Wake school board to discuss student assignment
For the first time since selecting a new superintendent, the Wake County Board of Education will hold a public meeting Tuesday to discuss a list of items, including the one that generates the most debate – student assignment.
WRAL.com will live stream the school board’s work session at noon and regular board meeting at 3 p.m.
The first item on the work session agenda is the controversial issue of where students should attend school.
Last year, the school board voted to do away with balancing socioeconomic diversity in assigning students, instead favoring assignments closer to students’ homes.
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating accusations by the NAACP that the change will lead to segregation.
In December, the board’s latest spat involved a vote not to consider changes for certain districts, including some Southeast Raleigh students.
The Board has other issues to discuss Tuesday, including a massive budget shortfall for next year. The district is still taking suggestions from the public on it website on how to make cuts.
New superintendent to make appearance Thursday
The incoming superintendent of the Wake County Public School System will make his first public appearance in the Triangle on Thursday, when he addresses the conservative Wake County Taxpayers Association.
Anthony Tata, a retired U.S. Army officer who was chief operating officer of the District of Columbia Public Schools, was named to the post on Christmas Eve.
He takes the job at a time of political tension on the Board of Education and budget pressure from the county and state.
The school board moved in February to change a long-standing policy of assigning students to schools across the county to maintain socio-economic balance.
Opponents of that policy and the Republican majority on the board saw regular shuffling of students and the resulting, sometimes long, bus rides as unacceptable.
The board has signaled a desire to assign students to schools by simple geographic proximity, but they have thus far failed agree how to go about it.
The Democratic minority on the board and a vocal segment of the public has been against the change entirely, arguing it will create de-facto segregated schools.
With the state facing approximately $3.5 billion in budget cuts, Gov. Bev Perdue has asked all state agencies to draw up a list of spending cuts of between 5 and 15 percent.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction said a cut of only 5 percent would equal layoffs for more than 400 teachers and 73 teaching assistants in the Wake County system.
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