Orange County candidates talk about school repair needs, equity, teachers and budgets
Voters will elect at least two new members to the Orange County Schools Board of Education March 3.
Six candidates, including incumbent Tony McKnight, are competing for three nonpartisan seats. Members Stephen Halkiotis and Matthew Roberts decided not to seek re-election this year. A seventh candidate, Lori Bateman, dropped out too late to have her name removed from the ballot.
Voters can still register at the Board of Elections or another Early Voting location with a valid form of identification.
Orange County’s early voting period is Feb. 13-29 at six sites:
▪ Board of Elections office, 208 S. Cameron St., Hillsborough
▪ Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main St., Carrboro
▪ Chapel of the Cross, 304 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill
▪ Efland Ruritan Club, 3009 Forrest Ave., Efland
▪ Seymour Senior Center, 2551 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill
▪ University Place, Suite D14, 201 S. Estes Drive, Chapel Hill
Early voting sites will be open from:
▪ 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Feb. 13-14
▪ 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Feb. 15
▪ Noon to 4 p.m., Feb. 16
▪ 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Feb. 17-21 and Feb. 24
▪ 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Feb. 29
Some polling locations have changed; affected voters should have gotten a bright orange postcard in the mail from the Board of Elections.
Absentee voting by mail also is available. Absentee ballot requests can be submitted in person at the Board of Elections, 208 S. Cameron St. in Hillsborough; by mail at P.O. Box 220, Hillsborough, NC 27278; by email at tyoung@orangecountync.gov; or fax at 919-644-3318.
The Board of Elections also is offering a new, web-based Google Maps tool this year to help voters find their polling location and plan how to get there, whether by car, foot, bike or bus.
Top education issues
What are the 3 most important issues for the school board? Pick one and offer solutions.
Carrie Doyle: The most important issues are overall student achievement; racial disparities in achievement and discipline; and the coupled need for more pre-K classrooms and their impact on elementary school capacities. Currently, pre-K classrooms are present in four of the seven OCS elementary buildings; however, the state of capacity for the schools is determined as if the pre-K classrooms are not occupied. District-wide, the pre-K waitlist could fill three more classrooms. Also currently, only around half our kindergartners enjoyed the benefits of a pre-K experience. Adding three pre-K classrooms now would reduce the waitlist, and long term providing two pre-K classrooms at each elementary school would both boost the pre-reading skills of entering kindergartners and reduce the transportation stress of driving preschoolers to different schools from their elementary-age siblings. The elementary school that currently doesn’t have pre-K classrooms and yet is not at capacity for students is Grady Brown Elementary School. Adding two of the three pre-K classrooms to GBES, and the third one to Central Elementary which also has space would be reasonable solutions.
Bonnie Hauser: The most important issue is underperforming students. Parents report that their children are not sufficiently challenged, and there are major disparities in achievement and discipline due to race and income. Several actions will make things better:
▪ Set high expectations for achievement and growth for every school and student
▪ Enhance curriculum choices to challenge students and foster growth, and assure that choices are accessible to every student. Choices range from expanded year round, STEM and dual language, to supportive programs including pre-K, tutoring, after school, and social-emotional development
▪ Encourage principals — with help from parents and teachers — to initiate curriculum and resource changes to better serve their students and schools. That could include more TAs and social workers to alleviate teacher workloads, and provide needed support
▪ Expand pre-K to ensure that all students are prepared to start school
▪ Monitor progress in enrollment, achievement and discipline, with key indicators broken down by race and income. Course correct as needed
Two other key issues:
▪ Assuring schools are safe, including safe buildings, effective communication and technology, and students safe from bullying and discrimination.
▪ Teacher recruitment, retention and development
Jennie McCray: First, we need to ensure students and staff are safe, which includes the buildings where they study and work. Second, we need to make superior communication a hallmark of our district so that students, parents and educators don’t have to struggle to be informed. Third, we need to improve achievement so all students are learning and growing. The school board is able to be flexible and create additional pathways for students to pursue their own goals. I would like OCS to explore initiating a pilot program using competency-based education, which has become increasingly popular in public schools. Competency-based education, proficiency-based or mastery-based education, are all the same personalized learning. Competency-based learning describes learning progressions based on mastery of content rather than seat time. Students feel empowered when they have a say, and they can learn at their own pace.
Tony McKnight: Safety; student achievement for all students; and budgeting and state mandates. The most important issue, and concern for the Board of Education, is the safety and welfare of our students and staff. All should have a school environment that is safe and conducive to learning and student achievement. Being proactive, and not waiting until something happens. Safe schools are important to ensuring the academic success of each student from bullying, threats, and illegal drug use.
Jennifer Moore: The top three critical issues are:
▪ Infrastructure: Old schools need to be upgraded or replaced
▪ Supplies: Textbooks, technology, instructional material
▪ Salary increases for personnel: Instructional assistants, social workers, and nurses. Each school should have counselors on campus every day and at the national average per student. I would address these funding needs by inviting politicians to spend a few days in the shoes of educators or students and then offer a collaborative working dinner forum to write appropriate policies to address the needs of the students and teachers.
LaTarndra Strong: I am running to offer the voice and perspective of a black mother from humble beginnings. My top three priorities will be student achievement, safety and student reassignment. To improve achievement, we need to administer assessments that look at children more holistically at the beginning of each year to address the academic, physical, social, and emotional needs of each student. The district should work with parents and students to create opportunities for each student to grow in their own way. We must focus on literacy in all disciplines, having educators develop skills for reading interventions. Additionally, we need to encourage community engagement and create volunteer opportunities within classrooms, including a program to train and recruit volunteer reading tutors. My engagement in OCS for the past 20 years, including regularly attending board meetings and serving on the OCS Equity Task Force, gives me the experience and insight needed to do this work.
Budget cuts, spending
What budget cuts would you suggest as a school board member? Budget increases?
Carrie Doyle: I do not suggest any budget cuts, although a shifting of priorities may be valuable. Overall budget cuts by the N.C. General Assembly in the past decade have negatively impacted teacher pay and support staff. Currently, the OCS budget total is approximately $94 million: $3.4 million federal grants; $48 million state funding; $36 million local funding, with the balance from district Enterprise Funds. North Carolina is 39th in per-pupil spending, about $2,000 below the national average of $12,000 per pupil; and, 37th in teacher pay. The OCS district has relied on additional funding from the BOCC of approximately $4,000 per pupil to make up for statewide cuts. Immediate budget increases of around $500,000 would cover the three pre-K classroom expansion plan and later hopefully expansion of the Exceptional Children program. If we decide to expand our pre-K and other programs, however, we need to recognize the demands placed on our school nurses and other staff who serve students with medical or special needs. Although pre-K students are not part of our K-12 population, our mainstream and EC pre-K students rely on trained nurses and teachers to meet various physical and mental health needs.
Bonnie Hauser: Budget cuts:
▪ Eliminate non-essential cabinet (district) positions
▪ Explore potential savings through shared services for back office operations, transportation and maintenance with the county and CHCCS
▪ Budget Increases (funded in part through a reallocation of per pupil spending, fund balances and grants)
▪ Expand choices (year round, STEM, dual language, more) and improve access (enrollment and transportation) to choices
▪ Hire more TAs and social workers to alleviate teacher workloads and support students
▪ Hire more experienced teachers and offer more training in our lowest-performing schools
Budget increase:
▪ Capital: Work with Orange County and CHCCS to develop a facilities management plan that includes financing (debt). Dedicate a revenue stream to fund it for the short and long term.
Jennie McCray: We should not spend anything on aesthetic improvements until all safety and building issues have been addressed. Budget increases need to go to building repairs and making sure all safety initiatives are funded. Then I would support increases in the budget for teachers aids, tutors, and the expansion of the AVID program.
Tony McKnight: I would not recommend any cuts. I would lobby our county commissioners and state representatives, as usual, for student per-pupil increases and funding to assist with funding shortfalls at the state level.
Jennifer Moore: I would like to see budget increases for supplies — textbooks, technology, and instructional materials — and personnel, including instructional assistants, social workers, and nurses. Each school should have counselors on campus every day and at the national average per student. I believe that all budget cuts or increases should be supported by sound data. Making decisions that will impact our students sometimes raises emotion-based decisions that do not optimize student achievement. Board members should collaborate to select the best programs and service providers based on student measurement and focus on evidence-based decision-making before decreasing or increasing the budget.
LaTarndra Strong: I would like to look at the resources committed to the Central Office and examine whether it could be run more efficiently. If so, I would like to see funds reappropriated to student-facing positions in the district, like teachers, teacher assistants, nurses, and counselors. Additionally, we need to stop spending money on expensive “one-size fits-all” programs and invest in our teachers. Teachers need adequate training in how to meet the needs of all students, how to engage effectively in a multicultural setting, and how to build collaborative professional teams so that expertise is not siloed. Finally, there is nothing more important than expanding pre-K in the district. In addition to academic benefits, enrolling students in pre-K helps families begin building relationships with teachers and staff, and expanding the program will help standardize the student curriculum.
Hire, keep quality teachers
Is the district doing enough to hire and retain diverse, quality teachers?
Carrie Doyle: OCS is not doing enough. In our district, only 11% of educators are teachers of color, while the student population is 40% students of color. In contrast, CHCCS has maintained about 25% educators of color for a similar student body. By another measure, some of our elementary schools have four or more lead teachers of color (out of perhaps 18 to 20 teachers) while others may only have one. The steps to hire and retain more educators of color are (1) Implement a school climate survey for educators and staff of color to determine how welcoming and supportive our schools are. We may see differences between schools. (2) Participate in a mentorship program for educators of color, such as the one at NCA&T which places new minority educators in rural schools with an NCA&T facilitated mentoring program. And finally, (3) develop a Grow Your Own program whereby middle and high school students are supported along the path to prepare for college-level education programs with the goal of many returning to teach in OCS.
Bonnie Hauser: While we haven’t seen the numbers, the district appears to making progress in hiring diverse, high-quality teachers and staff. There are high-quality, diverse leaders in the district and at every school. This is the beginning of a culture that embraces diverse ideas, and that empowers principals to initiate innovations to better serve their students and school communities. I’d support investing to recruit, retain and develop teachers. That begins with alleviating teacher workloads by adding TAs, social workers, and support resources. I’d also like to add best-in-class professional development for teachers. Since our lowest-performing schools have our least experienced teachers, we’ll need to invest to attract more experienced teachers to these schools and to develop the skills of the existing staff. In order to protect these essential investments, I’d also like to see a more aggressive hiring program, where OCS maintains a waitlist of quality professionals and makes offers sooner. Today the district waits till August to hire people for the school year.
Jennie McCray: We are on the right track but need to make our district more desirable for all applicants. It’s important to be aware the pool of applicants has become less diverse. We need to hire the most qualified candidates for all positions, which will strengthen our schools and make our district more desirable to all applicants. We must make it a priority to give educators sufficient support and respect. Applicants will compete for jobs in a good environment. Additionally, our board is offering support for teacher assistants who want to earn their teaching license.
Tony McKnight: I think we are moving forward in these areas in the hiring of staff that are experienced in these areas of diversity and inclusion and working with a committed board to ensure Orange County Schools is moving in a positive direction.
Jennifer Moore: I feel there are steps in place to retain a diverse teaching community. However, it’s time to make sure that hiring a diverse staff is something that is very active and transparent. Three methods I would use to actively recruit and retain a diverse workforce would be:
▪ Recruit to target markets of historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, men’s institutions, women’s colleges, community colleges, and schools with cooperative education programs
▪ Ensure that the N.C. Teacher Match website is easy to use and is accessible to applicants with diverse abilities, linguistic competence, and access to technology
▪ Update Orange County Schools’ recruitment materials to showcase a visibly diverse group of employees.
LaTarndra Strong: We are moving in the right direction, but OCS can do more to recruit and retain a diverse workforce. Towards recruitment, I support the “grow your own” teacher pipeline in the district, which gives teacher assistants the opportunity to become teachers. We need to actively attend conferences and recruiting events, including at our region’s great Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to promote the district as a great place to work. We need to go to where new talent is being developed to bring fresh voices and perspectives into our district. To keep our great teachers in the district, we must value, fairly compensate, and treat our teachers as professionals. Opportunities for advancement for current teachers are critical and have already paid off. We also need to keep growing the district’s cultural competence to retain teachers from diverse backgrounds.
School maintenance, repairs
Is the district on target to address the backlog of maintenance, repairs and security concerns in local schools?
Carrie Doyle: There does seem to be a backlog at our schools, but progress appears to have been made through general maintenance and repairs. Some buildings have old furnaces that tend to be cantankerous, and technology maintenance is an ongoing demand. Maintenance of debilitated structures must be balanced with capital investments towards replacement, and capital investments like roof replacements are scheduled out over the next 10 years. For example, roof replacements at Cameron Park, Grady Brown, and Hillsborough Elementary are underway this year and next; New Hope’s roof replacement is scheduled for next year and following. In terms of security concerns, front entry doors have been fitted with electronically controlled locks so that someone in the front office has to remotely let visitors in during the school day. More security camera have been installed in high school parking lots in response to threats. The recently rolled out Say Something app for anonymous reporting was funded through a partnership with Sandy Hook Promise and the state. We still have an ongoing concern about security in our school buildings which have open-air walkways.
Bonnie Hauser: Not close. We have serious problems in many schools that affect safety and suitability for learning. Some buildings have insufficient access controls. That’s in addition to heating, cooling, flooding and other problems. Our oldest schools have outdated classrooms that are not suited to today’s teaching and learning models. In addition to maintenance, repair and security backlogs, OCS needs more elementary school capacity, and needs more classrooms for pre-K and EC (Exceptional Children). Capacity planning needs to be considered in facility planning. I propose that the OCS Board work with the county commissioners and CHCCS on a short- and long-term (10-year) facilities plan. I strongly believe that we need the help of an outside consultant to evaluate the needs of both school districts and help develop a plan that includes:
▪ Clear definitions of the classroom, infrastructure and safety features of a modern school
▪ An evaluation of every school against the modern school standard
▪ Recommendations to repair, upgrade/expand or replace schools, considering urgency, future needs and capacity, and current state of disrepair
▪ A 10-year improvement plan and financing proposal to fix/upgrade schools (short term/long term)
Jennie McCray: The board commissioned a report evaluating the state of our buildings along with recommendations for future maintenance and repairs in 2013 or 2014. To my knowledge the board doesn’t receive official yearly reports on the condition of the schools and equipment. Managing public school property requires continuous monitoring. To be proactive, we need staff input to create a priority list and projected timeline for execution. A goal of mine would be to establish such a measure to ensure recent and accurate information about the conditions in our schools and to promote early intervention in situations which limit student safety.
Tony McKnight: Orange County Schools’ priority is safety for students and staff in addressing maintenance and repair concerns of our schools and using our resources effectively. We will eventually need resources to build new schools within the district.
Jennifer Moore: I feel there are steps in place to address maintenance and safety. However, I think it’s time to make sure that these policies are very active and transparent. I believe that a comprehensive facility maintenance program is the Orange County Schools district’s foremost tool for protecting its investment in school facilities. I also believe that preventative maintenance is a solid foundation of effective maintenance in our schools. Perhaps the board could look at developing four categories of maintenance: emergency maintenance, routine maintenance, preventive maintenance, and predictive maintenance to ensure that our students and staff are in safe, healthy, and conducive learning/work environments. I’d like to thank Sheriff Charles Blackwood and the school resource officers in place at our schools to provide safety to all students and staff. I think as a preventative measure that the board could look into installing buzz-in door systems with a camera at all schools where visitors will have to identify who they are and the nature of business before entry to our schools.
LaTarndra Strong: OCS facilities have some major capital improvement needs that must be addressed. Unsafe and unsanitary conditions have to be remediated immediately by dedicating funds to maintenance and improvements in the short term, but more importantly, by making long-range plans to sustain and replace our facilities as needed. The school board should invest in educating our community about the schools’ facility needs and communicating with the Board of County Commissioners. It’s going to take collaboration from both boards and the community to create a blueprint for capital improvements. Currently, our schools receive about 49% of the county’s budget. I believe the school board should be advocating for increasing this percentage, as well as exploring the potential benefits of a district tax similar to Chapel Hill’s. School board members must make difficult decisions, and this is something that needs to be dealt with now to prevent the situation from getting worse.
Student equity
Is educational equity improving in the Orange County schools?
Carrie Doyle: Educational equity incorporates fairness so all children can access educational success. Regarding racial equity, OCS adopted a racial equity policy, hired its chief equity officer and began addressing discipline disparities. I believe a full-time AIG teacher in each elementary school is also vital. The elementary school AIG teacher serves high achievers in “pull out” classrooms and serves all students through “push in” creative, challenging material in their classrooms. Higher poverty OCS schools have lost AIG teacher time, deepening the achievement gap. Central Elementary School suffered a year with no AIG teacher, and now one is split 50% with Efland Cheeks. Similarly, Pathways Elementary has its AIG teacher 80% (of the time); her other 20% is spent at Cameron Park, who already has one full-time (teacher). The current board wants to see more students of color in A.P. classes as a measure of closing racial gaps. But if AIG instruction is shifted to our whiter, wealthier schools, then our schools with higher poverty and racial diversity will have less K-2 nurturing and overall less challenging instruction preparing them for such classes.
Bonnie Hauser: The numbers suggest disparities are not improving. The board is now paying close attention to key indicators of achievement, student growth and discipline/suspensions. Unacceptable disparities exist due to race and income. Now it’s up to the board to unpack these indicators by school and other categories. That will allow the district to develop improvement plans for each school. The racial equity policy is a good start. OCS now needs a plan to implement curriculum, staffing and cultural improvements at each school. These plans should identify the resources needed to increase student growth and achievement and to address disparities due to race and income. While there may be some common themes, each school is likely to face its own issues and priorities. Separately, the board could develop a plan for pre-K and how to make it available in the short and long term. Other ideas that are discussed above in questions 1 and 3 will help. OCS also needs to quickly add resources to its lowest-performing schools. Increasing TAs, social workers, experienced teachers, and professional development will help. Wake, Durham and Guilford counties are all showing success with variations on these principles.
Jennie McCray: We can do better. As long as there are opportunity gaps, there will be achievement gaps. Students who have been recommended for AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) are unable to get into the classes, because they are too small and they are full. We need to look at our priorities and find a way to expand AVID at elementary, middle and high school levels for every recommended and interested student. Pre-K should be expanded, as it helps prepare students for kindergarten. However studies have shown those students lose the gains while still in elementary school. We must increase support for our elementary students with more teachers, tutors and teacher’s aides so they can maintain a positive trajectory. It’s also important that education at the school level is focused on growth, not achievement. If you have growth, you will naturally get achievement from students. However, this runs contrary to the current standards for evaluating students, teachers and schools, which is mostly focused on achievement. This form of assessment can disguise both positive and negative growth in our educational system.
Tony McKnight: Yes, I think educational equity is improving within the district, with training of all staff in diversity and inclusion, community engagement and continued emphasis that we must create spaces where all students can be successful.
Jennifer Moore: I would like to thank the hard work and collaboration of everyone who implemented the equity policy last year. However, I do feel that most school-related strategies for reducing the achievement gap as it relates to equity needs to involve reducing class size (redistricting), setting minimum standards of academic competency for teachers, and raising teachers’ expectations for low-performing students. Closing the gap would do more to promote equality.
LaTarndra Strong: Equity hasn’t improved in OCS, but the way we are approaching it, as a process, has improved greatly. To enhance outcomes, I will support expanding the equity department, including the addition of a program manager and an assistant to the chief equity officer. These positions will be important so we can roll out plans that are specific to each school and raise racial consciousness around our community, so that people come to understand that increasing equity efforts will benefit everyone. There has been some great intentional engagement with the Latinx community to build relationships with families and provide culturally and linguistically responsive support. We must continue to build community engagement with traditionally marginalized communities if we hope to see better outcomes. In my experience as the founder of the nonprofit Hate-Free Schools Coalition, I have attended nearly every OCS board meeting for the past three years to advocate for students and families. I have built strong connections throughout northern Orange County and care about the success of each student in our public schools.
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 5:45 AM with the headline "Orange County candidates talk about school repair needs, equity, teachers and budgets."
