Top Rank Schools

Wake County school board members got a closer look Tuesday afternoon at the superintendent’s $1.25 billion proposed operating budget for the next school year.

On the Web     Superintendents proposed budget

Superintendent Tony Tata, earlier this month, laid out his spending priorities for 2012-13, which include investing in teachers and staff, setting conditions for all schools to be high-performing and operating more efficiently.

Among the details of his proposal this year is a 1-percent increase in teachers’ base salaries and a one-time $500 bonus for other school employees.

The only employees not to see more money are those on the superintendent’s leadership team.

There are no proposed layoffs or job cuts and no changes to school and classroom staffing formulas.

Still, the budget is $24.3 million less than the current budget year, partly as a result of $28 million in expiring federal grants, as well as $8.6 million in state funding.

Some school board members expressed concerns Tuesday about using $28 million of the system’s nearly $34 million reserve to pay for recurring expenses.

Staff said that would be replenished next year, in part, by $20 million in investment savings.

The budget does have a gap of nearly $8.8 million that Tata believes could be filled by the Wake County Board of Commissioners.

That’s a 2.8-percent increase over the current budget, and Commissioner Joe Bryan has said that, although his board will consider Tata’s request, he doubts much money will be available for the school system since the commission’s top priority for next year is not to raise taxes.

Tata’s budget also takes into account more efficient operations, such as a new bus routing system that’s expected to save the district an estimated $6 million a year over the next two years.

The public has a chance to weigh in on the budget at the school board’s next regular meeting on April 10. The

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South Broward High’s theater troupe will do two more performances of Next to Normal after being named one of the most outstanding theatrical productions in the state.

Matinee performances will be held at 3 p.m. on March 7 and March 9 at the high school, at 1901 N. Federal Highway, Hollywood. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.

Next to Normal is a musical drama about a mother struggling with bipolar disorder. The show explores the effects of the mother’s illness on her family. It won a Tony award and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

The Florida State Thespian Festival deemed South Broward High’s version as one of the most outstanding productions. Students will perform at the state festival in Tampa later this month, as more than 7,500 students compete to attend the International Thespian Festival in June in Lincoln, Nebraska.

For tickets or more information, visit www.SBHSdrama.com or call 754-323-1875.

When it comes to punctuality, Mother Earth is late every year. That’s because it takes the earth 365 days 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to complete her orbit of the sun. To ensure continued harmony between Father Time and Mother Earth, the 12-month calendar gets an extra day – Leap Day – every four years on Feb. 29 to account for our planets slower pace.

What would you do with an extra day?  To find out, Teen V spoke with local residents about their plans for this special day.

North Carolina school officials are telling all 115 school districts to perform special inspections after a Charlotte school bus burst into flames seconds after children escaped.

The state Department of Public Instruction says an investigation of the fire two weeks ago found that the wires on the bus had worn, possibly causing an electric short-circuit and the fire.

Officials think the problem may exist on other Thomas Built Buses received by schools in 1998 and 1999.

State school officials say while Thomas Built Buses is completing a more detailed report on the Charlotte bus fire, local transportation officials should inspect their school buses delivered about 13 years ago for similar wiring issues.

Nearly 14,000 school buses transport North Carolina’s 1.5 million public school students.

From my colleague Leslie Postal at the Orlando Sentinel:

Florida has been granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law, which will free it from the constraints of complicated school accountability rules and allow it to use its school grading system as the sole judge of public education.

A state official confirmed this morning that Florida is one of the states granted a waiver and that an announcement by the White House is expected later today.

Read the rest of the developing story here.

What do you think? Is this good news for the state’s schools? Do all of the changes to our accountability system make it more or less meaningful?