State Board of Education - February 2018 Meeting

The N.C. State Board of Education (SBE) monthly meeting was held on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Key topics of discussion included pending legislative budget impacts, the SBE Strategic Plan, and the approval status for North Carolina's implementation plan of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) from the U.S. Department of Education. The Board also reviewed and considered a number of legislative reports, including the Charter Schools Annual Report (which can be viewed here) and the report on the 2016-2017 State of the Teaching Profession in North Carolina (which can be viewed here).

The agenda and materials presented to the Board can be found via the links below:

Wednesday, January 31

Thursday, February 1

Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform Receives Input from Local School Districts

A task force of legislators convened Wednesday, January 31, 2018 to continue their efforts to examine the current model for school funding. During this week’s meeting, superintendents and school finance officers from across the state shared input from their districts on the current model and made suggestions pertaining to any future reform.  In addition to highlighting parts of the current model that work well for the schools and districts, a common theme among most presenters tied back to the desire for flexibility and the need to separate Charter School funding from the district funding.  The task force will make a full report on their findings to the N.C. General Assembly in October 2018.  A link to the presentations can be found here.

SBE Approves Digital Learning Grant Program

Digital teaching and learning in North Carolina’s public schools will benefit from a second round of competitive grants approved Thursday by the State Board of Education.  Up to $1.83 million provided by the General Assembly will be shared by school districts and charter schools during the 2018-19 school year for planning, executing or demonstrating effective innovative models for digital learning. An initial round of grants totaling $1.38 million were awarded late last year by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to 30 districts and one charter school to better harness digital tools and resources for instruction and student learning.  The SBE is encouraging schools to apply.  Information pertaining to the grant program can be found here.  The application deadline for each of these grants is April 23, 2018. Final decisions for selecting grantees may be contingent upon DPI priorities, geographic and socioeconomic needs, available funding, and applicants’ prior performance.  A link to the SBE DPI news release can be found here.

See this link for a complete list of bills impacting K-12 education.