The revised Wake County school transfer policy, which was set to be adopted tonight, was unanimously referred to the policy committee.

The board's reformed policy committee will review the policy and send it back to the full board for the April 24 meeting. Some parents complained tonight that the policy was too restrictive.

Click here for the version that was in the board's packet for today. Staff made two changes at the board table this evening to keep siblings together

The policy now says that a transfer may be approved if the request is to align the school calendars for siblings in grades K-8. It also says a transfer may be approved if the request is to have a sibling assigned to the same school as a student in a regional special education program.

The Wake County school system is looking for public comment on proposed revisions to the transfer policy caused by the new student assignment plan.

Click here for the press release. Click here to read the draft policy. Click here to comment.

Bell schedules, the math placement policy, the school budget and student assignment are some of the items that could draw a lot of attention at today's Wake County school board meeting.

The school board will discuss the bell schedules during the work session and vote during the regular meeting. We'll see today whether any changes are made by staff or the board to what's in the board packet.

Based on past meetings, you can expect people to make one more pitch to change the bell schedules for the schools that would see the sharpest shifts this fall.

In an almost surreal moment, Wake County school board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman raised concerns tonight about a new policy affecting bus transportation for students receiving administrative transfers.

The board is considering changes affecting administrative transfers, meaning those approved by the superintendent. The policy says admin transfers for board members and the district's top administrators need to be approved by the whole board.

The policy also calls for the elimination of transportation being automatically granted to families receiving administrative transfers. It also says that transportation will be reviewed annually.

Redistricting won't be the only item on today's Wake County school board agenda.

During the work session that starts at 2 p.m., the board will have more discussions on the proposed revisions to the code of student conduct. It could include some of the ideas suggested at this month's ED task force meeting.

The board will also discuss at the work session how they'll handle the elimination of more than 160 clerical and secretarial positions. Most of the cuts will be at individual schools. The vote on the reduction in force, or RIF, will take place during the regular meeting that starts at 4:30 p.m.

It looks like you'll no longer have administrative transfers for Wake County school board members approved by the superintendent only.

Under a proposed change to the transfer policy, administrative transfers involving children of school board members, the superintendent  or the superintendent's leadership team would have to be approved by the school board.

Superintendent Tony Tata said this would create transparency in the process.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR LINK TO POLICY REVISION

Year-round schools, student discipline and the budget aren't the only issues on today's Wake County school board agenda.

The work session that begins at 3 p.m. will include Superintendent Tony Tata giving school-by-school recommendations whether the 14 underutilized multi-track year-round schools should move to a single track for 2011-12. The formal vote will take place during the regular meeting that begins at 5:30 p.m.

You also have the interesting situation in which during the work session Tata will talk about proposed changes to the student transfer policy as a result of the probe into school board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman's case.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata has determined that school board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman did not violate board policy when she got a paperwork-free transfer for her daughter.

As noted in today's article, Tata also said the investigation into Goldman's case and 14 other students who received administrative transfers shows that some changes are needed. In particular, Tata says Wake should have required Goldman to file paperwork and not just make a verbal request.

Going forward, Tata said he will require that all similar requests for administrative transfers, which bypass the normal transfer process, come with complete documentation. Tata said the onus is on the school system and not the parent, even when it’s a school board member, to make sure that paperwork is filed.

The Wake County school system is balking at providing the names or addresses of the 15 students who've received administrative transfers like the one given to board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman's daughter.

The News & Observer had submitted a public records request for directory information on the 15 students who've gotten administrative transfers from the superintendent that's also given them bus transportation.

But Michael Evans, Wake's chief communications officer, said the district would be unable to provide the information. He cited the legal advice of school board attorney Ann Majestic, who said the information was protected under the federal Education Rights Privacy Act.

Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata plans to review the cases for all 15 students who like the daughter of school board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman received rarely granted administrative transfers.

The review stems from an e-mail message Goldman sent to Tata on Sunday night asking him to review her daughter's case. Tata decided to expand it from a review of just that one case to one looking at the other students who are covered by the administrative transfers.

"While I believe that the staff's recommendations on behalf of my child were entirely appropriate, it appears that the issue has raised some questions," Goldman wrote Tata. "I would appreciate it if you would look into this to make sure no policies were violated."