CMS bus and bell report: How independent?

A consultant's report giving Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools mostly positive reviews on its recent decisions about busing and bell schedules is bound to revive questions about the source.

Some commenters have suggested all along that CMS is paying the Council of the Great City Schools up to $18,000 to get a foregone conclusion. Skeptics note that the council is a membership organization made up of about 65 large school districts,  including CMS,  and that Superintendent Heath Morrison is a member of the board's executive committee.  They say that hardly constitutes the independent review that Morrison and school board Chair Mary McCray touted when they announced the study this summer.

Casserly

During Monday's video conference with reporters,  Executive Director Michael Casserly was quick to note that the council is known for being tough on member districts that seek advice.  The council has done more than 250 reviews on various subjects,  he said,  and  "the vast majority of them have been extremely hard-hitting and critical."

One of those reports,  Morrison added,  was the organizational review of CMS he commissioned when he started this job in 2012.  That report cited several weak points,  including "illogical and inappropriate"  organizational structures,  "a lack of confidence or trust"  among citizens and employees,  and hiring processes that  "appear to be inadequate or ignored,  labor-intensive,  slow and cumbersome,  and subject to high error rates."

"That was a hard-hitting audit.  People were really shocked that I released that publicly,  but I had made a commitment to do that,"  Morrison said Monday.  "The quality of their work is second to none. You don't go to the Council of the Great City Schools asking them to lift you up and make you feel warm and happy about yourself."

Susan Plaza,  the parent who has been leading the push for change in bell schedules,  said Monday she's optimistic that Morrison is sincere about working with her group to come up with real solutions.  He's gearing up another task force to study school hours,  which will include members of Plaza's group and will meet publicly.

Interestingly,  Morrison's own two children experience opposite ends of the bell-schedule spectrum.  One attends South Meck High, with the traditional 7:15 to 2:15 high school schedule that some say is too early for teens to be fully alert for morning classes.  The other attends Northwest School of the Arts,  which is on the 9:15 to 4:15 late schedule,  which other families say squeezes out evening time for homework,  family and after-school activities.

When asked about his thoughts as a dad,  Morrison noted that he and CMS lawyer George Battle both have kids in late-bell schools.  "Both of us have said we actually like the late bell,"  Morrison said. But he said that doesn't mean he's dismissing concerns.  Instead,  he said,  he's aware that there are legitimate differences of opinion on all the bell questions,  and that's a big reason he wants to hold plenty of public discussions before making changes.

Report on buses and bells coming

A report on CMS busing options and bell schedules by a visiting team from the Council of the Great City Schools should be ready for release in September,  says Earnest Winston, chief of staff for Superintendent Heath Morrison.

Winston

The battle of the bells has been brewing since 2011, when then-Superintendent Peter Gorman created new "late bell" schedules and added 45 minutes to the elementary school day to save money on busing. As soon as Morrison was hired last summer, he started hearing concerns from parents and teachers. Based on reactions to the council visit a couple of weeks ago, it seems unlikely that the outside experts' report will end the conflict.

The goal is for the council team to combine their expertise in transportation and their knowledge of how other districts handle busing schedules with info provided by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and local interviews.  They'll assess alternatives that have been crafted by CMS staff, parents and teachers to see whether any are financially feasible and practically desirable. CMS is spending  "up to $18,000"  on the study, Winston said.

Plaza (L) and Thorsland (R)

But Susan Plaza and Sharon Thorsland,  twin sisters and CMS parents who have been among the leaders of the bell schedule group,  say their experience left them skeptical.  They asked Judy Kidd, a high school teacher who's president of the Classroom Teachers Association,  to join them in their meeting with the visiting team.  Plaza said Kidd has helped her group poll teachers about the impact of the schedules and they wanted her to help present the case.

Plaza and Kidd say Winston denied Kidd the chance to take part in the discussion with Plaza, Thorsland and other parents,  and wouldn't let her join a later session with teachers. Both said afterward they question the sincerity of the district's effort and don't think enough teachers who oppose the late bell schedule and the longer elementary day were interviewed.

"We just kind of feel like it was all done for show,"  Plaza said this week.

"I think it's going to be status quo,"  Kidd said.

Winston,  replying to an email from Plaza,  said he had set aside 90 minutes for the council team to talk with Plaza,  Thorsland and other volunteers who had spent months working with CMS staff to explore options.  Kidd wasn't part of that work,  he said,  noting that the group actually got two hours to make their case.  Winston said a number of teachers met with the council team,  not all of them supporters of the late schedule.   "In fact,"  he wrote,  "feedback compiled by (the Superintendent's Teacher Advisory Council)  highlighting an array of teacher concerns about the late-bell schedule was shared with the CGCS." Update: Winston says Kidd showed up part way through the session with Plaza and other parents and was allowed to stay for that, but was not allowed to attend the teacher session.

And so,  the debate seems likely to go on,  even after the Council of the Great City Schools weighs in.

School board travel tab rising

Travel costs for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board are rising,  in part because members want to have a stronger voice in national policy.

The board allots $5,150 a year for the chairman to travel and $3,100 for each of the other eight members,  a total of $29,950 a year.  For the last couple of years they spent far less -- $17,529 in 2011-12 and $12,500 the year before.

Ellis-Stewart

For 2012-13,  the board spent $24,024.  At-large member Ericka Ellis-Stewart,  who was board chair for the first half of the budget year,  spent just over $7,200,  the largest amount  (read the summary for all members here).  Obviously that's more than her normal allotment,  even figuring half a year at the higher rate.  Current Chairman Mary McCray says the board agreed to cover her travel costs for Council of Urban Boards of Education sessions when the board endorsed her appointment to the CUBE steering committee.  The steering committee meets five times a year at locations around the country,  and members are required to attend four of those meetings,  McCray said. The board added $5,000 to Ellis-Stewart's travel budget for that purpose.

This month,  Ellis-Stewart went to a CUBE summer issues seminar in Seattle at a cost of about $1,870.  She was one of three members,  along with McCray and Joyce Waddell,  who went to the National School Boards Association annual conference in San Diego,  at a cost of more than $2,000 each.  She also spent almost $1,200 on an NSBA Federal Relations Network conference in Washington, D.C., and about the same on a trip to Indianapolis for the Council of the Great City Schools fall conference.

Ellis-Stewart's role is part of the board's strategy for making their views known to local,  state and national lawmakers,  all of whom shape education policy and spending in CMS.  McCray,  a Democrat,  and Vice Chair Tim Morgan,  a Republican,  have spent a lot of energy lobbying the Republican-dominated state legislature and the Democratic-majority county commission.  Ellis-Stewart,  also a Democrat, was tapped to be the expert in national issues.

McCray was the second-largest spender,  with a 2012-13 tab just over $4,500.  Other than the San Diego conference,  that travel was in-state.  Morgan spent about $1,200,  all of it for in-state travel.

Waddell spent just over $4,000 on the San Diego trip and four in-state conferences,  including some of Richard McElrath's unspent allotment.

Eric Davis took the most expensive single trip,  spending almost $3,100 to join the Chamber of Commerce inter-city trip to New York City in October 2012.

Rhonda Lennon and Richard McElrath spent nothing on travel last year,  according to the CMS tally.