Jobs and year-round savings

I do not think your comment really answers the orginal question. If WCPSS is firing/terminating X number of employees, many of whom were recruited to come to Wake County and now face losing their jobs, how can WCPSS justify, at this time, sending recruiters out around the country. Yes they should stop doing it and save some money until this situation has worked itself out. It doesn't look like it has been that hard for them to attract people to this point.

Mr. Hui, if WCPSS is in such financial dire straits and letting people go why are they going around the country recruiting. What are they telling the people they talk to? Any ideas.

· Gang activity in Wake County is rising. WRAL reported in an August news story, that our school system has seen a 33% increase in gang activity since last year. That’s in the schools! The same article pointed out that 49% of gang-related incidents last year occurred in middle schools. Ruth Sheehan wrote an article in the News and Observer referring to a gang-related murder that involved testimony on the part of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Officials in L.A. drew a parallel between an increase in gang activity and an increase in "latch-key" children due to a year-round schedule.

To think of mandating more middle schools to a year-round schedule is unconscionable to me in light of this information. Think about it - these “latch-key” children are easy prey. Home alone for weeks at a time during every track-out period. Lots of these families have older students who can watch over their younger siblings when all are on the same schedule, but now siblings have been split between different calendars.

Claims that it is “too late” to convert schools back to a traditional school schedule and/or to drop plans to add MYR schools hold little weight when I consider issues such as the one just mentioned. Is there ever a time when we say, ”sorry – too late” when it concerns a child’s education, and even, potentially, a child’s very life? It’s a valid assumption to think that there are plenty of latch-key elementary children around as well.

Even if skepticism exists over findings like those in L.A., dare we take a chance, especially if a conversion is not necessary? The least that our school board can do is to go back and explore that very question.

Too late they say? The Virginia Beach School Board just voted to convert back to a traditional schedule four year-round schools. http://hamptonroads.com.nyud.net/print/497200

They cited a savings of about $792,000, and claimed that,”most of the schools struggled to fill classrooms and [struggled to] show academic gains greater than schools on traditional calendars.”

It's never too late...

Here's where the money is going:

· Utility costs per student have increased in the converted MYR schools, while the majority of those schools have experienced a drop in enrollment:

Here are graphs (finally!) comparing utility costs per pupil prior to and after conversion of 17 elementary schools. (see pages 2 and 3) http://www.saveoursummers.com/pdfs/utilities.pdf

Leesville Rd. Elementary is not included because cost figures for Leesville schools are figured as one entire campus.

 Also, the graph on page 1 of this link shows the membership figures prior to and after conversions. All of these schools fell short of projected membership figures for the 2008-2009 school year.

 · If you will recall, it was in 2007 that the massive conversion from traditional to MYR schools took place. Here are transportation cost comparisons from before conversion and after:

 From Associate Superintendent Don Haydon (Spring, 2008) : “Transportation Department staff compared the monthly cost for July & August 2006 with the same months in 2007 to estimate a difference in cost for transportation of year-round students. For July & August 2006, the average cost for each of the 2 months was $232,000 and for 2007, $472,000.”

Additionally, “Ms Lee, my understanding is that the costs were the actual costs for system-wide transportation for the two months. Thus, the data would show the cost for transportation for the schools in session in July/August 2006 as compared with those in 2007; those months were selected because most of the buses would be for multi-track schools.”

Unless I’m figuring something wrong, the system-wide transportation expenses just during the combined two months of July and August more than doubled, rising from close to half a million dollars ($464,000) in 2006 to close to a million ($944,000) in 2007.

*According to data from the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the monthly average diesel price in N.C. was actually less in the summer of 2007 than in the summer of 2006

BTW..WCPSS is getting 17.2 million as part of the Stimulus Law. Thanking you for printing the truth with this situation. WCPSS is lieing its employess, and the public. The lawyers are driving this wreck and they are going to drive it off a cliff come June 30th. Schools are going to be destroyed July 5th, 1st day of YR, go to the board meetings!

Sorry to hear about school employees losing their jobs.  But, if the students aren't there, and the money isn't there, then that's the way it has to be in this economy.

It's baffling that they don't "unconvert" MYR schools when they know it will save money, save teachers' jobs, (ahem) educate more students.