
Advertisements