Southside Ashpole Elementary Selected for Innovative School District
District has until Feb. 1 to accept transfer or close school
 Southside Ashpole Elementary School (Public Schools of
Robeson County) will be the first North Carolina public school selected for the
new statewide Innovative School District (ISD) beginning in the 2018-19
academic year. State Board members unanimously approved ISD Superintendent Eric
Hall’s recommendation to include the Robeson school based on a quantitative and
qualitative analysis that included an extensive review of school performance
data and discussions with the Robeson school board chair, district leaders,
school administrators and community members.
State Board Chair Bill Cobey said the Board would continue
to monitor the progress of the district and looked forward to seeing academic
improvement for the students at Southside Ashpole Elementary.
"It is imperative that we employ new ways to improve
educational outcomes for students,” Cobey said, “and the Innovative School
District is designed to do just that."
The Public Schools of Robeson County School Board has until Feb. 1, 2018 to
either accept the transfer of Southside Ashpole Elementary school into the ISD
or close the school altogether, an option allowed under the legislation
creating the statewide district.
The ISD staff is currently in the process of evaluating and
selecting the right transformation team to work in partnership with the Rowland
community and to manage the operations at Southside Ashpole Elementary.
Applicants are expected to consider the opinions, values and school-related
goals of parents and community members. Third-party evaluators will assess
potential turnaround partners with selection expected to occur in January or
February.
The State Board of Education is expected to select up go five qualifying
schools for transfer to the ISD over the next few years. The ISD was created to
help improve academic outcomes for children in some of the state’s lowest performing schools. Visit the ISD
website for more information.
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Chronic Absenteeism Discussed at State Board of Education Biannual Planning/Work Session
Adverse effects begin before kindergarten
At the State Board’s biannual planning and work session last
week, which preceded its monthly meeting, members heard a number of presentations
including those on local district whole-child pilot programs, cross-divisional
efforts at the Department to support low-performing schools, building an
equitable education system, and credit recovery.
One of the presentations that received significant
discussion focused on chronic absenteeism.
According to the Office of Civil Rights, during the 2013-14
academic school year, 207,837 North Carolina students missed 15 days or more of
school. This number represents approximately 14 percent of the state’s
student population.
Chronic absenteeism is a significant problem that impacts
all school levels in the educational system. Historically, chronic absenteeism
and the ensuing discussion focused at the high school level, specifically ninth
grade. Even though chronic absenteeism among ninth graders is the top predictor
for on-time high school graduation, research consistently indicates that
adverse effects of chronic absenteeism begin before students enter kindergarten.
From a national perspective, chronic absenteeism impacts multiple
layers of the educational system and community. Chronically absent students
face adverse life outcomes such as economic hardship, employment difficulties,
less stable career patterns, and higher rates of unemployment.
Students who are identified as chronically absent are more
likely to drop out of school. Additionally, according to the Washington State
Center for Court Research, 50 percent of all truants ended up with a criminal
charge by 18, compared to 12 percent of non-truant students. This is due to a
high percentage of chronically absent students being unsupervised during the
school day.
North Carolina has an opportunity to create actionable steps
to address chronic absenteeism across the grades beginning with establishing a
common definition. Other recommendations include tracking chronic absenteeism
at the school, district, region and state levels, and providing actionable
steps for addressing chronic absenteeism, including strengthening school and
community resources, such as developing early warning systems, creating preventative
measures, and ensuring families have access to needed community resources.
 
Funds will be used for school building construction
 North Carolina
Superintendent Mark Johnson announced that $30 million in grant funds
from the new Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund would be awarded to Camden,
Clay, Gates and Jones counties. The grant awards will allow for construction of
new school buildings in these economically distressed counties.
“Through these
grants, we will begin to address the critical school infrastructure needs in
less populated parts of our state through projects that will begin construction
within 12 months,” said Johnson. “Students in
outdated – and in some cases, unsafe – buildings will soon benefit from these
new facilities.”
* Camden County: $2.29 million for initial costs for
a new high school to replace a structurally inadequate facility serving a third
of all students in the county ($33.3 million total project cost)
* Clay County: $10.2 million for a new primary-school
facility (pre-K through second grade), enabling the district to reorganize
grade levels to place all pre-K through eighth grade students in
age-appropriate educational settings ($14 million total project cost)
* Gates County: $2.5 million to replace a
structurally inadequate middle school wing ($10.6 million total project cost)
* Jones County: $15 million for a new pre-K through
12th grade campus to serve 60 percent of students in the district ($45 million
total project cost)
The fund — more
than $100 million over the next two years — was provided by the General
Assembly to assist lower-wealth counties with their critical public school
building capital needs. For this year and next year, funding will be available
only to Tier 1 counties. In later years, Tier 2 counties will be eligible.
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Eliminating child hunger during the summer focus of summits
 The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) School Nutrition Services Section, along with
a diverse group of partners, is inviting all private nonprofits, public
organizations and advocates interested in eliminating child hunger during the
summer to participate in the fourth annual SummerPalooza!
Summits.
The summits are regional, daylong celebrations and planning
events developed to increase participation in and expand awareness of North
Carolina’s Summer Nutrition Programs for children. The Summer Nutrition
Programs, which are sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) and administered by NCDPI, provide funding for meals and snacks to
children ages 18 and younger during their summer vacation.
During 2016, nearly a million
North Carolina children were eligible to receive free summer meals based on
family income. According to The Food Research & Action Center’s Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation: 2017 Summer
Nutrition State Report, fewer than 16 percent of those children
received summer meals through the program. NCDPI
is expanding its efforts to encourage more organizations to become program
sponsors and to provide more meal sites throughout the state.
“For many children and teens, summertime means food, friends
and fun. For families who count on school breakfast and lunch, the summer
months can be stressful and a time of hunger,” said Lynn Harvey, School
Nutrition Services section chief at NCDPI. “During the summer, children and
teens also can experience learning loss and a lack of physical activity.
Connecting them to food and fun through the summer nutrition programs will help
fill these gaps.”
Organizations wanting to be a part of the solution in their
communities are encouraged to register
for one of the SummerPalooza! Summits below. Registration is
free, and lunch will be provided. Preregistration is required. Nov. 10 is the deadline to register.
* Tuesday, Nov. 14
Bob Martin Eastern Agricultural Center, Williamston
* Thursday, Nov. 16
New Bern Convention Center, New Bern
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Nominations Open for CCES Marvin R. Pittman Champions for Education Award
Recipients have a significant impact on students
 The
Connecting Communities of Education Stakeholders (CCES) conference committee would like to recognize teachers, administrators, volunteers and support staff who
demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to student success, exemplify
leadership in education, and have had a significant impact on students.
The individuals will be recognized during the CCES conference. Visit
the Become A
Champion web
page on the CCES website to learn more about the award categories, nomination
process, nomination criteria and selection process.
The Connecting Communities of Education Stakeholders
conference, Fostering Innovation Across our State will be held March 11-15 at
the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel & Koury Convention Center. CCES merges the
Collaborative Conference for Student Achievement and the Home Base Symposium.
Registration opens Jan. 2. Visit the CCES website for the conference
schedule, and check back in January to register.
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