Henderson, Year-round Questions Linger
Miller Proposes Moving Year-round Program To Old Henderson School

BY SUSAN DICKERSON
SALISBURY POST

School board members heard all the information, discussed it and then hurriedly adjourned.

They made no decisions and discussed only few options outside of the superintendent's recommendations for North Rowan Elementary's year-round program.

Monday night, Superintendent Dr. Joe McCann publicly revealed his recommendations for what to do with the year-round school and where students should come from to fill the new Henderson Elementary School on Choate Road.

McCann proposes:

-Closing the year-round program.

-Moving students from North Elementary, which is overcrowded, to the new Henderson Elementary.

-Moving the alternative school, at 314 N. Ellis St., to the existing Henderson School, at 1215 N. Main St., which will allow for 80 new slots at that location.

-Moving some of the county-wide exceptional children's programs to the new Henderson School to provide a more centralized location.

As the curtain went up on Monday's meeting, about 75 people sat in the audience, most from Morgan Elementary, including county commissioners Newt Cohen and Arnold Chamberlain and County Manager Tim Russell.

Board of Education Chairwoman Dr. Bettie Starr began the meeting by telling the audience members that the special meeting didn't allow time for public comments.

However, the board has scheduled two public hearing meetings - 7 p.m. Monday to hear about the year-round program and 7 p.m. Feb. 4, a Thursday, to hear about the redistricting issue.

Although he didn't say it directly during the meeting, McCann is recommending dissolving the year-round program. If the board chooses to keep the year-round school, it should be a stand-alone program at North Elementary, he said, although he didn't specify where all the traditional calendar students would go.

Board member Dr. Ada Fisher asked about "thinking outside the box" by placing learning disabled students and students with special needs at the year-round school so they could receive additional remediation.

Then Starr spoke up: "The students most at risk haven't been in the year-round program ... I think it is perhaps time to think outside the box and possibly outside of the year-round box."

School board member Clyde Miller, who represents the North attendance area, had his own idea - move the year-round program to the existing Henderson Elementary and attract those kids who have moved to private schools.

But that stand-alone program would cost the school system. North Elementary Principal Delores Morris said the program already costs the school system $72,000 extra.

A stand-alone program at any school would cost an additional $342,600, mostly for transportation across the county.

Right now, the year-round program serves 222 students and shares space with the traditional program at North Elementary. If changed to a stand-alone program, more students would have to enroll in the year-round school to justify the cost, enough to fill the school, McCann said previously.

But the question of whether to have a year-round program comes down to, "What do the parents think?" Miller said.

At the end of the nine-week, year-round quarters, students and teachers have three weeks to rest. "And what you get from parents is that the kids' attitudes about school change. They've changed for the best."

If the year-round program moved to Henderson, parents in that area say they would be interested in moving their kids to that program, Miller said.

Moving the year-round program to Henderson might also draw students from an overcrowded Overton Elementary, Miller said.

However, the year-round school seems to be interesting more white students than black. Morris told the board that the year-round demographics is "very disproportionate," with 31 percent black. That's compared to the traditional school at North Elementary which is 65 percent black students.

"So the school within a school is becoming something of an enclave," observed board member Vick Bost.

McCann's staff members have said continuously that the year-round model hasn't increased student test scores enough to justify the additional cost, but the system hasn't been able to provide the remediation during the break between quarters as a true year-round school would do.

"So, we're having data from a school that isn't truly a year-round school," Fisher observed.

As part of his redistricting plan for the new Henderson Elementary, McCann proposes moving students from an overcrowded North Elementary School. The new Henderson is scheduled to open in July.

But that's different from information sent to board members last week. In that information, McCann recommended also shifting some students from the Granite Quarry and Morgan elementary areas to the new Henderson.

Although he hasn't withdrawn that recommendation, he didn't mention those moves Monday night.

McCann recommended that board move three North attendance areas to Henderson:

-The North Elementary area east of Interstate 85, including Long Ferry Road and all roads that open onto Long Ferry, which would affect 90 students.

-The Heiligtown community, which affects 22 students.

-The Correll Street community, which affects 64 students.

And if the board opts for moving some exceptional children's programs to Henderson, as McCann recommends, that will leave virtually the same demographics at both schools (see related chart).

Board members did not hint at how they feel about the proposals. Board member Kay Norman did say, however, she feels uncomfortable moving the alternative school, now called the Independent Secondary School, to the existing Henderson Elementary. She said she was concerned about so many points of entry to the school and the safety of staff and students.

Norman asked staff to look into finding alternative locations for the alternative school, even if that meant looking at property the school system doesn't own.