More stakeholders join efforts to improve county's schools

(Editor's note: The school distrioct announced Tuesday morning that a strategic planning focus group meeting scheduled for Saturday at East Burke Middle School has been postponed.)

Nearly seven months ago, when SACS CASI put Burke County's high schools on probationary accreditation, the council's No. 1 complaint concerned the school board's relationship with "stakeholders."
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on School Improvement and Accreditation spelled out what the Burke County Board of Education had to do to regain unqualified accreditation for its schools. SACS CASI said the board "must establish and implement a collaborative process to involve stakeholder groups in the development and understanding of a system-wide vision and purpose to guide the continuous improvement process, allocation and alignment of resources and daily actions of all members of the school community."
The accreditation council's order echoed a local chorus of criticism that had reached a crescendo in May. Frustrated by the school board's limits on public comments during an on-going controversy about terminating the school superintendent's contract, 2,000 people attended a board meeting at Patton High School where 80 speakers voiced their opinions during an hours-long session. A local lawyer also sued the school board for muzzling people's freedom of speech.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of stakeholders today have a much greater voice in local education. They're definitely more quiet and their presence is less conspicuous than the crowds that frequently appeared on Charlotte's TV stations' newscasts, but these stakeholders no less committed to improving the Burke County Public Schools.
SACS CASI's term "stakeholders" confused some people back in August. It means school and district administrators, teachers, classified staff, parents, community and business leaders, students, civic and government leaders — "(a) representation of all demographic and geographical areas of Burke County," in SACS CASI's words.
Newly elected school board member Susan Stroup helped organize one of the first stakeholder groups back in November. Its mission: to help the school board do whatever was necessary to meet SACS CASI's standards for accreditation.
Scott Carlton, who's both a businessman (he owns Express Lube in Morganton) and parent, was on that ad hoc group. Although it's no longer active, he said the group established a principle that still guides other stakeholder groups and the board members — a determination to exceed SACS CASI's expectations.
Today, there is not one, but rather four separate initiatives involving stakeholders in the schools' improvement.
The Strategic Planning Committee is drafting vision and mission statements for the schools. Some 30 educators and administrators, business people, ministers, elected leaders and other parents first met in February. The committee has hosted two focus-group meetings and a third starts at 5 p.m. today in First Baptist Church-Morganton. Anyone, including students, may attend and contribute ideas. School Superintendent Dr. Art Stellar hopes hundreds people throughout the county will contribute ideas to the planning process.
Stellar in October formed what might have been the first stakeholder committee. It's assignment: to improve students' participation and achievement in Advanced Placement courses. Taking and passing AP classes is a big plus when students apply for college admission. A high level of AP participation also is indicative of the how many students are thinking about going to college. Stellar and other school administrators say one key to getting more students to pursue advanced education is start them thinking and planning for it in middle school.
Soon after he arrived in Burke County, Stellar asked for suggestions about ways to save money and improve the schools' financial position. Hundreds of ideas poured in. To help evaluate them, Stellar formed the Financial Survey Committee. Roger Trevorrow, a Freedom High School teacher and committee member, said the group pored over every single suggestion. The 25-member group was assembled from many community segments. It's met five times and at the next meeting, March 23, members will prepare their own suggestions for the Strategic Planning Committee.
One of the largest stakeholder groups is the Diversity Task Force. More than 60 people were at its March 9 meeting.
One of SACS CASI's concerns involved Rob Hairfield, a board member who redistributed racist jokes he received via e-mail. Extending the principle of exceeding SACS CASI's expectations, the school district formed the Diversity Task Force.
Stellar said its mission goes beyond the obvious, which is improving race relations and racial or ethnic sensitivities. He expects the Diversity Task Force also will help with hiring a more diverse staff ("When we're hiring again," he added). He said the task force also will work on narrowing the "achievement gaps" seen in groups including economically disadvantaged students, physically or mentally challenged ones and even young women who Stellar said sometimes do not do as well, "for whatever reasons," in sciences and math.
The Diversity Task Force's next meeting will begin at 3:30 p.m. April 27 in the West Concord Resource Center, 509 W. Concord St.
The school district actively recruited stakeholders for the Diversity Task Force. It invited 22 community organizations to send representatives. Personal invitations also went to individuals suggested by school board members.
But on the Diversity Task Force, as on all of Burke County Public Schools' new stakeholder committees and task forces, more people's participation is welcomed.
For more information about any of these groups, contact Burke County Public Schools' Central Office at (828) 439-4312 or visit the schools' Web site, www.burke.k12.nc.us, for notices of times, dates and meeting places.

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Help schools define their vision, mission
Burke County Public Schools' strategic-planning sessions started last week and resume today.
Any Burke County residents, including students, may attend any meeting to help define the schools' strategic vision and mission.
Here's the present schedule:
Today: 5-7:30 p.m. in First Baptist Church-Morganton, 506 W. Union.
Saturday: Postponed.
March 29: 5-7:30 p.m. at Catawba Valley Baptist Church, 706 Lenoir Road.
Watch The News Herald's calendar and visit the school district's Web site for notes about additional meetings. On the Web: www.burke.k12.nc.us