Superintendent job requires Ann Clark to move to Mecklenburg County

Even though Ann Clark has been with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for decades, her new job as superintendent is requiring her to move.

Clark has long lived on the shore of Lake Norman in Mooresville. That's in Iredell County. State law, however, requires school superintendents to live in the district that they lead.

I just got a hold of Clark's contract, and it states that she is to move to Mecklenburg County "as soon as possible." The CMS communications staff hasn't gotten back to me on whether she's moved yet. Her contract does not mention the district covering any relocation expenses that new superintendents typically get when they come in from out of town.

See Clark's contract here.

The contract also mentions that Clark won't be considered for the superintendent's position "long-term." If she is in the job on June 1, 2016, she'll be eligible for a bonus.

Will CMS name an interim superintendent?

Mary McCray

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools doesn't technically have a superintendent right now. That might soon change.

School board chairwoman Mary McCray said Wednesday that the board would meet in closed session next week to discuss a potential interim superintendent. She said the discussion would not involve setting the stage for a search for a permanent superintendent, since that needs to be done in public.

Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark has been leading the district without a job title change since former Superintendent Heath Morrison resigned in November. She has said she would be open to serving as superintendent if the board desired.

McCray didn't say whether they were specifically looking at Clark. But a significant portion of the community has backed her to lead the district for the long-term.

The district has chosen an interim superintendent the last two times the superintendent has left. Hugh Hattabaugh was interim superintendent after Peter Gorman left in 2011. Frances Haithcock was the interim after James Pughsley retired in 2005.

Later start times for high schools isn't a dead issue

Ann Clark

A group of parents and teachers has pushed for years to move back the start times for high schools. Based on what Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark said Wednesday, the issue may get a public hearing in the near future.

Most high schools start their days at 7:15 a.m., but there's been quite a bit of research that shows beginning school that early can have a negative effect on teenagers. A school bell task force has spent the past year studying whether it would be possible to move those back.

The task force was convened under former Superintendent Heath Morrison. When he suddenly resigned, some members of the task force told me they were concerned about where their work would go under Clark's leadership.

Clark said at a board workshop Wednesday that CMS staff was working to put together a report for the school board on what the school bell task force had recommended -- which would include later times for high schools and a shorter elementary school day.

She didn't say when that report would be.

Ann Clark launching Raleigh lobbying public efforts

The North Carolina legislature will soon be back in session, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools hopes to be a prominent voice in Raleigh this year.

Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark is scheduled to kick off her public lobbying effort this weekend at an event sponsored by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters. Called "What happens in Raleigh matters in Mecklenburg," the forum will feature speakers who believe the state budget doesn't properly fund education in the Charlotte area (If you're interested in going, the event is at 10 a.m. Saturday at the YWCA, 3420 Park Road).

Also speaking will be John Dornan, founder and former executive director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina; and Tazra Mitchell, a policy analyst at the Budget and Tax Center, part of the N.C. Justice Center.

Clark spoke at a similar event last year. But this year, the appearance comes as she will be assuming one of her most prominent roles yet in Raleigh as she acts in the superintendent's role for CMS. She told the Observer last month that she's already been setting up individual meetings with the Mecklenburg County delegation. That group will be getting another friendly face in January when school board member Joyce Waddell steps down to take a seat in the N.C. Senate. Expect that to happen at the board meeting next week.

Clark has said 2015 will include targeted trips to Raleigh to push for increased teacher pay and for support  in recruiting top young teachers.

Two from CMS named to state commission on Common Core

Two Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools administrators have been included on the final 11-person team that will review what North Carolina will do with Common Core standards, the state said Tuesday.

The state legislature set up the Academic Standards Review Commission as a sort of compromise on what to do with the controversial standards. Plenty of legislators wanted to do away with the Common Core, and the N.C. House passed a bill that would not let any of the current standards be considered. The final outcome is a group that will study the standards and come up with a recommendation for a rewrite.

The final list of who's to serve was just released this week. From CMS: Deputy superintendent Ann Clark and Project LIFT zone supervisor Denise Watts.

Their appointments at least indicates that the outcome of the commission might not be predetermined. Superintendent Heath Morrison and other administrators in CMS have been on the record about supporting the Common Core standards.

A few other members have been upfront with their opposition to the standards. Retired math professor John Scheik, for example, told N.C. Policy Watch that he thinks they include "ludicrous" methods of teaching.

The group will meet for the first time Monday up in Raleigh. Here's the full list of appointments, courtesy of the N.C. Department of Administration. I've added in parentheses a brief description of how they ended up on the list.

House Appointments

Tammy Covil, New Hanover (New Hanover County school board member)

Dr. Jeffrey Isenhour, Catawba (principal of Bunker Hill High School in Claremont)

Katie Lemons, Stokes (South Stokes High School teacher)

Denise Watts, Mecklenburg

Senate Appointments

Ann B. Clark, Iredell

Dr. Laurie McCollum, Rockingham (assistant principal, Western Rockingham Middle)

Jeannie A. Metcalf, Forsyth (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school board member)

Dr. John T. Scheik, Wake (retired UNC math professor)

State Board of Education Members

Chairman William “Bill” Cobey, Durham

Dr. Olivia Oxendine, Robeson

Gubernatorial Appointment
Andre Peek, Wake (IBM executive and leader of the N.C. Business Committee for Education)

Renaissance West chooses CMS over charter

This week's announcement of a new  "partnership school"  being developed on West Boulevard highlights a new twist in the CMS/charter dynamic.  It's a model Superintendent Heath Morrison says we'll see more of in the future,  in the suburbs as well as inner-city neighborhoods.

Renaissance West senior center

The preK-8 school,  which Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools plans to open in 2017, will be part of the Renaissance West revitalization project rising from the site of the old Boulevard Homes public housing.  As Hilary Trenda reports,  that project has been years in the making,  with the Charlotte Housing Authority winning a $21 million federal Hope VI grant in 2010.  At that time, the plan called for a CMS school to be part of the project.

But the recession hit and construction money dried up.  The Renaissance West Community Initiative,  a nonprofit created by the housing authority, shifted to planning a charter school.  If the application had been approved,  the nonprofit board would have gotten public money to open a preK-8 school in 2015. The group was scheduled for an interview with the N.C. Charter School Advisory Board in May.

Renaissance West is a "cradle to career" community,  which seeks to break the cycle of poverty with a mix of high-quality child care,  public education,  health care and support services.  Charter schools are a crucial piece in such national models as the Harlem Children's Zone and Atlanta's East Lake revival.  The latter spurred creation of the Purpose-Built Community Network,  which RWCI is working with.

Site for Renaissance West Neighborhood Academy charter

In 2013,  Mecklenburg voters approved a $290 million bond package that included $30 million to build a school that would relieve crowding at Reid Park and Berryhill preK-8 schools.  It would have gone near the proposed charter,  potentially competing for students.

Meanwhile,  Morrison and Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark were talking with the RWCI crew about merging their efforts. Executive Director Laura Clark said her board saw two big advantages to working with CMS:  The nonprofit board won't have to raise construction money,  and CMS can draw boundaries that ensure the Renaissance West community is served by the school.  Charter schools take applications and,  if there's overflow demand,  have to admit by lottery.  If the community charter school had proven successful,  she said,  neighborhood students might have been turned away on luck of the draw.

RWCI won't have the clout of the Project LIFT board,  which got joint power over academic and personnel decisions at nine westside schools by merit of a $55 million, five-year pledge.  But CMS and RWCI say the partnership will be a serious one,  with both groups and other community partners represented on a school leadership council.

At a Wednesday news conference,  Morrison said he's talking to other existing and prospective charter boards about the advantages of working as part of CMS.  He noted that some of the state-authorized schools,  which aren't part of local districts, are struggling:  "So many individuals think they know how to run a school,  only to learn there's so much that's so complicated."

I'm guessing some will see this as a CMS bid to squelch competition,  while others will see a perfect example of how competition can improve the broader system of public education.  One question I felt certain would arise:  Will CMS be equally receptive when a more affluent suburban neighborhood wants to develop a partnership school for its community?

Absolutely,  Morrison said.  He anticipates a similar relationship with south suburban Ballantyne residents when the district starts working on the K-8 neighborhood/magnet school authorized for that area.  That school,  budgeted for a bit over $31 million,  is expected to open in 2020,  the last item in the 2013 bond package.

Education advocates get ready for Raleigh in 2014

The 2014 legislative session may be six months away,  but it's very much alive in the minds of people who care about education in North Carolina.

If you missed it during the holidays,  be sure to read John Frank's piece on the prospects for a teacher pay raise.  Frank reports that Republican legislative leaders say it's needed but don't agree on how to go about it.

Meanwhile,  the League of Women Voters of Charlotte-Mecklenburg will hold a forum this Saturday on how the state budget affects education close to home.  Titled  "What happens in Raleigh matters in Mecklenburg,"  the session is from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Dec. 7 at the YWCA, 3420 Park Road.

Mitchell

Speakers include Ann Clark,  deputy superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools;  John Dornan,  former director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina;  and Tazra Mitchell, a budget and tax policy analyst for the N.C. Justice Center.

For details or to RSVP, contact Mary Klenz, maryklenz@gmail.com or 704-542-9858.

What's the cost of new CPCC high schools?

Update: CMS has now posted applications that include budgets of $5.2 million for the first five years for each new school. That includes the value of tuition-free college courses the students are expected to take.  See the Harper proposal here and the Levine proposal here.

The school board is scheduled to vote tonight on creating two new "middle college" high schools on Central Piedmont Community College campuses.

But do members know how much money they're signing off to spend?  Under "fiscal implications,"  the agenda lists modular classrooms,  textbooks, principal and faculty.  But there are no dollar amounts.

Maybe I'm being picky here,  but I didn't think  "fiscal implications"  was supposed to be a yes-or-no question.  I thought the point was to disclose and discuss how much public money is at stake.

When Heath Morrison was hired to lead Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools last summer,  he promised transparency.  When the board held a retreat last September,  most members said they had done a poor job of examining all the implications of their decisions and vowed to do better.

So what's up with the new small schools on the Levine and Harper campuses?  Is the board going to approve applications for the state's cooperative innovative high school program without knowing how much it costs to launch these schools?  Or is CMS withholding the information from the public?

On Friday and again on Monday, I emailed Board Chair Mary McCray,  Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark and Communication Chief Kathryn Block to ask about the cost and why it's not on the agenda.  Monday evening I got this explanation from Clark, still without specifics:  "The costs  associated with this program are funded from the local career technical education budget to cover textbooks and bus passes. Staffing is assigned based on the number of students and the state pays for a principal as long as the student count exceeds 100 students."

Morrison has been talking about expanding the middle college model for some time.  There are good reasons for cloning the approach that debuted with Cato Middle College High in 2007. But I have yet to hear the board conduct an in-depth public discussion of the pros,  cons,  costs and benefits of creating two more school that will serve about 200 juniors and seniors each.  Maybe they've held those talks privately,  or maybe it happened in a public forum I missed.  It seems like the kind of thing taxpayers,  employees and families might want to hear.

No-zero plan: CMS will keep talking

Don't look for a districtwide mandate this year on the controversial question of whether Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers should hand out grades lower than 50 percent.

Questions and concerns about "no zero" grading systems have been simmering here and nationwide.  I talked to Superintendent Heath Morrison about the issue last fall,  a few months after he started in CMS.  He said then that the debate had started well before he arrived and he wanted a consistent practice at all schools.  But first,  he said,  he wanted to hear from students,  teachers and parents.  (Grading was not among the 22 topics flagged for task force studies.)

Controversy bubbled up again this spring,  when Mallard Creek High piloted an approach calling for students to get at least a 50,  as long as they made an effort.  Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark said in May that the district was still gathering feedback,  with no final recommendation sent to Morrison.

Clark

I thought the start of a new school year might be a logical time to get all schools on the same system.  But Clark told me recently that this year will be spent on professional development,  talking to principals and teachers about  "mastery learning."

"What we felt like we needed to do was back up and have a conversation about grades:  What are the purpose of grades?"  she said.

Here's my unofficial take:  Many of us grew up with a sense that grades were used for sorting students.  If you worked hard for top grades,  you got into good colleges.  If you didn't do well,  too bad.  There were always manufacturing jobs that paid a decent wage without requiring much formal education.

Mastery is more about supporting students.  The thinking is that we can no longer consign big groups of students to failure if we want to have a healthy economy.  So teachers are now encouraged to keep working with students  --  allowing them to retake tests or try again on homework,  for instance  --  if that's what they need to master essential academics.

Clark says the conversation about grades,  involving parent leaders as well as employees,  will take place this fall.  I'm sure CMS officials will do a better job of explaining the approach than I have.  Any districtwide mandates would come out after that,  Clark said.

But just because there's no official decision doesn't mean teachers aren't getting marching orders.  Right after I spoke with Clark,  a CMS high school teacher who requested anonymity sent me a detailed email about mixed signals on grades.

"CMS is concerned about grade inflation and is going to hold teachers accountable when a student has an A in a class, but gets a C on a state assessment,"  this teacher wrote.  "Of course, teacher are not permitted to look at the tests and have no input into how the tests are designed.  ...  In direct contradiction to CMS's concern for grade inflation, it will be encouraged that no assignment ever be scored lower than a 50%.  While not required, 'encouraged' in CMS means required."

This teacher says he's also been told that students must not get a semester grade lower than 60 percent,  to ensure that the student can pull the grade up and pass by year's end.  And any test grade lower than 80 percent  (which is generally considered the  "mastery"  mark)  requires reteaching and retesting,  he said.

"I don't even know where to begin to laugh at this,"  the teacher wrote.  "My class sizes last year ranged from 40-43 students per class.  I don't see how this kind of policy is possible to implement without holding most of my students back while I reteach material."

It looks like CMS has some challenging conversations ahead.

CMS task force reports coming

The folks who served on Superintendent Heath Morrison's 21 advisory task forces over the last few months will gather at West Charlotte High this afternoon to celebrate the end of their work and offer brief highlights of their recommendations.  The full reports will be posted on the CMS task force web site on Wednesday,  says Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark.

Clark

Today's get-together is mostly to thank the 300-plus citizens and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees who delved into such topics as early childhood,  technology,  gifted students,  magnets and choice,  public trust,  parent engagement and cultural competence.  After the release,  Clark said,  CMS will sort all the recommendations into action categories,  from those that can and should be put in place right away to those that require more money,  more study or changes in policy/legislation.  The suggestions will shape discussions as Morrison and the board revise the district's strategic plan in coming weeks.

Most of the task forces have wrapped up their work,  though some may continue to meet occasionally.  But one is just gearing up,  and it's a hot topic:  Compensation.  When Morrison launched his list of 22 task forces in November,  there was already a group of educators working on a  "strategic compensation"  plan for teachers  tied to a state request with a March 1 deadline.  That group didn't include outsiders and was never listed among the task forces whose meetings were open to the public.  Instead,  Clark said,  a new task force has been formed with a broader goal of looking at compensation for all 18,000-plus employees,  not just teachers.  Members of the previous panel have been invited to join.  Clark said the new group's roster and meetings will be posted in the next few days.  Anyone may attend,  including interested CMS employees who aren't on the panel,  she said.

Fresh eyes on public education

Until this summer,  I never associated urban education reform with Davidson College, a private liberal arts school on a tranquil suburban campus.  But the college's new education scholars program has placed summer interns in the thick of Charlotte's quest to turn around inner-city schools. 

Davidson education scholars at work

The eight undergraduates are working with key players, mentoring high school students and living uptown at Johnson C. Smith University's Mosaic Village.  Among the assignments:  Shadowing  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark,  helping the public-private Project LIFT analyze data and plan strategy, working with support and advocacy groups ranging from Teach For America to Communities in Schools,  and connecting directly with schools,  including CMS' Billingsville Elementary and Sugar Creek Charter School.  The students have a range of career plans,  but all see themselves making a difference in education.

The real-life experience is bound to teach them things they'd never learn in a college classroom,  even from the best of professors.  Their views are likely to energize the groups they work with and broaden the public discussion.  Part of their assignment is to blog about what they're thinking and learning.  They've already weighed in on digital education,  discussed the frustrations imposed by web filters designed to protect kids and discovered that red tape can bog down well-intentioned projects.  And one of them has demonstrated video blogging skill that leaves  me in the dust  (not that that's hard to do).

I got to meet the scholars early on,  talking to them about CMS and blogging during their orientation.  They struck me as smart, energetic people who ask good questions.  I'm eager to read more about their summer.  Maybe in a few years we'll all get to see some of them in action.

CMS shakeup afoot

Superintendent Heath Morrison is reorganizing his administration,  but his office says he won't be ready to announce any changes until at least next week.

Morrison

The timing makes sense,  as he wraps up his first year with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.  When Morrison made his first round of appointments last summer,  I voiced surprise that he hadn't brought anyone from his previous district in Reno, Nev.  He said he told his top people he wanted them to stay in place for at least a year to help the new superintendent with the transition.  After that, he said, he'd consider hiring them.  That told me Morrison,  who is nothing if not methodical,  was looking ahead to a second stage of filling out his leadership team in Charlotte.

The Wake County school board's delay in hiring a superintendent leaves a lingering question mark for CMS,  with Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark as one of three Wake finalists.  Clark played a key role in Morrison's first year,  but he's clearly prepared to fill the gap if she gets the job.  And he's been holding off on hiring a chief academic officer,  a post he calls crucial to the district's long-term success,  while letting Clark oversee academics.

I wouldn't be surprised to see changes in the administrative zones that schools report to.  CMS currently has six:  The Project LIFT zone,  encompassing the West Charlotte High feeder area;  two others that oversee all other schools with poverty levels of 75 percent or higher;  and three that split the lower-poverty schools geographically.  Two of the zone superintendent posts are vacant,  and superintendents tend to like to line up schools by their own method.

Let me know what you hear about the changes,  and what you'd like to see happen to make central offices work effectively for schools,  employees and taxpayers.

Extraordinary match for Clark?

How often do you get a second chance at an ideal match?

Ann Clark, deputy superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, has spent the last several years  preparing herself to be a superintendent.  She doesn't want to leave North Carolina,  the state where she has lived for all but three years of her life.

Clark

When Peter Gorman resigned as CMS superintendent in 2011,  Clark went for the top spot in the district where she has worked for 30 years.  She was a finalist,  but Heath Morrison got the job.

Now she's a finalist in Wake County,  the only N.C. district larger than CMS.  She and two other candidates will meet employees,  community leaders,  the media and the public today,  with a final school board interview on Wednesday.  (Follow the News & Observer's coverage of the search here.)

Clark will make the pitch that she and Wake County are  "an extraordinary match."

Clark wants to lead a large N.C. district with strong achievement,  high aspirations and a community that cares about education. Check.

Wake wants a career educator with expertise in curriculum and urban education.  Check.

Wake is going through student assignment turmoil.  Clark has been there,  done that with CMS.  Both districts struggle to balance urban and suburban interests  (Wake has 12 municipalities, Mecklenburg seven).

Clark said as she pored through background material,  including 133 pages of survey data about what the Wake community wants,  she felt a growing sense that this was the right place.  For instance,  the community put a strong value on educating students with disabilities,  she said.  Clark,  whose older brother has special needs,  started her career teaching students with behavioral and emotional disabilities.

"I have a goal not just to be a superintendent but to be superintendent in the right district,"  Clark said Friday.  Wake, she says,  is just that.

Few who know Clark doubt that she has the expertise,  intelligence and dedication to run a major school system.  But the one role she hasn't filled is that of politician-in-chief.

And boy,  is Wake County political.  This is a district that has flipped leadership and direction with the last two school board elections,  hiring its last superintendent on a 4-2 split,  then firing him two years later when Republicans lost their board majority.

Clark,  who is registered as a Republican,  says she's not naive about partisan politics in Raleigh,  but she believes she can surmount the rifts by focusing on the needs of students.  The district needs to  "put the face of a kid,  a teacher and a principal on each and every decision we make,"  and bipartisan support will follow.

"I'm a collaborative leader,"  she said.  "I don't do it from district headquarters.  I do it in the community."

During the 11 years that I've been covering CMS,  Clark has been in high-level administrative posts with lots of responsibility.  But an unwritten rule of such jobs is that you don't grab the spotlight from the boss.  Perhaps because of that,  Clark has tended to come across as cautious,  even a bit wooden.  It was intriguing to watch her loosen up and speak with a new flair during the CMS superintendent interviews.

Clark says she remembers those two days as one of the most invigorating times of her life.  For once,  she said,  "I could be me,"  giving her own views without stopping to parse how she's representing someone else.

She'll be doing the same in Raleigh today.  And we'll find out whether the community there sees Clark as an extraordinary match.