Board of Education discusses policies
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on February 22, 2017 9:29 AM
The Wayne County Board of Education discussed changes to several policies at its monthly work session Tuesday, policies which the board will vote on at its March meeting.
Several policies passed through without much discussion. A new policy that designates board chairman Arnold Flowers, superintendent Michael Dunsmore and their appointees as the board's official spokespeople had garnered some concern in previous meetings, but members of the board were comfortable enough with it this time to move it along.
The part of the policy which had previously concerned District 6 representative Rick Pridgen states that board members or school system employees who are called upon to speak in their official capacities "shall conduct his or her assignment from the best interests of the board, the school system, and the community," and not as an individual relaying their own personal beliefs.
Pridgen had expressed worry that the policy would keep board members from speaking their minds about the issues they had been elected to address. School system staff clarified in January that the policy is meant only to apply when board members are speaking on behalf of the board or the school system, and individual board members are still free to speak their minds on their own.
A topic that did spark discussion was the system's school improvement plan policy, which has incorporated the online NCSTAR program as a way to make school improvement plans more visible for administrators and community members.
The program, which is still very new for the system, has had some difficulties in the early going. Schools are required to frequently update their improvement plans online, and there has been trouble getting schools to consistently submit the plans as required.
District 2 representative Len Henderson said in a Feb. 14 policy committee meeting that he felt the system was flawed, and that it was not accomplishing the goal of making information more easily accessible to community members.
Tamara Ishee, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, ascribed much of that to how new the system is. She also said that school improvement plans, which are often dense, technical internal documents, are not necessarily designed to make sense to non-educators.
The board will convene a meeting of board members, WCPS staff and community members in the coming days to discuss ways information can be more effectively disseminated to the community.
The board also discussed an upcoming policy which would require newly-hired instructional assistants and custodians to attain commercial driver's licenses as a condition of employment, in order to combat a bus driver shortage in the county.
Raymond Smith Jr., the board's at-large representative, formerly served as the WCPS director of transportation. He said the policy was a "major game-changer" for the district, one which he had pushed for during his time as director.
The policy would allow instructional assistants and custodians to fill in for bus drivers in the event that a driver was unable to work, and would bring the district in line with others in eastern N.C.
Some board members were concerned that adding bus driving responsibilities to other jobs could deter potentially qualified candidates from applying for jobs. Smith said that, in fact, the policy would increase the quality of the district's work force by only hiring those who successfully complete the often difficult CDL test.
The board will vote on the policies at its meeting March 1. The full agenda for the work session, including the policies discussed, can be viewed at www.boarddocs.com/nc/wcpsnc/Board.nsf/Public#.