By Nan Cooper / Staff

Fulton County School Board members share important information with the public and invite input on a regular basis through their monthly community meetings. These meetings, conducted by individual board members, are hosted at different schools in their district on a rotating basis. For dates and locations of all meetings, see www.fultonschools.org under “Board Members”.

Not all school districts offer such regular and frequent access to their board members. As a matter of fact, the Fulton County School System (FCSS) was recently singled out and praised on a national level when they were asked by the National School Board Association to present their community meeting process at the most recent NSBA conference last April, this according to the system’s Executive Director of Communications, Allison Toller.

This past Tuesday, Linda Schultz (School Board, District 1) held her monthly meeting at 7 p.m. at Roswell High School. Much less formal than a full board meeting, Schultz begins her community meetings by asking everyone to introduce themselves. Usually 20-50 people attend a community meeting — although when there is an important issue like redistricting on the horizon, as many as 200 may come.

Participating in a community meeting allows parents and community members to be heard. When attending, you can get important news and updates, give input on current issues, review the agenda for the upcoming board meeting, see documentation and reports used to decide policy, and raise questions about problems that need to be addressed. The school board members are elected officials, and like any elected official they represent their constituents.

This week’s meeting opened with a presentation from Frank Destadio of Parsons, the engineering and construction firm overseeing the construction of the new North Fulton high school. This new school is proposed to be built on a 64-acre parcel on Bethany Bend at Cogburn Road in Milton. The plan is nearly complete, with only the final design of the facade to be worked out with the city. Provided everything stays on schedule, the new school will be ready to welcome 1,900 students in August 2012. Site plans and drawings are available to the public on www.fultonschools.org under the School System Links

With projections of overcrowding at Roswell High School and Milton High School, and Alpharetta High School approaching 1000 students, this school is a must have in North Fulton. Redistricting will begin in spring of 2011 and may include the middle schools.

Next was a discussion of the estimated additional $320 million budget shortfall that the state will see this year and its potential impact on the schools. With expected department cuts at the state level of up to 50 percent, it is hoped that the Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) will only be asked to cut in the single digits. Even at that it will be hard for FCSS to find any more opportunities for cost savings. After already experiencing deep budget cuts over the past 2 years, as well as Governor Perdue’s late summer measure furloughing teachers for three days, the Fulton School System is searching for ways to save money next year. Recently the board approved a school calendar for next year that reduces the number of school days by three in an effort to save $1.1 million dollars.

Of course, the obvious question is, “How can FCSS spend money on a new school when they are potentially facing budget cuts?” Schultz answered that question by pointing out that constructing new schools is funded through SPLOST funds, not operational funds. Voters approved SPLOST III (one cent sales tax) in 2007—these are separate funds that can be spent only on capital improvements and technology.

Moving on to test scores, Schultz shared the results of the nationally normed Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) that was administered to our 3rd, 5th, and 8th graders early last month. The results remain statistically flat over the past 5 years and above the average across the country in the 55-70th percentiles. There was discussion around the concern that FCSS is not providing students with the information they need to compete on a national basis. Schultz reminded the audience that there is no national curriculum, and that the ITBS is not testing to the Georgia Performance Standards like the CRCT. Schultz entertained a robust discussion around the new math curriculum. She committed to reviewing the more specific data on the ITBS results when it becomes available and taking action as required.

Following this was a discussion on IE2. Under HB1209, sponsored by Representative Brooks Coleman (R-Gwinnet), et al and signed into law by Governor Perdue in April 2008, all Georgia school systems are required to either enter into an IE2 contract, convert to a charter school system, or maintain the status quo with a public announcement of such decision. The IE2 contract (Investing in Educational Excellence) allows school districts the opportunity to receive flexibility for its schools from specified state statutes and/or rules in exchange for greater accountability for student achievement and defined consequences through a contractual agreement with the GADOE. This is the path that the FCSS is currently evaluating.

Flexibility from the state is available in areas like class size requirements, expenditure controls, certification requirements, and salary schedule requirements. Accountability measures could include areas like high school graduation rates, ACT & SAT scores, AP participation and performance, and CRCT scores. Consequences of failing to meet those contractual measures may include conversion of a school to charter status with independent school level governance and a governance board with strong parental involvement, operation of a school by a successful school system, or operation of a school by a private entity, nonprofit or for profit. If board members decide to enter into an IE2 contract, informational meetings with the public as well as formal public hearings will take place early next year before any contract is ironed out with the state.

Concluding the meeting was an update on the Fulton Institute of Technology, located at the Milton Center in downtown Alpharetta and the iPod Touch pilot projects now being conducted at Roswell High School, North Springs High School and Langston Hughes High School.

Leaving the meeting, participants were more informed on strategic initiatives and were able to provide input on test strategies, results, and potential curriculum changes.