CMS introduces Grade 13

Four college-based high schools that are expected to get school board approval tonight introduce a concept that's new to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools:  Grade 13.

Students at middle college schools on three Central Piedmont Community College campuses and an early college high at UNC Charlotte will be able to stick around for a fifth year of high school in order to build up two years worth of tuition-free college credits.  Because that's part of the structure of those schools,  the CMS on-time graduation rate won't take a hit if those students graduate a year later than their peers.

All high school students can take community-college courses for free,  and Cato Middle College High introduced the concept of campus-based high schools to CMS.  That school always promised that successful,  highly motivated juniors and seniors could earn an associate's degree along with their high school diploma,  but the reality was very few found time to accumulate that many college credits.

When the 2014-15 application season opens Jan. 11,  rising 11th and 12th graders with at least a 2.5 GPA will be able to apply for middle college high schools at CPCC's Cato, Levine and Harper campuses.  Rising ninth-graders can sign up to pioneer the district's first early college high school at UNCC's Energy Production and Infrastructure Center.

UNCC EPIC building

CMS is still working on 2014-15 admission requirements for magnets and other choice schools, but the UNCC-EPIC school won't be  "highly selective,"  said Akeshia Craven-Howell,  executive director of CMS' new transformation office  (it incorporates magnets,  career-tech and virtual learning).  The goal is to recruit first-generation college students and female and minority students who have traditionally been underrepresented in high-tech and engineering fields, she said.

Students at all four schools with grade 13 will have the option to graduate at the end of 12th grade,  but Craven-Howell expects most to be motivated to stay for more free college classes.

Some are bound to see the extra year as a CMS bid to game the numbers and boost graduation rates.  I'm as skeptical as the next person,  but I don't think that will be the case.  Cato has consistently logged four-year graduation rates at or near 100 percent,  hardly surprising given that it caters to highly motivated students who are on track to graduate when they're accepted.  These small college-based options aren't likely to become a place where CMS can hide low-performing students while they take an extra year to master basic requirements.

When is a magnet not a magnet?

By the time Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools rolls out its School Options Fair in January,  it needs to come up with new,  clear labels for its menu,  Superintendent Heath Morrison said this week.

If you've been around CMS,  you know it has neighborhood schools  (or  "home schools"  or,  in Morrison's recent terminology,  "local schools")  and magnets,  where students apply for admission and go through a lottery if demand exceeds supply.  But many of the new schools and programs outlined this week don't fit either category.

Two-year middle college high schools on CPCC campuses,  a four-year early college high at UNC Charlotte and a small health-science high school at Hawthorne seem a lot like magnets.  They won't have attendance zones;  instead,  students will apply to get in.  The difference is that selection won't have to follow the CMS policy for the magnet lottery.  (By the way,  that policy is being revised.  Check out the proposed changes here and the priority policy here. The changes look fairly minor to me, mostly reflecting the end of Title I choice,  but I'm interested in others' views.)

Cato Middle College High: Like a magnet, but not

Then there are opt-in programs that are open only to students in one school zone,  such as the proposed academy of advanced manufacturing and entrepreneurship at Olympic High.  None of these approaches are new  (think Cato Middle College High and Performance Learning Center, which are non-magnet magnets, or Myers Park High's IB program and Olympic's five mini-schools, which are zone-only choices).  But they're proliferating.  And Morrison said it'll be important to help families understand them.

Details about the new plans,  including costs,  will come at the board's Nov. 12 meeting.  Morrison said the Nov. 5 bond vote will shape some of the proposals.  And while he says there will be some cost to taxpayers,  it may not be as great as people think,  he said.  Some proposals,  such as the new Olympic school, will come from rearranging current resources,  he said.  There's state money to help with the college-based schools,  and Morrison said CMS is seeking grants and support from business partners and higher education.  At Hawthorne,  for instance,  he said students will use CPCC medical labs so CMS won't have to build new ones.

It was interesting to hear board member Tom Tate critique the cost-efficiency of charter schools at Thursday's MeckEd candidate forum.  He noted that CMS can education around 2,000 students at a high school,  while a charter school might require the same administration for about 200.  "They money just doesn't work,"  he said.   The same critique would seem to apply at the small schools CMS is creating,  which Tate voiced enthusiasm for.  Here's hoping those questions get aired in November.

 

Bond chat and youth profiles: Get ready for voting

The Observer is hosting a live online chat with key players in the Nov. 5 bond referendum at noon Thursday.

Chamberlain

We'll have Associate Superintendent Guy Chamberlain from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools,  Public Information Officer Jeff Lowrance from Central Piedmont Community College and Assistant County Manager Dena Diorio from Mecklenburg County available to answer questions about the CMS and CPCC bonds and how the county will pay for the projects.  You can log on to CharlotteObserver.com from noon to 1 p.m. to post questions or follow the chat.  If you've got a question that might take some research,  post it here and I'll forward it to the right people so they can come prepared.

We have stories,  maps and other resources related to the bond votes available at the Observer's voter guide page as well.

Students with GenerationNation,  a youth civics and leadership group, have also posted responses to questionnaires for school board and municipal candidates.  There are other candidate surveys out there,  including the Observer's,  but the young people asked some interesting questions.  For instance,  they asked all candidates about how CMS,  local and state governments should work together.  They got a lot of predictable  "collaboration is important"  answers,  but Republican mayoral candidate Edwin Peacock suggested holding Charlotte City Council meetings in schools around the city.

Peacock

"Start a tradition  where at least 7  City Council meetings each year are being held away from the government center and at a CMS school in one of our 7 Council districts,"  Peacock suggested.  "Each district representative would recognize excellent teachers and students and begin to build that relationship between the city and her schools.  Schools belong to

everyone!"

Instead of asking for political party,  GenerationNation asked for  "political viewpoint,"  intentionally inviting responses that don't fit the obvious labels.  Most gave the party labels anyway,  but they got a few interesting answers,  such as "fiscally and socially responsible which would categorize my views as moderate"  from Democratic mayoral candidate Patrick Cannon,  "speaking for all people"  from unopposed school board candidate Joyce Waddell and "Unitarian"  from school board candidate Queen Elizabeth Thompson.

Naturally,  I was especially interested in another question:  Favorite news source.  It probably does tell you something that school board member Tom Tate cites NPR while Paul Bailey,  a candidate in a different district board race,  cites Fox News.  The Observer got a few mentions,  and quite a few cited  "the internet."

Suburban groups say no to CMS bonds

The $290 million bond package for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools got its first formal opposition today,  as Tom Davis from SPARK Educational Performances and Tim Timmerman from SMART issued a statement urging voters to say no (read their statement here).

SPARK,  or Strategic Partners for Accountability and Reform of Key Educational Performances,  is a north suburban group that has argued for splitting CMS into smaller districts.  SMART, or South Mecklenburg Alliance of Responsible Taxpayers, is based in the southern Ballantyne area and joined with SPARK to explore the notion of splitting the county into northern, southern and central school districts.

Timmerman at a SMART meeting

It's unclear how many people these two groups represent.  "We've got hundreds of people out there who support us,"  Davis,  an Air Force retiree and Republican political activist from Huntersville,  said today. (Update: Davis, who ran for N.C. House in the 2012 Republican primary, says he's now registered unaffiliated.)  He said he and Timmerman weren't the only people who crafted the position statement,  but he declined to give numbers or names,  saying many fear running afoul of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce,  a major backer of the "Vote Yes for Education Bonds" campaign.

The  "vote no"  position paper raises several issues,  including uncertainty over the role that charter schools and vouchers will play in CMS growth projections,  skepticism about the  "no tax increase"  claim and a call for Mecklenburg County to focus its energy on getting teachers a cost-of-living raise.  County officials say they can cover the cost of repaying the CMS bonds,  along with $210 million in bonds for Central Piedmont Community College on the Nov. 5 ballot,  without raising taxes.  But Davis argues that today's voters and officials can't  "tie the hands"  of future county officials.

Davis

"Current elected officials and special lobbying groups cannot bind the voting privilege of future elected officials. This breaches credibility and trust,"  the statement says. "No one can guarantee what will transpire with future tax rates."

The  "vote yes"  campaign hopes to raise $300,000 in donations and has hired a PR firm to help make the case.  Davis said the SPARK/SMART effort won't be anything like that.  "We're not going to get money into it,"  he said.  "We're going to get the information on the street and let people make decisions."

He said the groups don't plan to take a stand on the CPCC bonds.

Just last week,  Davis was just appointed to the Bond Oversight Committee,  a citizen panel that monitors how CMS spends its bond money,  by school board member Richard McElrath. Davis says he missed the Bond Oversight Committee's meeting last week because he didn't realize it was coming up just two days after his appointment.

McElrath opposed the last CMS bonds,  in 2007,  before being elected to the board in 2009.  He's running for reelection this year and said he doesn't expect to take a stand for or against this year's bonds.  

Education bonds: Tax or no tax?

"No tax increase"  is one of the first things you'll hear from supporters of the bonds for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Central Piedmont Community College.

But when you see a ballot, you'll find this wording:

“SHALL the order authorizing $290,000,000 of bonds secured by a pledge of the faith and credit of the County of Mecklenburg to pay capital costs of providing school facilities, including the acquisition and construction of new school facilities, the improvement and expansion of existing school facilities and the acquisition and installation of furnishings and equipment and the acquisition of interests in real property required therefor, and a tax to be levied for the payment thereof, be approved?”

“SHALL the order authorizing $210,000,000 of bonds secured by a pledge of the faith and credit of the County of Mecklenburg to pay capital costs of providing community college facilities, including the acquisition and construction of new community college facilities, the improvement and expansion of existing community college facilities and the acquisition and installation of furnishings and equipment and the acquisition of interests in real property required therefor, and a tax to be levied for the payment thereof, be approved?”

If you plow through that dense prose  (the first item is CMS bonds, the second is for CPCC), the part about approving  "a tax to be levied for the payment thereof"  may sound like you're being asked to OK a tax hike.

That's not the case. Tax revenue will be used to repay the bonds, but that doesn't mean a tax increase.

Bonds are essentially a line of credit authorized by the voters.  As Mecklenburg County officials learned when the recession hit,  if you run up the tab on borrowing you face a painful choice:  Raise taxes and/or renege on promises made during bond campaigns.  The county slowed down on the CMS projects promised in 2007,  resulting in some that haven't been started as the 2013 campaign gears up.  They'll eventually get done  (read an update here),  but not as quickly as voters expected in 2007.

Grand Oak Elementary, a 2007 bond project, opened in August

County officials also rethought their borrowing strategy. They've calculated that they can pay back the $500 million in CMS and CPCC bonds with the revenue they've got, which means they won't have to raise property taxes to handle the debt.  The plan is to spread that borrowing over the next four years.

Here's how County Commissioner Bill James describes it:  "The question of whether a bond package causes a tax increase depends on whether the government issuing the bonds has an adequate bond fund. When I was first elected in 1996 the first item I pushed for was a bond fund. It took 15 years but we finally got one."

"The money to make the bond payments (on the bonds on the ballot) are included in the current tax rate. So, absent some sort of fiscal meltdown, these bonds should be able to be issued without any impact on existing taxes."

So, no tax hike.  The trade off is that the list of projects on the 2013 bonds for CMS is a lot shorter than district leaders would like.  Superintendent Heath Morrison, Associate Superintendent Guy Chamberlain and others are quick to note that $290 million for CMS is tiny compared with the $810 million that's on the ballot for Wake Public Schools in October or the $1.89 billion that Houston voters approved last fall.

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.

Let the school board race begin!

Now that primaries are over,  it's time to start thinking about the Nov. 5 school board race. We've got information on all 12 candidates posted on the Observer's voter site, and I'll be working to keep you up to date as the board race and the bond campaigns gear up.  (Yeah, I realize some folks are running for Charlotte mayor, too, but Jim Morrill has got that under control.)

Please let me know about opportunities to meet the candidates and/or learn more about the bonds for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Central Piedmont Community College.  And if your group posts candidate questionnaires,  send me a link.  I've got a list of resources at right,  under the photo,  and I'll keep adding to it  (including any more candidates who create web sites).

A quick recap,  for anyone who hasn't tuned in yet:  Mecklenburg voters will choose six district representatives Nov. 5,  with the three at-large candidates up for a vote in 2015.  You only vote for the seat in your own district  (here's the map and here's how to look up your district).  Party affiliation isn't listed on the ballot, but we've included that in our information in case you're interested.

Joyce Waddell,  the incumbent in District 3,  is guaranteed to return, as she drew no opposition.

And District 6 is guaranteed to get a new member.  Tim Morgan, who was elected to that seat in 2009,  moved to an at-large seat two years later.  Amelia Stinson-Wesley,  appointed to fill the district seat,  isn't running.  Three people  --  Paul Bailey,  Bolyn McClung and Doug Wrona  -- are seeking that post.

The other four races each have an incumbent facing one challenger.  In District 1, Christine Mast hopes to get Rhonda Lennon's seat.  In District 2,  Thelma Byers-Bailey is challenging incumbent Richard McElrath.  In District 4,  Queen Elizabeth Thompson hopes to oust Tom Tate, the board's senior member with eight years under his belt.  And in District 5,  Edward Donaldson is challenging Eric Davis.

Voters will also be asked to approve $290 million in bonds for CMS and $210 million for CPCC.  It's the first bond vote for either group since 2007.

Early voting starts Oct. 17.  And remember:  Your neighbors probably won't vote  (turnout is always low in off years),  so you carry extra clout if you do.  If you're not already registered,  do so by Oct. 11 to be eligible.

A peek at menu for CMS, CPCC bonds

A November referendum on bonds for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Central Piedmont Community College won't be locked in until August, but county commissioners' approval of a capital plan last week makes it a pretty sure thing.

CMS and CPCC leaders are talking about the best way to present their needs and plans, while the folks at the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce are kicking around strategies and names for a bond campaign. Publicly-funded bodies can't spend money to influence an election, so there's always a careful line between the public  "bond information" campaigns and the privately-funded "vote yes" push.

Mecklenburg County' five-year capital plan will provide $290 million for CMS and $210 million for CPCC, says county Finance Director Dena Diorio. Here's how projects break down under that plan:

In 2014-15, the county would provide money to finish the last of the CMS 2007 bond projects: A new school to relieve crowding at Highland Creek Elementary and renovations to Hawthorne High.  Other 2014-15 projects would be:

*Work at Alexander Middle in Huntersville, Myers Park High, Olympic High and Statesville Road Elementary (see details of CMS projects here).

*Reopening Oakhurst and Starmount as elementary schools.

* Construction of a new preK-8 school in west Charlotte, a new K-8 language immersion school in east Charlotte and a replacement for Nations Ford Elementary on the campus of Waddell Language Academy.

* Buying land for a new K-8 magnet in the Ballantyne area and an expansion of Northridge Middle School.

* For CPCC, doing work on the Giles Science Building and Cato Campus,  plus buying land for projects at the Levine,  Central and Merancas campuses.

In 2015-16,  CMS would get money for projects at East Mecklenburg and South Mecklenburg high schools and Northwest School of the Arts.  CPCC would launch projects at the Levine and Harper campuses.

In 2016-17,  CMS would launch work at Northridge, Selwyn Elementary and five preK-8 schools,  while CPCC would get money for a Central Campus project and Terrell renovation/expansion.

In 2017-18,  CMS would build the new Ballantyne-area K-8 magnet, convert Davidson Elementary to a K-8 school and do career-technology improvements at Garinger, Independence, West Mecklenburg and North Mecklenburg high schools.  CPCC would get money for a Hendrick Automotive expansion,  renovation/expansion to the Advanced Technology Center and the Merancas Campus project.

Mobile classrooms: Critical safety risk?

On Tuesday night,  Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Rhonda Lennon publicly declared that mobile classrooms clustered outside crowded schools should be seen as a critical safety risk.

On Wednesday morning, Superintendent Heath Morrison said there's nothing unsafe about holding classes in mobiles.

Diorio

Welcome to the wacky world of bond-project ranking.  For about an hour Tuesday,  the CMS board wrangled with Mecklenburg County Finance Director Dena Diorio,  trying to figure out how to work a ranking system that doesn't mesh with the CMS mission.

From the county's point of view it makes perfect sense.  County officials need a way to compare the need for schools, jails, parks and libraries without giving any category privileged status.

But as CMS and Central Piedmont Community College vie for the chance to put up to $300 million in projects on the November ballot, it's easy to see why educators feel hobbled by the process.

For instance:  County commissioners often say they want CMS to show how their investments boost student achievement. But when board member Tim Morgan asked whether CMS projects got any points for their intended effect on student performance,  the answer was simple:  No.

Enhancing economic development boosts a project's rating,  but the county uses a model that's geared toward traditional business recruitment.  Even though good schools increase property values and create a stronger work force,  those aren't the kind of things that show up.

The county ranking awards points based on the "extent to which population has increased in the area in which the project is located."  But as Lennon noted,  the need for schools is shaped by the number of school-age children,  which can be different from overall population trends.  "We prioritize based on the needs of children,  not adults,"  Lennon said.

Lennon suggested that declaring mobile classrooms a safety risk might gain some extra points in the building safety category.  "Parents perceive these mobiles to be a safety factor,"  she said.  Board member Richard McElrath hinted at a broader definition:  "I would put it as a high risk when a child walks out his front door and he's not going to work and he's not going to college."

Why all the confusion and consternation?  The county introduced this ranking system in 2011 and used it to set the schedule for finishing CMS projects approved in the 2007 referendum.  This is the first time it has been used to decide what goes on a bond ballot.

On Tuesday CMS approved a request for 18 projects totaling almost $294 million  (read the 10-year list it was pulled from here).  CPCC has made a pitch for $430 million.  The county is looking at a total of $300 million in bonds to last the next three years  --  or possibly $400 million for four years.  The ranking system will not only determine how big a slice of the bond pie each body gets,  but it could shake up the CMS priorities,  eliminating top-ranked projects from bond consideration while giving the green light to lower ones.

That created plenty of frustration.  But there were moments of harmony.  Board member Eric Davis said as a taxpayer he appreciates the county's push to rein in debt:  "I think any family can comprehend what happens when the credit card gets out of control."

Diorio said CMS isn't going to get the level of spending it wants until the economy rebounds.  "They say the recession is over,  but we're not seeing it in our revenue growth."  And while she didn't give the board the answers they wanted on the ranking system,  she urged them to keep working with county officials.  "No one has come forward to give me a better way,"  she said.  "I'm happy to entertain suggestions."