Wake County Board of Education approves summer teaching incentives, discusses new SRO agreement and changes to school start times

Wake County Public School System certified employees who sign up as summer learning program instructors will make $45 per hour of more, under incentives approved by the county Board of Education on Tuesday.

It’s part of the school district’s effort to recruit the about 1,300 employees needed to conduct summer school this year. The district has come up with its own incentives and implemented some allowed by the new state law that requires them to offer summer school for struggling students in all grades this year.

Most schools have reported that they expected to be able to hire the teachers and others they need, while some have said they plan to recruit from other school districts or among retired teachers.

The school district is also offering certified employees bonuses of $1,200 for working all six weeks of summer school and $400 for three weeks or one two-week session at a year-round school.

Non-certified employees will receive the same bonus but will make only $20 or more per hour.

Nationally certified teachers of reading and math for fourth through eighth grades will get $1,200 signing bonuses. Third grade teachers will get $150 bonuses per student, based on their reading proficiency level.

The district wants smaller class sizes and more attention and support for students, necessitating more hires.

“I think this is a positive move,” Board Member Roxie Cash said, following the district’s presentation to the board. The hiring process will help with learning recovery and relationship building between students and educators, she said.

In Wake County, nearly 17,000 students have so far signed up for this largest-ever summer program, of the roughly 23,000 students invited. Most — 9,425 students — are elementary level, 3,544 students are in middle school and 3,743 students are in high school. Assistant Superintendent for Academics Drew Cook said he expects more students, particularly high school students needing credit recovery, to sign up.

The program is what district officials stress is only one part of longer-term process to help students learn what they may have struggled to learn during virtual learning or other COVID-19-related learning disruptions.

What the rest of that learning recovery will look like isn’t yet clear.

Board Chairman Keith Sutton asked how the district planned to measure the success of its recovery efforts.

That’s tough to say right now, too, Cook said.

“I think long term that is the question we’ll have to figure out as a district,” Cook said

Officials will need to determine meaningful ways of assessing students and interpreting assessment results from this year, too, he said.

New draft agreement for school resource officers

The Wake County community will be able to comment on the district’s new draft memorandum of understanding for school resource officers.

The agreement is a draft that applies to all arrangements schools sign with a law enforcement agency to establish an officer in their schools. Drafted by attorneys, the agreement is based on recommended changes made by board members, following multiple surveys.

The current agreement expires June 30, so revisions based on feedback will occur before then.

The draft agreement has two major themes, said Patricia Robinson, an attorney advising the board.

Those themes, reflected in the agreement, are: increased communication with law enforcement and community members, and clarifications on when school resource officers should intervene.

Changes to start and end times discussed

Board members also continued discussion on changing school start and end times.

The idea of starting school later for older students is based on research that shows later high school start times are associated with children getting more sleep and being healthier. That, in theory, researchers say, could help those students be more prepared to learn.

The board has been discussing three options for changing bell schedules, although members Tuesday mentioned other possible options to consider.

The board is doesn’t plan to vote on changes any time soon, and the board has already approved next year’s bell schedules.

“We’ve got to have community feedback on this,” Board Member Jim Martin said.

Among the three options, board members had favorable responses to pushing back start times for all schools by 30 minutes or swapping elementary and high school bell schedules. That would mean elementary schools start at 7:30 a.m. and end at 2 p.m., and high schools would start at 9:15 a.m. and end at 4:10 p.m.

The third option is a combination of both proposals, with proposed start time delays of 30, 45 or 60 minutes.

Board members found that a 30-minute delay, without switching elementary and high school schedules, would likely cause the least disruption for families. Others liked the idea of implementing more after school opportunities for elementary students, should they swap schedules with high school students and end the day at 2 p.m.

Board Member Chris Heagarty was wary of the proposed schedule swap, because he said elementary-age children getting out of school earlier, especially those with older siblings, could pose a challenge to families.

Board members and school district officials noted the many implications of changing the bell schedules, including on child care and work schedule conflicts for parents and guardians.

School district officials plan to solicit feedback from parents, students, employees, before and after school program providers, businesses and others before deciding whether to make a proposed change and what that change would be.

Officials also plan to continue researching the implications of a bell schedule change and monitoring any possible evidence of academic benefits in other school districts that have changed their start times.

Modeling so far shows none of the three options considered Tuesday would impact the district’s budget, officials said.