Opening Statement from Dr. Eric Davis:
During the opening Wednesday session of the NC School Board of Education’s monthly meeting, Dr. Davis addressed some statements that had been made by a couple of legislators in an earlier appropriation meeting in regards to North Carolina’s state of public education. Dr. Davis was very eloquent in his comments regarding our teachers, parents and students during this unprecedented time. The comments distinctly rebutted the statements made by elected official regarding the efforts as a “disaster” by one legislator and “a wasted year” by yet another. Dr. Davis wanted to verify, validate and honor the efforts of everyone involved with the very new platform of learning that has been implemented over the course of 9 months. Words used during his introduction were persevere, resolve, selfless to name just a few.
Dr. Davis wanted the audience to understand that the words of just a few did not illustrate the efforts of the 95,000+ educators, administrators and staff. He charged the audience to give the respect to teachers that is deserved and express gratitude for their efforts.
COVID-19
Susan Gale Perry, Chief Deputy Secretary, NCDHHS provided a comprehensive report on COVID-19 and our North Carolina Schools. For greater details in the slideshow click Here.
· Pilot Program for COVID testing in schools (no requirements at this time for testing in schools). The pilot will provide the opportunity for LEA’s to participate, and have free testing for symptomatic individuals, close contact, and potentially asymptomatic individuals.
· COVID-19 Vaccine- There will be limited vaccine supplies in the states at the beginning of the distribution process. There will be an increased progression of availability as the 2021 year progresses. A detailed and comprehensive chart provides how the vaccine distribution/prioritization is designed (slide 20) in the slideshow link above.
· December K-12 Guidance Update
Monitoring of the Educator Preparation Program (EPP)
· To culminate this report DPI is making a recommendation to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee to change “the expected date of delivery for annual EPP performance reports and report cards from December 15th of the current year of reporting to April 15th of the following year.”
Local Alternative Teacher Preparation
· Presentation prepared by Ms. Lisa Sonnicker (Program Director, Central Carolina Teaching Initiative) In 2016 the State Board of Education issued an RFP for school districts to initiate their own teacher preparation programs. In the 2-017-2018 years Wake County was awarded this opportunity and the Central Carolina Regional Education Service Alliance (CCRESA), created the Central Carolina Teaching Initiative. A comprehensive summary provided here, CCTI.
Report on the State of Teaching Profession
Dr. Beverly Emory, Dr. Thomas Tomberlin and Dr. Andrew Sioberg reports on matters on the state of the teaching profession. Annual Report on the State of the Teaching Profession
· The comprehensive annual report is still in draft form and will be presented to the General Assembly on December 15. Dr. Tomberlin noted that he would like to request a date change for April 2022 for submission of the report to adequately receive data.
· School systems have been a little tardy forwarding this information. The department is being very sympathetic to this LEA’s given the overwhelming tasks that the systems are undergoing.
Driver Education and Traffic Safety
Mr. Karl Logan presided over the presentation.
· New Digitized Delivery System- Ms. Tonya Easterwood
o Delivery via Canvas. Licensure for licensed teachers and paraprofessionals training is up and running fully functional and there is an adequate number of DT teachers prepared to deliver the training.
o Needs-
Priorities
· Canvas (high priority)
· Regional Support
Funding-
· The program is requesting an increase in funding to 3%
· Receipts-based collections
· Increase DPI Administration from 2%-5%
Business Operations
A few highlights of multiple presentations for legislative priorities:
· Increase the number of educators of color across North Carolina
· Eliminate challenges and barriers by underwriting the cost of teacher preparation, funding alternative pathways and revising licensing tests
· Fund coaching and professional development for teachers
· $130 million to increase teacher pay to compete for the top of the Southeast in two years
· $980,00 for teacher recruitment
· $4 million to increase the Teaching Fellow Scholarships to 400 in 2020 (with a target of 500 in 2021)
For the comprehensive reports:
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