Biannual
Planning/Work Session Precedes Monthly Meeting
State Board members met last Tuesday and Wednesday on the
Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University for their biannual
planning and work session.
Over a day and a half, 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 equity
into the 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 accounting for 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 age 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 preventive
measures, and ensuring families have access to needed community resources.
From the robust discussions that followed the various
presentations, Board members revised and approved their Strategic Plan. State
Board Chairman Bill Cobey said the ability to meet the revised goals would
depend in large part on the staffing and resources at the state agency.
Southside
Ashpole Elementary Selected for Innovative School District
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 local school board chair, district leaders,
school administrators and community members.
State Board Chairman 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."
Public Schools of Robeson County has until Feb. 1, 2018 either
to 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 expects to select up to 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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Board Approves
Several Charter Recommendations
Cardinal Charter Academy West Campus fast-track application
was approved. The
original charter school opened in August 2014 in Cary (Wake County) for K-6
students and subsequently added seventh and eighth grades. The school will expand to K-10 when it opens in
Chatham County in August 2019. It is projected to serve almost 2,200 students
when it later adds eleventh and twelfth grades. The school, which will be based
in Chatham County, is expected to pull students from Chatham and Wake counties.
The North Carolina Charter Schools Advisory Board’s
recommendation to initiate immediate revocation of Heritage Collegiate
Leadership Academy’s charter received unanimous approval. The recommendation to
revoke the charter was based on concerns over financial, governance and
operational issues at the school. The school has 60 days to appeal the State
Board’s decision to the Office of Administrative Hearings. Heritage Collegiate
Leadership Academy opened to students in 2014 and is based in Bertie County.
Fewer than 200 students currently attend the K-6 school.
Three charter schools were approved as alternative schools
for accountability purposes. Central Wake Charter High (Wake County Schools),
and Commonwealth High and Stewart Creek High (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools)
will employ an alternative accountability model to assess student performance
beginning this school year.
Board Recognizes
Governor Morehead School for the Blind Employee
Governor Morehead School for the Blind Residential Life Staffer Laura
Wooten received a Certificate of Recognition from Board members for her recent
receipt of the Principals of Schools for the Blind 2017 Outstanding Residential Life Staff Member of the Year award.
The annual national award recognizes the contributions of individuals from
around the United States who work with students who are blind or who have vision
impairments.
Wooten received nominations from school staff, students, parents and
community partners for her outstanding contributions in the areas of student
support, community partnerships and administrative leadership.
 From left to right: State Board member Amy White, Governor Morehead School for the Blind Superintendent Barbria Bacon, State Superintendent Mark Johnson, Laura Wooten, State Board Chairman Bill Cobey and State Board member Tricia Willoughby
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