Glitches Delay Some N.C. School Report Cards

Some of the report cards contained incorrect information, and report cards for some schools never got printed.

The North Carolina Schools chief technology director said some confusion is part of starting something new.

"When you rush a system out, there are always those last-minute glitches that happen," said Dr. Bob Bellamy.

The state shut down its Web site on Tuesday and changed incorrect information brought to its attention by local school systems. Report cards for all North Carolina public schools can be accessed through the site.

Lacy Elementary School in Raleigh did send its school report card home with students as planned, however not without a lesson in frustration, according to principal Marcia Alford.

"There were some technical difficulties just accessing the [Web] site and there were some errors on the report card," she said.

Alford said some school information was missing from the Lacy report card, including its School of Distinction ranking. She said some other numbers in the report were questionable.

Alford said that principals were worried about putting out wrong information to meet the state's May 22 report card deadline.

"It seemed rushed to us," she said. "I think there could be some confusion, because we've just taken the end of grade tests and this has last year's data."

Wake County Schools posts most of the information on the state's report card on its own Web site.

However, information on teacher certification and the teacher turnover rate is new and is only available on the new state school report card.

Greensboro schools are among those which did not release report cards.

Durham Public Schools sent a letter to parents to help them get the information from the state's Website, but did not send the report card home with students.

The Web site was put back online Wednesday, and schools now have a week to send out the reports. Parents can also request a printout copy from their child's school if they do not have Internet access.

The next series of school report cards, which will include test scores from this spring, will be released in February 2003.