Year-round schools aren't the only topic the school board will deal with today.
The board will hear school administrators tout how they've exceeded the district's goal of having minority businesses account for at least 10 percent of the district's construction contracting program. Board policy calls for staff "to actively seek and identify qualified minority business enterprises" for construction contracts.
The board will also hear a request to dip into the rainy day fund to provide money for traditional-calendar schools to hire enough teachers.
Last month, the board took $677,804 out of fund balance to pay for teachers at year-round schools and $300,000 to restore signing bonuses for new teacher hires.
Administrators say they would normally in the past have gotten the money by going through other programs to find savings. But they say that option isn't available this year due to the cuts made to balance this year's budget.
Comments
Very Off-Topic, but relevant to WCPSS
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 13:57 — Uncle Ruckus (not verified)Whoa, a true educational hero according to the "Big Ed" powers that be:
http://www.aasa.org/publications/confdailyarticle.cfm?ItemNumber=10004
Whoa and this new "Messiah of Education" even has a book to show us unenlightened folks the "way."
http://www.rudycrew.net/
Oh my, tell me it is not so, it could not be true, oh no, Mr. Bill, nnnoooooo.......
http://www.nbc6.net/news/17456949/detail.html
The fourth largest School System in the Nation, and the school board actually listens to the public??? What a concept!
How Is The BoE Committee Meeting Going?
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 13:23 — Lisa_BHi Keung:
Anything interesting to share from the past 90 minutes??
THANKS!
Year-round talk
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 15:11 — KeungHui (author)Check the latest post on year-round schools.
Natural
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 12:16 — Forget_not_the_...Hiring minority businesses should be a natural choice and not such a low forced percentage...we have many strong and viable minority businesses in Wake County and I would think that 10% is a low number....but I would agree with VOR it is crucial that these companies not be "front" companies.
Eh...
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 13:14 — Bob_SconceIncidently, the definition of "minority" used includes women. Under the statute that defines the term, it applies to both ownership (at least 51%) and control of the business. The "control" part takes care of the common problem of businesses being in the wife's name, but controlled by the husband.
I agree that should happen naturally without any forcing. But, even if "forcing" is required, I see no reason for the school board itself to spend time on it -- it's an administrative matter that's best delegated. Celebrating the makup of the subcontractors on construction projects is far afield of anything having to do with education, where the board's effort should be focused.
Caution
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 08:25 — Voice_of_Reason_While a noble idea, my experience in the federal government has shown me the potential for fraud is high. There are a lot of "front companies" that are not truly minority owned, also often the bids are sometimes higher since favoritism is given. I wonder if women and veteran run companies are considered minority businesses like the federal government.
Lack of Focus
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 08:14 — Bob_SconceHow far out from the school board's main focus is it going to go?
If the board spends more than 5 seconds of its time on this, it will be too much -- they should be focusing on EDUCATION, not on the demographic distribution of the subs at construction sites.
It it were me, I would abandon this policy altogether -- if a minority-owned business comes in with the lowest** bid, it should get the contract. If not, it should not.
(**I recognize that you can't always take the low bidder -- sometimes the low bidder ends up being more expensive.)
And another thing.... "Board
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 07:38 — rr77rr99And another thing.... "Board policy calls for staff "to actively seek and identify qualified minority business enterprises" for construction contracts."
That's fabulous... but why then, does Board Policy not "call for staff" to seek and LISTEN TO the concerns and opinions OF PARENTS!
I believe the "WCPSS DOCTRINE" is one of socialism.. or social engineering from all directions, and I am pretty stupid, so for me to see that.... well, it must be slap on the face obvious.
Okay... they are "dipping
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 07:35 — rr77rr99Okay... they are "dipping into the rainy day fund...."
to hire teachers at traditional schools. Gotcha.
NO BOND because when they promoted the last one that included funding (and threats to parents) for MYR schooling to "solve" the problems, that didn't happen. No, instead, it backfired. Oh, wait, that's right, it's not their fault. The court's fault. It's the courts fault that when given the option, parents opted out of MYR schools.
Gotcha.
NO BOND
Looking Forward To Updates
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 07:09 — Lisa_BI think it's great to hear that WCPSS has something positive to share....it's been awhile, so they can pat themselves on the back and HOPEFULLY get to the task at hand---making some real decisions regarding the MYR MESS that has been created in Wake County.
I look forward to your updates throughout today's meetings Keung! (Thanks for keeping us so informed!)