It's safe to say that Leesville Road Elementary parents will have a tougher time than their peers at Baucom Elementary or any of the Knightdale schools of being unconverted.
As noted in today's North Raleigh News article, not even Leesville's own school board member, Patti Head, is supporting switching the school back to a traditional calendar.
“I supported the conversion,” Head said in today's article. “To date, I haven’t been presented any information that would cause me to change my mind. But that doesn’t mean I’m not listening to people.”
Head also notes that North Raleigh has a larger number of traditional-calendar schools for families who don’t like the year-round calendar than do Apex and Knightdale.
Head said she’ll have to weigh her decision on Leesville against how it would affect York and Stough, two traditional-calendar elementary schools in northwest Raleigh.
Head says she's hearing from Leesville parents who want to switch back and those who want to stay on a year-round calendar. She says a number of the people who want to switch back say they'll change their mind if Leesville Road Middle School moves to a year-round calendar.
It's not required that a board member who represents a converted school to lead the charge. But it's really helpful. Without that person, it means finding five of the eight other board members to back the proposal.
For instance, Ron Margiotta says he's sympathetic to helping the Leesville parents. But how much will he fight for them when he's going to have a hard enough time trying to get board support for multiple schools in his district to switch back?
Comments
LES Conversion...NOT
Tue, 10/07/2008 - 13:34 — lisam (not verified)WRAL has posted on its site that 3 schools are converting back to traditional...and says Leesville Middle will convert "back to traditional"....this is going to be very misleading-I already thought they meant LES would convert back to traditional until I saw the article here, Leesville Middle is under consideration to go to MYR, it's currently traditional.
myr a big failure
Thu, 10/02/2008 - 11:19 — leesville parent (not verified)it is a shame that sooooooooo many families are unhappy with leesville myr. i wish patty head would just listen to the families. maybe it's time for change and she should just listen.
i have not found 1 family happy about the conversion. they have lost so many families and great teachers. the school spirit is gone. it is sad what the school board has done to a great school, this was a big mistake and everyone knows it!
JUST FIX IT !
http://www.theledger.com/arti
Tue, 09/30/2008 - 06:17 — bigwinniehttp://www.theledger.com/article/20080928/NEWS/809290300/1410?Title=Valleyview_Elementary_to_End_Year_Round_Schedule
There will be a District 7
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 19:38 — bigwinnieThere will be a District 7 Board Advisory Council meeting on September 29, 2008 5:30-7:00 pm @ Morrisville Elementary School. The meeting is comprised of Principals, PTA and BAC parent reps from all district 7 schools. This meeting is open for everyone to attend.
Eric, I can send it to you
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 13:28 — jenmanEric, I can send it to you if you'd like me to. just email me at voiceforequity@gmail.com and I'll send it right over.
JSB--its
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 12:36 — jenmanJSB--its voiceforequity.blogspot.com Just add the blogspot part and you should get there.
Eric B--That wasn't me who spoke at the meeting but I think I know who you're referring to. Short brown hair?
Lisa--Well bless my heart, I totally screwed that one up! I just redid the totals and it is 646 students that came from traditional and 811 from yr.
Thanks jenman
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 13:31 — Lisa_BSo jenman, that seems to be "flip-flopped" from what I had been told, so I'm assuming that those totals include the nodes/kids currently assigned to/attending Sycamore Creek now?
THANKS for all of the number crunching!
THANKS!!!!!!!!!
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 12:56 — JSB (not verified)THANKS!!!!!!!!!
Boad meeting
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 12:55 — Eric B (not verified)Jenman--Yes, she had short brown hair and spoke about school inequality. That's why I asked.
Your updated numbers sound in the ballpark. With 60% from traditional and 40% from YR last year as Lisa points out, I would expect a majority from YR this year with Sycamore Creek opening. Thanks for crunching those numbers!
Is this data on nodes available somewhere on the WCPSS web site? I think I received a printout with all of this at the community engagement meeting last year, but I don't have it now. It would be nice to have all of the data instead of having to look up a single node at a time on the WCPSS web site.
Thanks For The Recalculation
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 12:53 — Lisa_BWell yes, BLESS YOUR HEART jenman. Thanks for the recalculation. I couldn't figure out how there could be such a SMALL number of families coming from traditional schools, because that didn't even cover the HUGE number of Leesville families fighting for the reconversion. (and then DUH, silly me--Leesville Elementary is still a YR school so of course we're included in the YR calculation---funny how we still think of ourselves as a traditional school that is just 'temporarily' following the Year Round calendar!)
I've just been connected with a new group of Leesville Middle and Leesville HS parents who are ready to fight a MS conversion if that get put onto the table. They're another grass roots organization, joining forces with the traditional feeder schools to LRMS, so now we have another like-minded group to work with.
I honestly don't think WCPSS would attempt to force another destructive and divisive MYR conversion on our community after what the MYR conversion of the ES did, but we still need to expect the unexpected.
thanks for clearing up
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 13:16 — bigwinniethanks for clearing up those numers Jenn.
and lisa, you tell those folks to bring it on! Bless your heart .....
The Troops Are Readying For A Battle
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 13:29 — Lisa_BWell, Big Winner, if nothing else they're going to be PREPARED if necessary. Just imagine how large the meeting will be if both of our "groups" get together?
I sure hope it doesn't come down to all of us having to show up to demonstrate our opposition to MYR and our frustration with YR. It could get very UGLY, and I'm not a confrontational person.
But, wouldn't it be nice for the 2 groups to come together as a HUGE group to say THANK YOU to WCPSS for keeping our campus unified and on the same calendar again?
I seem to remember CONTINUITY and STABILITY being priorities of WCPSS??? Here's their chance to put their money where their mouths are and PROVE IT.
I just added up all the
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 08:00 — jenmanI just added up all the middle school students in each node that sends to Leesville. The figures are from last school year and they include all children living in that node who attend WCPSS, even if they don't go to Leesville. So they could be attending a magnet school or a traditional calendar opt-out instead.
Anyway, looking solely at base assignment, 1223 are from YR elem nodes and 212 are from Traditional nodes.
Voice of Reason--I don't have those figures. I have spreadsheets showing EOG passing rates for each school over the past 3 years, but I haven't looked specifically at converted schools. I think you have those same spreadsheets already, but email me if you need them.
That Doesn't Seem To Make Sense
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 09:02 — Lisa_BHi Jenman:
I know that you're a data WHIZ, and I would never call you a liar, but this is VERY different from the data provided to me last Spring by Growth Management.
Using last year's figures, I was told that approximately 60% of LMS students came from traditional calendar feeder schools and the other 40% came from YR elementary Schools. This year should be similar shouldn't it, since there are not any 6th graders at LMS who came from Sycamore Creek---they were all at traditional Hilburn in 5th grade, right?
Next year's numbers will be different, since the Sycamore Creek students who are in 5th grade will be technically "yr feeder students".
Looking at nodes
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 10:29 — Eric B (not verified)Lisa,
I don't want to speak for Jenman (thanks, by the way, for the information), but I think the calculation was done by nodes based on what the comment said.
By that calculation all of the students from nodes with Sycamore Creek as the base ES should now be considered coming from a YR elementary base school. That is going to be a large number of students and a big move in the YR direction since most of the student came from Hilburn.
That is the best way to do the calculation so that siblings of middle school students in elementary are considered.
Request for Information (RFI) Jenman
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 06:10 — Voice_of_Reason_You might have the numbers already so I'll ask before I do the same work over again. Do you have the ABC results from all the converted schools before and after conversion? I see a downhill pattern that is significant in a few schools I looked at, but I did not do all of them. Thanks.
voiceforequity.blogspot.com
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 21:11 — jenmanForgot to say that I have those numbers and I will add them up tomorrow. I am exhausted from number crunching for the past week.
Which bring me to. . . I have updated my blog with information about the magnet review that is supposed to be going on right now.
While our non-magnet schools are PROHIBITED from offering any 'extras', there are families living in nodes where the houses sell for a median of $400,000 to $700,000 who get magnets as their neighborhood base schools.
www.voiceforequity.com
Please check it out and write your BOE members to let them know that this is not acceptable.
I cannot get to that
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 08:35 — JSB (not verified)I cannot get to that website - voiceforequity.com - is anyone else able to? Trying to decide if it's my problem or the site is unavailable.
Thanks!
Glad to see so many good posts today about LES - it's not evey my school! People are starting to realize that the calendar and assignments are not dependent on each other!!! YAY! Calendar is calendar - assignment is assignment. Your school being YR or not has nothing to do with you being able to stay at your school!!
Keep plugging away - is there any sort of rally planned by the LES parents? Get the media invited, etc?
voiceforequity.blogspot.com
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 21:04 — jenmanBig Winnie--I have the node info for all nodes, with numbers of students at each level. I got it from a friend who was at some 'impact area' meetings this summer. Anyway, I don't think that that the 6 trad to 3 yr is a fair comparison since its only a few nodes from Root and Conn that are going to Leesville MS. You know, its only the F&R kids from those schools--the ones that don't really matter to WCPSS anyway.
Eric B--If the Supreme Court rules against WCPSS, then I'm not sure that the conversions or mandatory yr assignments will be able to proceed as planned. They will have the empty seats from the opt outs, but the vast majority of the applicants will be non-F&R and WCPSS won't want to let them in.
In a recent Q&A article with Kevin Hill in the North Raleigh News, he was asked why they don't let all the people who wanted YR have it. His answer was that it would upset the balance of the schools. There were over 1000 people who applied for YR and were denied. Many of those applied for transfers and then went through the appeals process but were still denied.
Some of them, like my family, were assigned to SEVERELY overcrowded traditional schools and offered to attend underenrolled yr schools but were still denied. I think WCPSS will continue this pattern even if the Supreme Court rules against them.
Good points
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 21:50 — Eric B (not verified)jenman--Thank you for any data you could provide about students in the nodes feeding Leesville Middle. BTW, did you speak at the Sept. school board meeting?
As for the court decision, you are right. There are 2 conflicting goals--increasing capacity by converting schools to MYR and equalizing F&R percentages. With the status quo, we get inequalities like Sycamore Creek and Leesville Elementary having 10-18% F&R while Hilburn has >40% F&R. A much higher percentage of F&R families tend to opt out of year round.
The school board is going to have to figure out how to work this out regardless of the court decision. I'm really not sure what the best answer is...
Funny thing that, LES has
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 05:49 — bigwinnieFunny thing that, LES has 22% now and could have even more were it Traditional because then (unfortunatley) F&R% would have to stay since it's not illegal (yet) to mandatorily assign to a Traditional calendar. the only way chuck got the F&R% up by keeping it a YR was turn it into an APP school.
Can't compare Hilburn to us becuase of that fact, Hilburn is Traditional. apples to oranges.
Jenn, you make a good
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 21:44 — bigwinnieJenn, you make a good point. I have wondered myself just how many came from which schools but have been unable to find that anywhere. so that brings it back to 3 to 3 I would think.
I get what you are saying about number crunching and I hear you x2 I am a fan of your website and look forward to seeing the info you have added re magnets, antoher awful inequity in WCPSS.
Sorry to be in the minority
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 19:52 — ncparent (not verified)I am pro Leesville and that means I'll happily take MYR if it means I get to keep my kids at the school. Do I love it? No, but in this county we make sacrifices to keep our kids at the good schools.
There are many, many parents who agree with me. I've seen a post from someone who says they speak with people on a personal and professional level who have children at LES, and I do as well in my line of work and my social gatherings. I am telling you that given the choice of facing reassignment or returning to the traditional calendar, MANY people will cave and go with MYR.
It is what it is.
Majority, Minority, Who Cares?
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 00:03 — Lisa_BHi ncparent:
It really shouldn't matter whether you're in the majority or minority---you should advocate for your own children regardless of who agrees or disagrees with you.
I happen to agree with what you say about making sacrifices. So many current LES families (mine included) are making sacrifices by staying at LES because of the wonderful school it is. We sure didn't ask for YR--it was FORCED upon us, and we were purposely given an "unappealing traditional option" so that we would not leave LES. (I am not saying that our traditional option is an "unappealing school" by any means---it's just not a realistic option for our families)
But, sadly, facing reassignment is a reality in WCPSS REGARDLESS of whether or not LES returns to the traditional calendar. Don't believe anyone who tells you that Leesville will be immune from reassignments as long as we stay on the YR calendar. THAT is just not true.
MYR was supposed to do many things "better" than traditional, but NONE of those things have come to fruition. (MYR promised smaller classes, reasonable lunch times, no trailers, cost savings, etc...) The fact that this destructive and divisive change was forced on our community when it did not have to happen is what makes me so mad.
If we do get the conversion reversed, there will be some people who are unhappy and that is the downside of the reversal. The upside is that our families and our COMMUNITY will once again be united, and our campus will all follow the same school calendar.
don't be sorry
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 21:47 — bigwinniereally, it's not about who is "right" or who is "wrong" it's neither of those and it IS personal choice. MYR took away that "choice" from many families as does reassignment. MYR has become the awakening for many people I think but the problems with WCPSS go far beyond that. but there's only one fire at a time to be fought and by only so many.
I agree
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 21:02 — Eric B (not verified)I agree with you. You have to acknowledge the realities we face with growth and not enough schools and decide where your priorities are.
I'd rather my kids stay in schools closer to home and go YR instead of being bussed further away. Many parents I have spoken to feel the same way.
Catching Up
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 00:20 — Lisa_BHi Eric:
I've been away from the blogs since early today and WOW, little ol' Leesville sure is getting some attention today! Glad to talk to a fellow LES parent.
I have skimmed your entries and I realize that you weren't involved pre-conversion. I'm happy to share the WHOLE story sometime, but I need sleep and DON'T need carpal tunnel syndrome from typing it all out.
I personally understand that IF we were truly in a "Growth Crisis" and all schools had to convert to multi-track YR schools to accommodate the kids, and everyone had to "take one for the team" that would be acceptable.
The fact that 3 out of the 4 schools in our area are under-capacity YR schools means that there is NOT a growth crisis in NW Raleigh (731 available seats in those 3 schools==and that is not using MAXIMUM capacity at the schools, that's using Growth Management's "Building utilization model" which determines "optimal capacity"---the schools can technically hold many more students) Leesville, for example, has previously operated on the traditional calendar for several years with more students than we currently have attending the school.
You're not alone in saying that you'd rather have your kids in schools closer to home than being bussed further away---I don't know anyone who would disagree with you. Just understand that staying on a YR calendar does NOT make you safe from future reassignments and busing even further from home. It's a numbers game, and when you least expect it you could face a reassignment that makes NO SENSE to anyone but WCPSS. I'm not trying to be pessimistic---I'm actually an optimistic person, but these past 2 years have shown me the reality that I WISH did not exist.
Hope to meet you soon!
voiceforequity.blogspot.com
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 15:49 — jenmanHere are all the elem schools that send at least *some* nodes to Leesville MS:
Root
Conn
Leesville
Hilburn
Brier Creek
York
Jeffrey's Grove
Sycamore Creek
Stough
thanks Jen
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 17:06 — bigwinnie6 Traditional and 3 YR....not really what I'd call a majority now is it, matter of fact, I think Traditional feeders DOUBLE yr's.
also, someone explain if you will, why Stough as the opt-out wih 18 empty seats vs. Hilburn with 210.
Equality you might say? ahn wrong answer
Stough 47% F&R%
Hilburn 43.5%
so does that 3.5% really justify 5.12 miles instead of 2.44???? Seriously? nope, sour grapes on Chuckie and Patti both!
voiceforequity.blogspot.com
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 15:30 — jenmanEric, I applaud you for sticking around to discuss the issue amidst chants of "Kool-Aid Drinker". lol And I appreciate hearing your view.
I can absolutely see your point, especially as a 'newcomer' to Leesville schools. Its really a no-win situation no matter what the decisions are. Leesville should have never been converted in the first place and changing it back would be a huge mess as well.
As for me, I'm not even at Leesville or any converted school for that matter. I'm just disgusted by the way the whole thing was carried out. I'd be concerned about the middle school converting just because of the fewer academic opportunities that yr middle schools seem to have. Some have no foreign language at all, some have advanced courses only on certain tracks, etc. Its one thing to choose to apply year round knowing those potential negatives, its another to be forced there.
Eric, kool-aid?
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 13:56 — g88ky07Johnny come lately Eric arrived AFTER the battle was fought, so it sounds like, and apparently has discount coupons for free kool-aid.
I hear Patti will be serving it at her roadside stand ONCE SHE IS GONE next year!
The day can NOT come soon enough.
For Rosa, Queen of denial, she ONLY sits a top her perch, and I'm just going to throw it out here folks, because she's the only ethnic serving boe member.
She could not be denied because of it, BUT, she sure can deny us, THE PARENTS, who she wants & expects to support her agendas, her bond desires etc...
Well boo flippin' hoo Rosa, AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN! NONE OF IT!
For those that say they'll never convert all 22 back, I'm sure not, how dare they admit they are failures AT EVERY ANGLE, however, the parents who have been ignored and shut down, by such BS as Lori Millberg's comments, will NOT support THEIR FAILURES now or in the future.
And to those who might fill their shoes, those people WILL reap the wrath of what the LYING current board members have sewn!
Don't expect to walk into those shoes and all of the sudden life will be good again, you'll have LOTS and LOTS of undoing to do to EVER get the support you ONCE HAD!
For those of us, unlike Eric "the kool-aid drinking extraordinaire" and Chris "i'll catch up with you someday" Decker, who have HAD ENOUGH of the lies, spin, babble and BS, go to your local sign shop and start working on 1000's of signs, bumper stickers and banners that say,
NO BOND NO WAY 2009!
No MYR
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 13:53 — sick and tired (not verified)Eric,
Your children must all be at LES and if mine were the schedule would be fine. Try having kids at all Leesville schools on different schedules. The point is the mandatory part- if you like YR- go to Sycamore or Brier Creek and don't tell me that Stough is a viable option if I want traditional, it is not. It appears that the few folks that like YR, the voices are coming from Long Lake division- let them be reassigned like before and fill up the seats at BC and Sycamore.
"It appears that the few
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 14:22 — Anonymous (not verified)"It appears that the few folks that like YR, the voices are coming from Long Lake division- let them be reassigned like before and fill up the seats at BC and Sycamore"
I just checked with a friend from Long Lake - they were reassigned to Hilburn. They let kids who attended LES to stay but many chose Hilburn.
Please let us all stop
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 17:41 — choice4allPlease let us all stop subdivision bashing. Anonymous I know who you are talking about and that voice does NOT represent the voice of Long Lake. That sub is assigned to 2 schools which are Briar Creek and Hilburn. The Leesville yr option was provided after the complaints that Green was the YR option in the reassignment plan. That person should be thrilled that it was changed because they would have been directly affected and not able to go to Leesville. That plan was changed after Patti listened to the complaints of parents from Leesville that suffered through the conversions only to have it ripped away the following year. OMG did I actually give Patti credit???!!! (I will give credit where credit is due). Please let us ALL remember that, right now, WCPSS is the one who is having the last laugh as they watch us all scramble, fret, worry and complain about things that really don't matter. Ole Chuckie boy is sitting in his ivory tower satisfied that his "Healthy" goal is being acheived AT ALL COSTS! You cannot address Diversity and growth at the same time...but by gosh Chuck will make it work. Remember it is BOND time and the lies have begun. Vote em out, Kick em out, sweep Wake Forest Rd. Call your reps to have the General Assembly vote for AT LARGE ELECTIONS.
The Truth Is Coming Out
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 15:58 — Pro Family (not verified)Ah HA. The plot thickens.
So, those in opposition to reversing Leesville ES' conversion would be reassigned to Hilburn ES if Leesville ES went back to traditional? Interesting indeed.
More power to them by choosing to defend their choice. On the other hand, shame on anyone who attempts to claim majority opposition when the reality shows the majority feels differently.
Uphill but not impossible Leesville. Go for it.
Nope
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 14:22 — Eric B (not verified)No, I have kids at Sycamore Creek and Leesville Middle now. We're dealing with the split schedule, although it would be nice to have the same schedule. Either convert Sycamore Creek back to traditional or Leesville Middle to YR.
It seems to make more sense and cause a lot less disruption to convert Leesville Middle to MYR given that most of the elementary schools feeding Leesville are MYR now.
In favor of year round
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 11:59 — Eric B (not verified)I'm in favor of Leesville Middle being converted to year round and the elementary school staying year round. This just makes sense considering that the elementary school is year round already. Why would they convert back to traditional and lose capacity when the middle school is overcrowded too? It makes no sense! Converting Leesville Middle is the next logical step and I'm sure that will be in the multiyear assignment plan.
Many other parents I have spoken with would much rather have Leesville Middle converted to year round rather than have our children reassigned to West Millbrook or Carroll!
I know the parents against year round conversions are very vocal, but there are just as many if not more parents who support what Patti Head and the rest of the school board has done given the circumstances, especially considering that a new middle school or 6th grade center will not be available until 2012 or beyond. I've let Ms. Head know that I support year round conversion and hope it goes forward.
Does Patti Head not
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 13:38 — Reality Check (not verified)Does Patti Head not remember the giant PTA meeting where she was given a visual display as to how the Leesville families felt about MYR? I do not know how good her memory is, but that should have been unforgettable.
What are the ages of your children Eric? Have you had to experience different schedules for your children yet? Were you at that PTA meeting?
Are you, Eric, pro-YR or pro-Leesville? I feel that anyone who understands and embraces the Leesville campus concept should easily be able to answer that question. I believe I can guess your current situation. Until you experience the dilemma you will not fully understand the drawbacks.
Pro-Leesville
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 13:50 — Eric B (not verified)My kids are 7 and 11 and going to Sycamore Creek and Leesville Middle, so we're already dealing with the split schedule now. We don't like it, but we're dealing with it because we love the schools.
I was not at the Leesville ES PTA meeting because I never had children at that school. My kids both went to Hilburn before SCES and LRMS.
I'm pro-Leesville really. I'd much rather my 11 year-old stay at Leesville Middle on a YR schedule than be reassigned 10-15 miles away to the next closest middle school. In addition, both of my kids would be on the same schedule for a while. High school is a different story, but older kids should be able to deal with the split schedule a lot better than the younger kids.
Why not convert all middle
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 15:08 — bigwinnieWhy not convert all middle schools to multi-track year-round calendars?
Middle schools are usually organized into four-teacher instructional teams with each teacher having a different area of certification—language arts, social studies, mathematics and science.
The four core teachers teach four “homeroom” classes within each team. Organizing teams for
each grade level within four tracks for each grade level is challenging. The optimum
arrangement is one team per track per grade level, which serves approximately 1,248 students.
Any enrollment pattern less than the optimum will need some two-teacher teams, requiring
teachers to have more than one area of certification and to teach multiple subjects. Optional
multi- track middle schools can enroll the appropriate number of students through the application
process and maintain the teaming structure. Conversion of existing middle schools from a
single-track calendar to a multi- track calendar will result in differing numbers of students at each
grade level and require the organization of more two-teacher instructional teams with smaller
schools facing more disruption to the team organization than larger schools. Conversion of all
middle schools would require many more teachers with dual-certification (e.g. math and science
or language arts and social studies) or force more teachers to teach out-of- field, make it harder to
attract and retain highly qualified teachers for middle schools, and negatively impact
instructional planning and delivery. The adopted CIP calls for opening new middle schools as
multi- track year-round schools and consideration of possible conversion of some existing
schools to a multi-track calendar. Offering opportunities to apply for voluntary enrollment in a
year-round middle school will enhance the ability of the schools to optimize team organization.
A Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) For 2007-2009
For Wake County Public Schools
May 16, 2006
changes_in_CIP_over_time51606/11/16/2006
Why not convert high schools to multi-track year-round calendars?
Offering a full curriculum to separate tracks of 700 students requires more teachers than the
same curriculum offered to a school of 2100 students and operating expenses would increase
significantly if the existing diverse curriculum was to be maintained. The additional operating
costs would outweigh the initial savings in construction costs after approximately ten years.
Significant operational problems would challenge the administrators responsible for a four-track
high school. School security would be a major problem as groups of students tracked in or out
and extra-curricular activities spanned the track cale ndars. Providing equitable access to clubs,
sports, and various school activities would be difficult. Recruitment and retention of highly
qualified teachers would be difficult because of the need to have one teacher teaching many
levels and sections of courses to small groups of students. For example, one French language
teacher serving one track, would be responsible for teaching five different levels, with the
advanced levels each having just a few students, and there would not be enough students taking
French in one track to fill more than three course sections during a year. Therefore the French
teacher would need to be qualified to teach another language or some subject other than foreign
language. Few teachers would be able to teach multiple sections of the same course within a
track, requiring additional planning time and contributing to teacher burnout.
HS and YR
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 14:34 — Bob_SconceYear-round does not work well in high schools, mainly because of the electives -- whereas before, you might have gotten away with only one French 3 class, now you need 4. School activities also don't lend well to it.
You're correct
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 14:37 — Eric B (not verified)You're 100% correct. WCPSS agrees with you. They have stated that HS conversions to MYR are not an option.
You really are naive
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 15:20 — g88ky07You really are naive aren't you. DOES NOT matter what they've stated, we all know that!
Or is the kool-aid THAT good!
WHEN, not if, the HS are running over, and most are pretty much there, they will have NO choice except to do something drastic. French, Chinese, football or water polo, it won't matter!
Those kids can drive, split shifts seems the best solution!
High schoolers can deal with the split schedule
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 14:03 — Anonymous (not verified)Sorry to burst your bubble, but the older they are they more they need their family around. Not to mention all the older siblings that watch their younger children on non-school days.
Eric, Problem is, even
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 13:35 — NWRaleighMomEric,
Problem is, even with the conversion they are planning to reassign kids to Carroll. Conversion won't give enough capacity.
The focus should be on 6th grade center and/or building a new school.
Anymore K-Marts or car dealerships?
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 14:13 — WuptdoAnymore closed down K-Marts or Big Box stores that are empty. They have a huge car dealership in Cary (Buck Jones Road) that is currently empty. What about those empty dealerships on Route 70? If they want 6th grade "centers" they will need to be a little more creative in real estate choices.
Geez, only a few years ago, all the talk (and money) was the need for more 9th grade centers. If the BoE(eR) understood anything about accountability, Chuck and friends would of been fired for their sheer incompetance (and arrogance). Oh well, as long as the elected "status quo" is maintained, NOTHING will CHANGE. Funny, I thought this whole election was about CHANGE.
New school not coming soon enough
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 13:45 — Eric B (not verified)The problem is that a new school is not coming soon enough. It's not slated for construction until 2012. They have not located a suitable site yet and even when they do construction depends on passing a new bond issue.
The school board needs to do whatever they can to increase capacity for the next 3 years and can't wait until 2012 or later. Why do you say MYR will not increase capacity enough?
"Why do you say MYR will
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 14:00 — NWRaleighMom"Why do you say MYR will not increase capacity enough?"
Eric,
Because I was on reassignment meeting last year when Chuck said so.
We HAVE TO demand 6grade center before new school can be built.
Exactly - they will flip
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 14:39 — Anonymous (not verified)Exactly - they will flip LRMS to YR to open up seats (or "capacity") for an assignement area that they wish to move to the school. It has no bearing on whether YOU will actually get to stay at that school...
I must respectfully
Wed, 09/24/2008 - 13:17 — Families First (not verified)I must respectfully disagree. How many people truly do support MYR at Leesville? I run into Leesville families professionally and socially and have not met 1 person happy with MYR.
I read that 200 new students are attending b/c they chose YR via application process. Some are attending b/c they were VYR before the conversion. Most care about the Leesville community as a whole and keeping families together. Contrary to WCPSS policies, that is how it should be.
Leesville Rd Middle is not on the table for MYR this year. By checked Day 10 figures, they are over capacity but enrollment has not jumped significantly this year.
Keeping the 3 Leesville Rd schools on the same calendar is the sensible thing to do for your families. You never should have been inconvenienced in the first place.
Good Luck with your efforts. You deserve it.