Superintendent's Statement 12.07.11
During the 2010-11 school year we embarked on a listening and learning tour. The tour provided me the opportunity to learn more about my community – in particular what people wanted to see happen in Durham Public Schools. As a result, we were able to launch our strategic plan…..One Vision One Durham. I want to thank our community for providing direction on the development of our plan that addresses Academic Acceleration, Communication and Partnerships, Equitable Standards, Effective Operations, Talent Development and Wellness and Safety. The plan is comprehensive and illustrates the need to involve the community in assisting us with providing a quality education for all students – it also illustrates that one specific initiative in and of itself will not improve our schools, it has to be a combination of factors – quality teachers, parental involvement, healthy children, strong instructional leaders, and technology in all classrooms. We have to ensure that these goals and objectives are realized in each classroom regardless of what school a child attends.
On November 16, my administration presented a proposal to our Board of Education regarding magnet schools and student assignment. Immediately upon presenting that proposal, we began collecting input from our community via our website and at two public hearings. The community delivered a very clear and unified message – that this is happening too fast and more time is needed to examine the proposal, gather additional feedback and engage in productive dialog concerning potential solutions.
We heard that message loud and clear. To that end, our administration will now advise the Board of Education at its December 15 meeting to only act on time-sensitive student assignment matters, such as specifically populating Lucas Middle School and its impact on other middle schools – such as Chewning – along with decisions regarding WG Pearson Middle School.
Lengthening the student assignment process, while the prudent thing to do, does come with a cost of its own. With the Magnet Fair and magnet application process quickly approaching, we will have to regroup and make necessary adjustments including many decisions that touch a multitude of departments and schools – but if the end product is better for the students and families of DPS, then we will gladly work around the clock to make that happen.
Our next input session is scheduled for tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. at Southern High School. Because we greatly value the input we know the Southern area community will provide, tomorrow’s meeting scheduled at Southern High School will go on as planned. We look forward to this event and we will continue to engage our community as we move through the process. We are very fortunate to have a community that values public education and community involvement.
The administration will conduct a work session with the Board of Education on Monday, December 12 at 4:00 p.m. in the Board Room at 511 Cleveland Street to discuss time-sensitive matters related to student assignment.
I want to thank our community for the continued support of this school district. Great things are happening in Durham Public Schools – and even greater things are on the horizon.
We are Durham Public Schools – One Vision. One Durham.
