Board of Education Work Session

All right, good afternoon everyone and good afternoon to those of you all that are listening by phone and if you would like we are streaming the meeting via teams. You may visit wcpss.net once you're on the homepage you can access the stream by clicking on the meeting link in the popup window on the district calendar. So we are glad that everyone is here. Board members hopefully you are back. uh if you would not mind turning on your cameras throughout the meeting so we can make sure that everyone's here and we have our quorum. And before we get started with our first item, I would recom entertain a motion to wave board policy 2310. Is there a motion?

So

second. There is a motion by Miss Edmonds to weigh policy 2310. Has been properly second. Seconded by Vice Chair Hershey. Any discussion on the motion. All right. Hearing none. All those in favor. We will do a roll call vote. We will start with Vice Chair Hershey. I

uh Miss board member Cfield.

Hi. Board member Gordon

I.

Board member Edmmonds

Or Dr. Ink.

Dr. Job. Appears Dr. Job may be having some technical issues. Dr. Job. Mr. Hearity and I'm also voting I. So that is a

seven 70 700 and I know looks like Miss Dr. Job are you there? If you're having some issues with technology, just shoot us an email and we can get that resolved for you. And final call for

Mr. Heaggerty. All right. Once they join, I'll just make that announcement. So, it looks like the motion passes. We have waved policy 2310. Our first item on our agenda will be the WCPSS magnet and curriculum enhancement updates. the return on investment and community impact with Dr. Lane and uh Miss George East Tia George East will be presenting.

Good afternoon.

Yes, there is a feedback but we can hear you all. Can you hear us?

Yes, we can hear you all.

Um, thank you for this opportunity, um, Chair Swanson and, um, all of board members, Dr. Taylor and all of those present. Um, for some reason my computer is not working, so it's always a good idea to have another one handy. So, we are sharing. Um, this is Tila George East, who is our, um, Nexus project director. And so, we will, um, be sharing together this afternoon.

So, wanted to just start kind of with a summary of our magnet programs and how they fit into um the whole district's um um focus today around strategic alignment, our return on investment, talking about our federal funding impact and resource efficiency and the impact on our educational opportunities and expanded family choice and then success metrics because I think that's one of the things that we hear a lot from our school leaders is making sure that we can um draw a direct line from our magnet programs to student success and that's not always by test scores. So we'll be looking at some qualitative and some quantitative data um today as we talk about that. So basically just setting the context for magnet programs in Wake County Public School System. And I think most everybody is aware that we're almost 50 years old. Magnet programs celebrating that 50th year next year. Um this year we are celebrating the 50th year of the merger with Raleigh City and the Wake County. Um implementing desegregation, voluntary desegregation. I think we've all seen the video that talks about our history and shares that out for our community members um to know and to learn about. It's still a model across the country for the work that was done and we'll talk throughout today about just how important that is um as we continue this work. By 2023, we have 61 magnet schools across uh Wake County Public School System. 30 elementary, 15 middle, seven high schools, and seven early college high school programs. And we certainly want to give a shout out to our community partners for those early college programs, Shaw University, NC

State, as well as our Wake Tech partners. And we're going to talk a little bit more about them later on. I think what's really important here and I think the emphasis that I wanted to provide for our board is how our magnet programs are a systemwide strategy. Uh we do a lot of work in our magnet office on systems thinking and how we need to be systemic and strategic, but the magnet programs were created right after the merger as part of that system strategy um to capitalize on our assets um not just isolated schools, but bringing in that expanded and innovative educational opportunity for students regardless of zip code, regardless of socioeconomic status so that we're attracting both our base students and our choice populations and that continues to be that model um that we continue with us. I know the last time I think I came to the board, I brought you the book Wakeake. Um it's in the background here and um talked a little bit about the history that many of our texts are talking about. And I know I think our principles are actually reading that book right now in our um in some of their principal leadership meetings. and we just purchased it for all of our magnet coordinators as well so that we can all understand the history um of Wake County magnet programs. And then we love to celebrate our national recognition. So I think you've seen the news recently. We have magnet schools u merit awards coming out from magnet schools of America. Um they were just announced last week and we actually got an email today that improved these numbers. So um we have five top schools of excellence, we have 21 schools of excellence and now we have 31 schools of distinction. So that 90% 91% number has changed to about 96%. And I just want to stick with that

statistic for just a minute. 96% of our magnet schools this year received a national merit award. When you look back year after year after year, our schools receive these awards on a regular basis. And that says something about the quality, the quality of our schools, the quality of our leaders, the quality of our teachers in these buildings, but it also says something about the quality of our community that our board and our community is very supportive of this work. And for that, we're very appreciative. Um, so we celebrate together. um as we celebrate these national recognition and awards um just digging in a little bit more to some key milestones um and I'm trying to divide it into almost eras um 1976 through 1982 was really our foundation with the merger and you've heard about uh Hunter Magnet Elementary School being one of those first magnet programs in the system and the school of choice plan came about with the magnet principles. That's when we just started learning about how we wanted to um use our magnet programs in that systemwide approach. Um by 1982 we had about 22 or had 28 uh magnet schools and then in 1986 to 2006 we start to see the first federal funding and ma MSAP magnet school assistance program is the federal investment of those federal dollars. It is. It was um we had diverse school grants that started about three years ago, but until that MSAP was the only funds that were specifically allocated to address school integration. Um another important po point is that by 2000 um Wake County moved to a

socioeconomic or um free and reduced lunch we used for a while then we started using uh economic health index based assignment policy and I I want to call attention to the fact that in 2007 the parents um informed a court case parents involved court case actually mandated districts to move to um instead of racebased to move to socioeconomic based and Wake County was a pioneer again seven years ahead of the court case um to making that innovative step and I just again want to get a shout out to all those pioneers that came before us leading this work um our district leaders and all of the magnet leaders that were um thinking ahead of what was happening across the country. I hope we're continuing to do that and so that we continue to be on that edge of innovation. And then our early college partnerships began around 2006 and I shared earlier that's with Shaw University now NC State and certainly Wake Tech and we just want to give a shout out to those partners because the early college programs are not possible without their um continued partnership and their willingness to work with us. um even in the midst of sometimes challenging situations which we all are familiar with over the last several years. So we greatly appreciate that our community comes from um let's help all and that we're um very fortunate to have those partners in partnership with us. 2009 to 19, the board reaffirms the policy 4150 on reducing the high concentrations of poverty and then reaffirms those magnet principles um that you saw at the beginning of the slide on reducing high concentrations of poverty. We'll talk more about those in just a minute. And in 2019 um Wake

County received the Magnet Schools of America District Award for Sustainability. And part of the reason why this is so important is that our federal dollars are seen as seed money. They actually are created, given to us to start new programs, innovative programs, innovative approaches. But the goal is always to sustain those programs. And Wake County has been again a pioneer in making sure that we're sustaining those programs beyond the life of the grant. But even more than that, that we're ensuring that sustainability is built into the fabric of the school and of the community. So the teachers that have been teaching there for a number of years or the community members and you know, we hear stories all the time and you'll get to hear some shortly um about some of our students who were um students in our magnet programs early on and now are having children of their own and coming through the programs. So, it's really wonderful. I think we have some team members on our staff um that were magnet students as well and uh hopefully we'll send their students to to magnet schools. Um 2020 to 26 um we are growing to the point where national certification for magnet schools of America comes into being. So that's beyond the merit award. And I mentioned our merit awards a moment ago. That's an annual process where our schools apply. Um they write a narrative for these awards. The certification process is a 4-year process that is evidence-based. So they have to provide evidence. And and I think this is where the important work that we do with our academics partners, our area superintendent, and our school leaders come into play because that's where we've really unpacked our school improvement plan and making sure that alignment is happening um with the magnet program and the

academics um program as well. Our own superintendent Catty Moore was named uh MSA superintendent of the year in 2022. Um and um at that point we have still now we have three current INSAP grants. Our 2021 is project Nexus that we'll be talking a little bit more about and we'll share some stories from our community and then 2022 is our project synergy and then 2023 is project elevate in our eastern wake area. Um and by 2023 we then had a total and still today of 61 magnet programs. So when I talk about the the system impact I think one of the important things to note is that we are absolutely a part of the um district's priorities in terms of strategic alignment. So our 2028 district goal of 90% of students meeting or exceeding grade level proficiency is absolutely a goal within our magnet programs too. We work with our school leaders, our magnet coordinators, our magnet teaching team, and all teachers in the school to really drive home the the role the magnet plays in um trying to help find those passion and interest in all of our students and connecting them um to school, connecting them to reduce the number of absences so that because they're enjoying school more or um research tells us that discipline goes down when kids are excited about school. And I know probably most of us would say we'd really like to be back in school because this virtual learning is hard. Virtual meetings are are hard and we know the value that our kids have from engaging with each other. But making sure that that those goals are focused around our students growth, closing gaps, looking at those subgroups. That's one of the things that Magnet Programs does really

intentionally. And you'll see that um expanded upon in a little bit with Project Nexus and how we're really looking at those demographic subgroups and how we're targeting our supports, whether that's professional learning or the work with our magnet coordinators and magnet principles um to to support that work. Our community focus around student choice. We're in an environment now that's much more competitive than it used to be. Uh we talk about market share in not just Wake County but across the country and our student age population is decreasing. More and more choices are available for our parents. So making sure that those are high quality choices that they're innovative that our families understand those. And we'll talk a little bit more about that shortly. But one of the things that we're noting as we're doing our mini fairs and our um magnet fair is that um we've worked with an NCATE demographer Dr. Nathan Dollar to talk about our families who are moving in. And one of the things he tells us is that we have more and more families moving in from our northern states and then internationally. And what we are finding is that many of our families don't know how to access public education in North Carolina or in the south. So it's before we can even talk about our magnet programs and how you apply, it's about how does public education work here. So really educating our community with the choices that are available to them. It's really important. Um, Tammani Anderson, Pal, Tasha Haynes, um, all of our team members do an incredible job of working with our schools and our families, our parents, um, talking to them one- on- one, making sure that they're have the opportunity to ask questions and get support for that magnet application. And then making sure that our schools are welcoming places, that we are creating community of learners where all

students have a sense of belonging. And we talk a lot in our team that that isn't just about um making sure they have a seat at the table or that they are welcomed, but making sure that it's asset focused, that what assets they bring. If it's speaking another language, if they're global experiences, that they're able to share that with their peers, um that we're finding ways to support that in our growth for all of our students. So, um that welcoming isn't just a byproduct, but it is absolutely intentional to making sure our students um engage with each other um from various different backgrounds. So, we talk a lot about return on investment and I I think it's important that we think about um I mentioned earlier we're going to share some quantitative data um as well as the qualitative and really thinking about that return on investment um beyond traditional metrics. So, we look at four critical domains and that's fair access. So removing barriers to highquality learning. And I mentioned part of what we're finding is educating our community, our our new community of parents and members who are not familiar with Wake County and um enrollment processes here, but then making sure that we're also addressing transportation barriers or um long distance rides. So, there are lots of factors that come into that play as we're trying to think about fair access um leading to those academic outcomes that we want for all of our students, that academic excellence. And and here again is where that alignment between our magnet programs and our academic staff. Um Dr. Hill was has been a great addition to the team and and we're

working closely with the the team um and Michelle Woodson's team, Lisa Ared's team to make sure that we're integrating and aligning the work that our departments are doing so that we are um trying to sing from the same song book when we're going in our schools and working with um our school leaders making sure that community choice continues to be available and mentioned how competitive that environment has become. And I've said many times, I I am glad to compete with anybody you put us up against. Our our schools, our leaders, our our students are thriving. They're doing an excellent job. But sometimes that playing field isn't level. And part of what we have to make sure is we're educating our families on what those choices are for them and how the high quality education regardless of which school they choose in Wake County is a powerful public school option for them. Um, and that again is where our magnet programs become part of that district strategy that it's not just um promoting the magnet programs, but that byproduct of that is that we're promoting all of our schools in Wake County. That we're um elevating that innovation across different schools and different communities. leading to that important component of student growth which is built around critical thinking, collaboration, creativity. You know, we used to say these were soft skills and and they aren't anymore. We're calling them essential skills now because um many of those jobs we've been saying for years aren't even developed yet. But when we think about the use of AI and when we think about all the different technology that's come about just in the last five years, it's no telling what our students are going to have to know and learn. So we spend a lot of time teaching the process the the way of thinking rather

than just the content. So that becomes an important part of the innovative programming as well. So, I think um we're going to take a break for just a moment and let you hear from a student. Um as I said, we have created some videos. These folks were supposed to be with us in person. And Cher Swanson, if if it's okay with you, we're going to mix these in um throughout the presentation, so they're not all backtoback, but we did have planned for folks to join us and speak. So, if it's okay if we play the video.

Absolutely.

Okay. But this first one is from Hamilton Cooper. I may need to wait till I can get it presented to us. Give us just a minute. My name is Hamilton Cooper and I'm an eighth grade scholar here at East Car. And today I'm going to talk to you all about the the great opportunities we have here at our school. One of the opportunities we had here at our school last year was when our seventh grade Spanish classes and eighth grade of course went to a traditional Mexican restaurant where we made some really good friends.

We're not saying Spanish with some native Spanish speakers and we of course with our friends

that really helped me feel better in my uh ability to speak Spanish through actual Spanish speakers and not just to talk in prompts through them. Another Spanish field trip we went on that year was to the zoo. That zoo really just helped us with speaking a Spanish saying animals names in Spanish and it just really had

Are you not hearing my

I don't think we were able to see the screen Dr.

L. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

All right. So, we will save these and um share them with you at another time.

I believe we could hear and we just could not see them. So, I'm not sure if it might be sharing a different tab or or whatnot. Dr. Lan, you may have remuted. Uh, so if you're talking, we can't hear you.

Thank you.

And then you'll need to turn off the second.

We got multiple different computers going here trying to navigate. Um, I can't I'm sorry. Turn that one up. Are you there? Can you hear us now? Can I get a thumbs up? Good. Thank you, Dr. Taylor. Thank you, Chair Swanson. Um, as I was saying, we have um multiple family members. We have some parents and a school leader and a student. Um, and we'd love to share those with you. So, we'll make sure we send those um videos to you. I I know the board loves to hear directly from our community members. So, um I'm sorry that that's did not work for you today, but we will make sure to get that in your hands. Part of what our student um Hamlin Cooper was sharing with us was how important um the magnet theme at East Kerry around global studies have been for him and his learning in his academics. Um East Kerry was just recently awarded our one of our schools of excellence and so we are very pleased

with them um that they're making such a big difference in our students lives. I think it's important that as we think about our magnets here that it is um not enrichment for a few but that they are engines of innovation for the entire district. As I've mentioned, um I noted earlier our core principles are reduce high concentrations of poverty, um promote diversity through school integration, u maximize use of school facilities, and and when we start thinking about um the impact of that, it doesn't just come into play when the city and the county um systems merged with many schools underenrolled in our urban core, which is where our magnets started. But it's also continued in the high growth of some of our um western wake areas. We simply can't build schools quickly enough and being able to provide family um innovative options. Um Tammani always says that's a hook, right? Our programming is the hook that brings our families in. So, we want to make sure those are high quality hooks um for them and it's something that will um cause them to drive or to ride a bus um for an hour or so each way. Um, what's highlighted is a fifth bullet that is not part of our current principles, but I wanted to highlight it because it's an emphasis that the magnet team has had over the course of the last five years in particular, and that is really hearing from our community that what they want are K12 pathways. They want to know where their students are going to go for elementary, for middle, for high school. And that's been some of the feedback we've received from our families that are making choices to go to charter is we know where they're going to go K12. So we have tried to adapt to that and making sure the families are aware of the STEM options

or the international balorate options whatever those options are that they have those available elementary middle and high that doesn't mean they have to stay in that pathway. if they explore STEM and they've decided they're more of a global learner, they can always apply to a different school. But it does give parents um some comfort in knowing that those options exist and that they're available. So trying to be very intentional with that. The thematic pathways you've heard us talk about our STEM pathway um problem based or project-based learning with real world applications. We have international balora at the elementary which are our primary years program, middle school, middle years program and at high school with our diploma program and our career pathway programs and that one's currently at garner magnet high school. Our global studies with language immersion. You're going to hear from TA in just a minute about more of those um that information. Visual and performing arts and then our early college partnerships which we mentioned earlier. So, I've tried to set the stage that that Wake County is the pioneer in this, but there's also things that we have learned through the research, through the text about what gives us that competitive edge and and those kind of are highlighted here in terms of that systemwide strength. I I think the fact that there is a dedicated magnet department that's part of our strategic initiatives reporting to um our chief of staff alongside our strategic planning that we are working collaboratively with our academics team, our our special education team, our student support services, um our transportation folks, our student assignment folks. Um, I say often that our our magnet folks are touching every component of the district, even child nutrition and facilities, um, almost on a daily basis.

That within those 61 schools, there's probably very few areas, departments that that we aren't touching, human resources, budget, and finance. And so, um, we have the opportunity not only to be collaborative with those departments, but also model what we believe collaboration should look like in support of those student outcomes that we've mentioned. Um but also making sure that um as we're noticing enrollment shift or competition from our charters vouchers now um we start to adapt. you know, making sure our programs are truly innovative, that they are high quality. And and part of that are the measurements or the metrics that we want to share today and making sure that our family and our community know we are monitoring that for high quality and that we are preparing our students um for whatever the future holds for them, whether that's their next steps in middle school or high school or a global economy. Um, I I often share the story about my my own son who um went to NC State but grew up in a in a rural community and didn't have access to the language immersion programs that our students here in Wake County have, but um his professors at NC State told him he needed to learn Chinese and he said, "I don't need to learn Chinese. That will never help me." and he's been working for a small rural North Carolina company and he just got back from his 15th trip to China. And I have said to him, you probably should have learned Chinese. I think he has learned some now. So, the advantage that we have here is that we're providing those opportunities in elementary as early as elementary school um for our students. Um, I think everybody is aware of our specialized um, pathways, the

theme-based schools, but one of the things the questions that we get from time to time is, "Are you still teaching the standards?" And the answer to that is always yes. Like everything we do is theme focused but aligned to North Carolina standards. So hopefully when you walk our schools or when you um visit them, you will see um uh student work that's connected not just to standards, but how they're learning it through that theme, the global theme or the the STEM theme. And I I I think um Dr. Taylor, you and Dr. Robinson were out at Khan Magnet Elementary School just last Friday watching our students have a chance to interact with some astronauts on the International Space Station and bringing that hands-on opportunity to our students, having them ask questions and and be prepared and um those sorts of things are constantly those resources that we're looking to our community partners for and making sure we're engaging in that um one of our videos that we're not able to share is um our parents are talking about how important that is in them choosing a school. Um that they have the opportunity to see those real world applications beyond just what content they're learning, but they get to apply those in real world settings. And we couldn't do that without our community partners. We've mentioned that the K12 pathways and that you know our families can make options based on their their choices. So I want to lead into next introducing Tila again and talking a little bit more specifically about our our project Nexus schools. And this is really important because this is the federal grant um that is ending this year. Um it runs through March 30th. Um, so this was a 2021 awarded grant, MSAP magnet program assistance grant to Dillard Drive Elementary, Diller Drive

Middle, East Kerry, and Smith. Um, so I'm going to let Tila talk about um what's happening in our four schools, share a little bit more perspective that some of our leaders were going to share, and then share the data that we're learning from our programs. Tila, good afternoon everyone. Thank you. Um, so as you can see on the screen there for the Nexus grant, we've got four schools and they are all involved in global studies and some form of language acquisition. So we have Dillard Drive Magnet Elementary and Smith Magnet Elementary and both of those have dual language immersion programs there. Um, in two more years, the Diller Drive Magnet Elementary program, their immersion students will be entering into sixth grade and so we'll add another immersion program in the middle school. So, we're growing those K12 pathways like Dr. Lane explained. Um, at East Cary Magna Middle, we have world language, daily world language with Mandarin and Spanish. Um, as well as the global studies program. Um and then each of those um the Diller magnets and the Smith and Diller Drive Elementary, they all have daily world language as well as the immersion. If students don't opt into the immersion program, then they will be able to acquire language because we've seen so many benefits and because that's one of the things that the community has asked us about. So those are our four schools that we wrote into a grant. Um, we called it Project Nexus because Nexus means connection and we believe that growing global students and teaching them how to speak with people from different places and letting them have the confidence that they're able to do that um was going to build powerful con connections not just in our community but out into the state and beyond. So, it it's been really exciting to work these schools and then the subsequent MSP grants that I've had the privilege to work with two other colleagues as they're building out these programs um investing these seed monies in programs. So, it's exciting work. I I love it. Um so, here are some nuts and

bolts of the MSAP grant. Um for for Nexus, we started off with $14.1 million over a five-year period. Um and those those 141 million dollars are earmarked to do three or four things. Um we want to improve student achievement. Um we want to build learning communities that represent um the community with which um from which these students come. um we want to um make sure that we spend the money wisely so that by the time the grant ends that we are able to sustain the programs forward which is something that Wake County which you all have done such a beautiful job in in supporting us in that work. Um on the next slide I'll show you what we've done over the course of I don't know some 20 odd years in terms of MSAP grants but this was just the snippet for Nexus that we started off with 14.1 million and it's roughly three $ three.5 million a year that we receive to implement these programs. Every year it gets a little bit less as the programs and the sustainability continue. I want to jump in real quick Tila and just give Tila a shout out for her work with our MSAP grants. So, um the last grant that closed out was Cornerstone and that was with um Milbrook Magnet Elementary, Lincoln Heights Magnet Elementary, um Bug Ele Magnet Elementary and Southeast Raleigh. And as you know, last year Lincoln Heights and Milbrook won national awards at the U Magnet Schools of America conference. But we don't send money back to the federal government. when they give us 141.1 million, we spend $14.1 million. So, a shout out to Tila. I think at the end of the cornerstone grant, we had $300 that the federal government pulled back. Um, and that was just overestimating, so we didn't go over. So, I just want to say when she says we're really um

focused on how we spend this money, she means it. Thank you. So in our next slide, you can take just a few moments to peruse that you can see since 199596 that Wake County Public Schools has received 103.6 million over time. um which again to me is like a um I can't think of the right word but it's a relationship that we have with the department of ed where they are able to um provide us with this funding um and then we build programs and we do it so well and they sustain that they they feel comfortable giving us that same funding the next year if we write grants that are strong enough to receive that funding. And so you can see over time that we have built we have built that capacity um in the magnet office and it has been as I said just a lovely thing to see the benefits that the students are able to receive when they get to be a part of these new programs that we're that we're doing. So hooray for our sustainability. Um the next the next little piece is is the one of the primary foundations of three of the four schools that I serve right now and that's the dual language immersion program. And you can take a moment to peruse the slide um as to how those dual language immersion programs benefit all students. Um you can see um Diller Drive Elementary and Smith Magna Elementary were the two schools that were added on to already successful immersion programs. You can see Hodra, Jeffrey's Grove, Style, Oberlin, and Brotten were the primary um starters for these programs to show that they can work. And they were so popular, the students did so well that when we asked the community, what kinds of programs do you need now? They said, we want more language programs, we want more immersion programs. Um and it is because um students who are learning a new language um initially their brains are are struggling to get the two languages

and then by the time they reach third grade they make impressive academic gains commensurate or over what their peers do. Um not to mention the fact that it gives students co uh confidence. It helps prepare them for real world jobs. It it it helps contribute to what Dr. Lang talked about as those essential skills. Um and these programs are open to all students. So, so we get to validate and affirm students identities and cultures. So, we have enjoyed building these language programs and hope to be continue to do so. And the next type of language acquisition that is part of our programs are the daily world language. And it's daily by the American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages Standards where you have at least 90 minutes a week of of acquiring world language. Two of our schools give families the options of daily French and Spanish and the other two give the option of daily Spanish or Mandarin. So, we have world language teachers that we have funded that have built their curriculum, built their assessments, learned how to assess uh assess their students, differentiate by abilities um and serve their learning needs K6, excuse me, K5, so that when they go into the next level program, um those students who have had more daily world language are able to progress at uh to the to the content that they need rather than learning the same language over over and over again. Again, um I wish you could have seen Hamilton talk about what he has liked about world language from East Kerry. He did such a great job. One of the things that he said was that he now has the ability, he's earned two um high school world language credits at East Kerry. So when he goes on into Athens, which is his next school of choice, um he can go and pursue other things that he's interested in doing because he has those all tucked away. So, those are some of the benefits of of the world language programs. And and last but not least was our cute

picture from Diller Drive Magnet Elementary School where they welcome everybody. Um, and as Dr. Lane said, we'll be able to share um share from share with you um a magnet coordinator's perspective of what MSAP funding has done for his school, Smith Magnet Elementary, that he fondly calls Smith Magnet University. Um and then the principal of Diller Drive Magnet Middle, Margaret Feldman, talks about what she what her students have been able to do as well as two wonderful parents from um Dillard Drive Elementary. So I will turn it back over to Dr. Lane so she can tell you some more about what students are gaining from these programs.

I think before we go there, I just want to to mention um you know, Dr. Taylor, you and I have had conversations about our world language of programs and and the possibility of expanding those across the district. So, part of what we do is listen to our community. So, when we do our magnet application, there's always a survey that goes out to all of the families that apply through the magnet application asking them year after year, what additional programs might you like to see or what innovative programs would you like for us to consider? And um every year it comes back world language um language immersion is at the the top of that list. So we are doing a little bit more intentional focus groups this year on asking our community and we'll be sharing out that information um across the the district um asking if if we expand were to expand our world language offerings, what might that look like and where might um those options go? you know, our office is magnet and curriculum enhancement. So, that's not necessarily suggesting that we'll be adding more magnet schools, but we always are looking at how we might support our learners um through language. Um, as we know, some of our schools have very high populations of um

English as their second language. So, where might that benefit? Um, but that's certainly something that we're continuing to look at because the benefits um, speak for themselves in terms of the research. I think it's also important to note and you may be aware that there is a state level office that supports dual language immersion and that's where much of the research and the data comes from that Tila mentioned about those third grade advancement in in scores. Um, I think the thing that we want to make sure of is that we are intentional about bringing diverse students into these programs and having families recognize that even though um, English may be their second language and and we're teaching a program in Spanish or we're teaching a program in Mandarin, what they're learning absolutely helps their native language skills as well as learning a second language. So, um, that's kind of where the what students gain comes from is not only are they prepared for those, um, careers, the next steps, um, but they're developing that, um, content knowledge, the the through the standards, through the theme learning, um, tapping in, as I said earlier, to those passions and interest, um, making sure that we're teaching those, um, essential skills. I think we used to call them 21st century, and we are well past that now. but um our essential skills and then making sure that that global competence is part of something that we're celebrating and that we're intentional about the interconnectedness um not just the cultural awareness but the cultural acceptance and honoring of that as we mentioned earlier and we do that through language um I don't know if the the previous slides if you really noticed that you know we talk about dual language as if it's just the language component donut, but it's very much about the culture, understanding the culture of the students in these

particular programs. Um, and regardless of uh whether the students in an immersion program in a school, global studies throughout the school helps them see how that culture impacts. Um, so we like to think of the language in terms of um intensive studies, our dual language, the daily world language is is more exposure. We have some schools that offer four and five different languages. Um so there are different levels that parents can opt into um to learn both those language and cultural skills.

Dr. Lane, this is

going back to the results the the metrics and this is coming out of the NSAP Nexus evaluation. So anytime we have a federal grant, we are required as part of the grant to um have an outside evaluator. So that evaluator comes in and meets with our school leaders, meets with parents, um staff members, and with students. And here you see the the results of some of those um some of that evaluation. Um 8.9 percentage points in community representation. That's an increase. So again, trying to be intentional about inviting diverse students into the program. Uh deeper understanding from our students that the schools are reflective of the Wake County community um and that we're successfully increasing that representation um across all of our schools.

Dr. Yes, I think Dr. Hill was trying to interject

and Dr. Lang, I just wanted you all to be conscious of our time to allow our board members to give some questions. And so we really want to um give about maybe two more minutes with the presentation and then move into questions because we do have another presentation after this. But thank you

ladies for a very thorough job.

Okay, we'll move really quickly then. Um so this data you can have take a look at this again comes from the nexus evaluation. Um, why is it not moving? This is a larger study um that talks about magnet programs in general. This is our Wake County analysis from a Harvard study and some of our um folks in our data research and accountability department contributed to this. At the last slide, the information is available for reference. We mentioned this importance about looking at the student subgroups. So the data shows that it does boost the academic achievement for all of our learners. School climate. Um here you see information here. Let's move through pretty quickly. So we'll just give this to you. you certainly have the slide slideshow um about the data points, the return on investment. Um we're trying to make sure that our metrics align with what we're hoping um to see for our students. I want to go back one slide real quick. Um this is the last thing and then I'll open it up for questions. But I I think it's important that we not only share with you where we are, but that we ask for what we need. And so what we need from you as as our board and our community sponsors are to make sure that we continue this investment that um we're allocating district resources to these specialized instruction and proven practices that allows us to continue providing professional development for our teachers and leaders. Um looking at at program expansion where it's deemed necessary and then making sure we are accountable um for those metrics. So,

um, we just ask you to consider that and and certainly if there's information here that, um, that you don't feel like you have, reach out. We're glad to provide any additional information. Um, these are the data sources of where this information comes from. And then I'll just leave it at that and open it up for questions. Thank you, Dr. Hill, for reminding us of the Thank you um Dr. Lane and um the screen for it seems like everyone

yes

yes thank you all for this presentation and um sorry I'm trying to get to my notes here um I will recognize board members for comments first but we'll do one round of questions and comments um and then followup will be on the second round and so just make sure that as you're raising your questions, um, keep your camera on and we'll use the hand raise hand feature the way we did in the policy. Uh, we'll start with Miss Gordon and then Miss Edmonds.

Thank you. Um, thank you all for this great um, really in-depth detailed presentation. Um I want to preface my my question with um how much I know the work that you all do Dr. Lane and your team and you know magnet school principles and teachers I know how much goes into um providing our students with the best and the the you know top-notch. I myself, you know, you you said in the beginning we have some staff who um are recip of, you know, magnet um the magnet programs and I myself have been one. Um and I have a

child who actually is um has been afforded the opportunity to attend a mag one of our magnet programs. Um but my my question um is around you know in the beginning you talked about you know systems thinking and continuing with the history and in thinking about um you know the the 50th anniversary of Wake County Public Schools. Um, we know that a lot of our communities have changed drastically. And so I think my question is around how how are the magnet schools keeping up with that change, being mindful with that change, um, making sure that we are really meeting the needs of the um, the base children who who attend those magnet programs. Um and then just around fair access. Um you know, a family like mine who lives in the heart of southeast Raleigh, um probably one of the highest um or lowest socioeconomic um areas of the county. um how are we making sure that those families are not following falling in that 5% um that 5% that is allowed to be in the priority um to attend a magnet program I think you're muted Dr. Lane, you're muted.

Can you hear me now?

Yeah.

Good. Okay. Um, great questions. in terms of change um especially around our base students. I I think one of the

things is that we're constantly asking our school leaders how we can help in terms of what's supports that they are seeing in their schools. I I just want to go back to the the primary role of magnet programs originally and and the way Wake County has always cited magnet programs is that we are citing those programs in base areas where gives the students opportunities and access to programs they wouldn't have had otherwise. Um so the 5% the the um the priorities in terms of those magnet priorities are something that we constantly are talking about and looking at as those communities change. Um certainly we know gentrification has happened making sure that we have greater access. Um so looking holistically uh we can't provide every student um or every school via a magnet program but how can we intentionally focus those supports in particular areas. So as we're looking to add new magnet schools um there's some key criteria that we're looking at in some of the um neediest communities. So I I think about Eastern Wake and um the newest grants that we have there in our Windendells and our Zebulunans and East Wake Magna High School. So, um it it is a um pain point I think to be honest as you're saying that we as a district need to look at strategically and constantly ask those questions whether it's do we change those um percentages or how do we make sure families are more aware of their options. So, I I appreciate the question. I don't think we have the perfect answer. I I think we are always open to ideas from our families and from our community and striving to meet those

needs strategically as a system. Um but there's still some pain points and I I think that's part of where I was talking with our team today that the process isn't perfect, right? like we we strive to do the best we can do in our community with the resources that we're given, but that doesn't mean we aren't constantly asking questions of our community and our um our families and our students. How can we improve upon that? Um so, thank you for that question. I think it's very near and dear to all of our hearts to make sure we have great opportunities for all of our students regardless of where they live and regardless of their zip code. So thank you.

Thank you Dr. Lane. I think that is the that is the spirit and the heart of my question. I just want to make sure that we are not um you know we are we say that magnet schools are um are in place to make sure that all students have access and I just want to make sure that we are very you know being aware because of the the times have changed so much that we are not actually limiting access.

So thank you.

Absolutely. Uh, and I I think just asking the question as we continue to wrestle with that is very important. So, I appreciate you calling that out.

Uh, Miss Edmonds. And then, uh, I believe Dr. Job had a question, then Dr. Inc.,

um, so Dr. Lane, you said the Nexus grant ends in 2026. What do we know about the magnet office in general and NSAP in g in general? Is that to our understanding one of the departments from within the department of ed that is going to get moved into another department in the federal government? What do we know about that forecast? Um so this is what I know from our colleagues

in um Washington DC mostly with my work in magnet schools of America that they're focused right now on higher ed. So the K12 movement has not started happening. The good news is that we are getting reports from our Department of Ed um program officer, our colleagues, they're still very much um involved in the work. The exciting part is that MSAP has maintained its funding of $139 million in both um the House and the Senate budget. Um so that advocacy has been paying off. I think we're all just waiting to see if those transitions do actually happen. The news reports are giving differing accounts of that. Um, our colleagues, our technical assistance team, they're moving forward with our normal supports. Um, so I'm hopeful that it's not going to change. I I think right now the the greatest excitement is around that funding continuing which means that our grants continue to be funded. So beyond Nexus, the Synergy and the Elevate grants because we have two and three more years on those grants that they will continue to be funded. Um but also if it stays in the budget, there's a possibility of a new INSAP grant um a year or so down the road. So, I don't know that that answers your question, but as as definitively as I can tell you, it's still up in the air.

Um, I have Dr. Jim and then Dr. Ing and Miss Cfield.

I think Dr. Ing was before me. I don't know if he wants to go first.

I have the list that I was going to say. Sorry. Um anyway, uh thank you so much

for this presentation. Um and I am very excited especially about the the focus on global languages. Um my question is actually if if anything in here is being focused on transportation. Um it's kind of going off of uh Miss Bordon's question about access and especially if these programs that we're going to continue to focus on are really being built in the western part of the county. Um, are is there any more resource or funding or or anything that is being directed towards helping make transportation more direct out to them?

Um, I would love to say yes to your question. I think part of the transportation issue is a Wake County, not a Wake County public school issue in terms of um you know, many of our similar districts with the size of school systems and and magnet programs have stronger public transportation. Um there are some of us who are working internally to try to support that. um particularly in a place like Eastern Wake where we're working with um the transportation network in that particular area to transport students to Wake Tech. Um we are looking for lots of options when it comes for transportation. Um and working with our transportation team looking at um we spend time every year working with the transportation folks on express stops and where we might move some express stops. So that is an annual conversation as well of how we can create greater access for our families. Um we're we're encouraging families to carpool. Uh we're trying to help our magnet coordinators um put together carpool lists. So trying to be as innovative as we can in some of these environments um to address some of those barriers. But yes, you are correct. That

is that is a real um another pain point of access for our families in our community. And as we continue to get larger, that continues to to impact that opportunity. We It pains me to

No, I was just going to say, Dr. Joe, I just wanted to add that u uh that transportation issue is is exacerbated by not only uh a growing uh magnet program where we supported through transportation but also the issues that are impacting transportation in general, meaning we have fewer drivers than we did a decade ago even though we have more students. Uh and so um you know the district makes a conscious effort uh to include transportation in these decisions, but uh as the dynamics change, that's going to continue to be um a challenge for the district.

Uh Dr. Inc.

Thank you. Um uh thank you for the presentation and you know um I I I'm happy to hear the the success stories um and uh the things that you wanted to present but with the uh video presentation. I I I'm looking forward to hearing some some of those. Um and and I just kind of want to piggy back to Miss Gordon's point too. um you know in terms of access and you you know you mentioned the word seed money and and I you know I I you know when you have seeds you know you spread the seeds around and and I'm hoping that you know the seeds will will will come to fruition you know uh outside of the the the boundaries of a particular school. So, you know, I I I'm glad to hear that at the end of your

presentation, there's some um uh desire at least to try to figure out how to um implement some of the successes in your in the magnets programs to translate it into other schools. It may not be a magnet program but certainly something that can be um um may uh a part of other schools so that uh you know we can certainly have other other kids benefit from the success of the magnet programs uh in you know a particular magnet school um and and that's kind of you know looking at your core principles and um and and and understanding kind of you know where the balance is and I think when when we talk to or when we hear from our parents um a lot of times you know all they all the core principle the only core principle that they they hear is the um provide innovative expanded education opportunities um and so um and and that's of course that's the carrot that's the thing that drives the magnet um uh uh programs um however we are coming. We often come across the um where these um the demand outweighs the supply. And so, you know, we have to kind of think outside the box and see how we can translate some of the success stories from our magnet programs and to implement it into other into our other schools so that everybody can can have a share of that success. Thank you.

Thank you. I I appreciate that point and u one of the things I couldn't help but think about as you were saying that is how intentional we've been in writing new grant applications to use the successes of previous schools and how we're taking what's happening in our grant schools to expand that out. Um,

you know, charters were originally designed to be incubators of success, right? Like they were supposed to be creating that that innovation that then they were sharing out and it never really happened. So, um, it is an opportunity for us to learn what our families want, what's working for them. And, um, in many cases, you're starting to see a lot of those things become mainstream. I think about computer science graduation credit. I think about our arts graduation credits. Um like I I think about the the state's bi literacy seal like a lot of those things started out as unique magnet programs but are um whole district you know schools touching all of our schools. So I think that point is well taken. Thank you.

Uh Miss Coughfield and Mr. Hagert.

Thank you very much um for that very detailed uh uh presentation. That's a lot of information and I think it's it's helpful. Um, you did mention um that um you were hoping that we would continue to keep the funding for the magnet program um and everything that you were covering. Do you have an overall um an overall number of what that is that we need to worry and keep in mind worry about and keep in mind? Um, in terms of annual budget, I just want to be clear on the question.

Well, as we as we as we continue to, you know, go towards budget and we're thinking about these things just to keep in mind what is it that we are need to consider.

Great, great question and I appreciate that. I don't have a dollar amount right in front of me, but I will tell you that the the priority are thy positions like these grants fund school-based positions to be able to implement the magnet theme with fidelity. Um, and many times those

positions are supporting the professional learning for whole staff, for teachers. Um, so I I'm not sure that's specific enough for you, but that is really where we um Wake County, our our board of education, our our district leadership um have committed to maintaining uh a portion of those positions in those schools. And that's where sustainability is built from. So it becomes um about the the not just the position itself but the quality of the folks in those positions that have been trained that then are training new teachers as they come. So so staffing is the the key element.

Okay.

Mrs. Cfield, I'll add to that that it is about uh program continuity and sustainability when a grant has been written. And um I can tell you that the board uh and the district has made uh that commitment. Uh but we also recognize that a lot has changed in terms of uh the expectations of of funding uh in several locations both state, local, and federal. Uh and so those are the things that we'd have to consider uh when we look at program continuity. But what I can tell you is that uh programs that we have now uh those commitments uh that the that the district committed to uh that was before much of the instability that we have now. So as Dr. Lane has said that's one one thing that we would have to continue to revisit uh as the landscape changes but uh but the district has made a considerable commitment to magnet programs. So you would say that the majority of what we need funding for is the roles um for for the program not not as much resources but more the roles that we have the positions. Yes. And I I want to give a specific example when it comes to our nexus

school that's our world language. So um we have to hire specific world language teachers for the varying areas where students come in. So imagine at a middle school as you're continuing the um dual language immersion program, those students are coming from an elementary school where they've had six years of language instruction, but they're also coming from other elementary schools where they've had no language instruction. So you've got to be able to differentiate the needs of the students and that creates um personnel needs for some of those programs. So yes, it is it is the positions um that support that thematic integration.

Okay. Do we have any idea how many roles there are?

Miss Coffee, we'll have one more then we'll I'll queue in for the next round of questioning. So we'll that way you can um continue but this will be want to make sure we're spreading this the rounds of questions equitably across the board.

Sure. I I think to answer your question it depends upon the school and how we've allocated those positions. So when Miss Georges was talking earlier about daily world language compared to language immersion, those needs um sometimes create greater levels um of need because the dual language immersion programs are taught together. So it it depends upon the programs. I think Dr. Taylor, you have that specific budget request um that is part of our um budget ask that list all of those the actual number of positions.

Thank you.

Thank you,

Mr. Hagerty.

Thank you, Chair Swanson. So, you know, those of you who know me and have followed my advocacy on this board know that I've been a strong supporter of our magnet school programs. I'm a magnet

school student myself and my children have gone through our magnet schools K through 12. But as I hear this presentation and some of the questions, I really think we need to level set with the funding reality that we are going to be ex experiencing this year. And when I hear talk about expanding magnet transportation, expanding dual language, and some of the professional development requirements needed, I'm really, really concerned. We are going to have fewer dollars per student to spread around the entire district. And if we want to keep a healthy and robust magnet program, I think what we need to be doing is start looking at efficiencies. We know that there are some magnet themes that are very popular and draw students from around the county. But we also know that sometimes it's not the theme, but it's the school themselves, the school itself, right? And even offering the exact same theme at a different school does not generate the same number of applications, right? I think a lot of that magnet school's success and popularity is determined by the leadership at the individual school that helps build its reputation. So, you know, I think we are committed to magnet schools and magnet schools are one of the things that make Wake County Public Schools one of the best public school systems in the country. But I think we have to accept and prepare for the reality that we are going to have to try to produce the same or better results with less going forward. And if that means that we have a school that cannot generate magnet applications, we have to investigate the theme. We have to investigate the leadership or we have to consider demagnetizing that

school and maybe trying to use those dollars to bolster the schools that are having success. And we need to look at magnet school results not just in terms of applications and the number of seats we fill, but also in the academic performance of those students, the base students and the magnet students that are attending those schools. And that way we can see are we really just moving kids around or are we giving them the best highest quality educational experience. So I mean you know Dr. Dr. Lane, I commend you and your staff for all the great work that you've done and all the great results that you have been able to generate, but with shaky federal prospects out there with other budget pressures coming from lack of, you know, adequate state funding and, you know, a finite amount of support that we're going to get from the county. I I really, and this is maybe more toward my fellow board members, we really need to be looking at what we can do to make our magnet school programs more efficient to keep them strong and healthy rather than than looking for areas that are going to cost more money that we just don't have. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you.

May I May I chime in real quick, Chair Son? Um Absolutely, Mr. Hadley. Thank you for for that. And I just want to say we we're feeling that too. So part of what we are doing is we have an evaluation planned for some of our magnet programs to really look at exactly what you're saying, what's working beyond just the applications, but evaluating holistically that program. um because of the cost, we can't do many at a time, but the goal is to break down exactly what you're saying and really look at the return on investment, where it's working, where it's not. And I really appreciate your comment about leadership at the school. Um, I think that's a a place where um our area superintendents

have been very intentional in the last several years of bringing me and the team magnet team in to make sure we're hiring the best possible leaders um in these schools and that they know what they're getting into um in terms of the expectations of the work. So um I I agree with you. We recognize that that funding is not where it's been for all of our public schools and that we have to do things differently. So, trying to to think ahead and be prepared for that is where this evaluation came from for this year.

Um, Vice Chair Hershey, did you have a question or comment for this round?

Uh, no. I'm I'm good. I'm just listening.

Okay. Um so we'll go to sec next round of questionings. Uh Miss Gordon,

thank you. Um Chair Swanson, um I think um board member Hagerty uh really spoke on my my next question and probably a point. Um, you know, I know that historically the district has committed to um making a significant um or supported magnet school significantly. Um but I also you know also want to level set and make sure that we are um you know staying aware and keeping at the forefront that that given all of the funding changes and um a lot of our you know difficult decision- making that we're going to have to make around funding. Um, I'm I'm just asking like how are we, you know, thinking differently and innovatively about how we can continue to serve magnet students and keep these magnet programs afloat? And I think um, Mr. Hagerty, you know, hit the nail right on the head around one possible

solution being looking at the the efficiency of these programs. Um but any are there any other ways um that we can look you know innovatively and differently around our magnet programs?

So yes I I think um if we are modeling or practicing what we preach about innovation we are certainly using that to think about how we look at our programs. So, um, looking for, for example, I just thinking about our world language teachers and trying to work with our colleges to build a pipeline um for some of those locally um for some of the local folks or um not looking outside for some of the um professional learning opportunities. I think trying to look internally. I would like to say that we've been looking at that efficiency all along. So I mentioned um Miss George East the the conscientiousness with which we approach budget uh and we take that very seriously um in this office. So, we are very fortunate to have um strong budgets, but we also feel like we are required, honored to serve our public and that in doing so, we're looking at all those expenses through the lens of what is the benefits for the students and and the community. So, um yes, and I think we're looking at our neighbors. Uh we're asking questions in many communities that are facing similar challenges of what's working there. Uh we mentioned transportation. What what can we do to be innovative in terms of thinking about um transportation impacts rather than just always asking um for more dollars. So, um I think we

certainly because of what's happened with federal funding, um had to stop and take a breath for several months, as you well know, um not being sure we were going to receive that federal funding and and what that might look like moving forward. So, it's certainly top of mind for us to consider those things. I think that's where um the evaluation comes in. And that's where um I think the collaboration between the departments um is an important part of that work as well that we're all working toward providing opportunities for our students that enhance their um performance and I don't mean performance just in terms of test scores but their their success um in their communities in their schools. So it it's it's not an easy time when we think about um finances. So yes, we're trying to be very conscientious of what's happening around us. Um I also will say that we are very intentional of looking for other sources of funding too. We applied for a state grant, workforce and innovation grant that Carol Magnet Middle School received. So, um, we try to think beyond just what's been successful for us and where we might and I appreciate our our grants team, um, and their work collaborating with us on on looking for those opportunities. So, trying to um, think where we can do things differently. Um, I think our motto is see things differently. So, we are absolutely trying to do that um, in all of these conversations. Thank you. And I I think um both my I echo the words I've heard from my colleagues about this and I I do know that um you know our magnet schools are a

great way to help drive and be innovative and and bring communities together that may not necessarily um have the opportunity to learn in in various communities. But I also am aware that um we also have to reevaluate and and reboot and do all the things that we can to continue to make Wake County Public Schools a strong and uh robust school system. So, um given the fact that three of those the four of those schools are on this grant that is set to expire this year, um what lessons have those principles shared with you all and and um with their colleagues around what worked, what didn't work, what could they done differently as a way of we are as a way that we're um evaluating uh the themes and and the magnet schools.

You want to speak to that? Sure. um the principles that I work with are always they're learners so they are always reflecting I think um in general that the principles and the magnet coordinators would talk a lot about um building capacity um in others while they try to implement this grant that they don't try to shoulder a new program all on their own. So I think that's one lesson learned is to be comfortable not being perfect at the outset. Um and to share the learning with other people in the building. Um some other lessons learned. Um I think would be to be conscious about developing community within the magnet schools. um that they make strong efforts to build diverse staff um to teach staff and students how to value one another overtly and concretely. I think that that they've all seen good results in working on that um deliberately and intentionally instead of just hoping it happens because you got people in the same building

together. Um and uh I I think a final uh a final piece might be alignment. Um that they and all of us together are constantly working um with our colleagues and academics with the schools to make sure that our all of our work and directives align well to enhance student learning. So I think that's the last one I would kind of say as a as a standout. Oh, sorry, Dr. L.

I was just going to say that that Tila mentioned our our school leaders are learners, but they also challenge us to be learners, right? So, so part of that push has come from them to say, help us better align the work. Help us not look like we're doing multiple different things. And I mentioned the school improvement plan and bringing academics and magnet all the together at the same time. So I I think to to Tila's point, they're learning, but they are also challenging us to see things differently too and the design those supports um based on what their current needs are.

Thank you. That's guess my final comment rather. I know Dr. you and I have had many conversations about how do we brand our schools. Uh so therefore, you know, families can become uh curious about the learning that's taking place. And so um you know, that's always been proven for us is to brand our schools and to talk about and finding those ambassadors, whether they're PTA leaders, community leaders, they can really talk about some of the great things that have occurred from their schools. And so I guess that's another way that we can continue to think through especially given the fact that these grants are expiring and we have to continue to recruit and retain students uh and families to participate in these programs.

Absolutely. And that's what we had hoped to do with our voices from the community. So I hate that you weren't able to enjoy those um videos and you

just had to listen to us talk. But um appreciate your willingness to check those out later.

Great. and I we can bring those back as a information item at the upcoming board meeting so we can continue and build off of this conversation. So, thank you both for diving into this work with us this afternoon.

Thank you. Thank you for the time.

Absolutely. So, we'll turn to our second item um on our agenda, which is the post-pandemic student post pandemic, excuse me, uh student device strategy plan. And so that presentation will be uh driven by Chief Badulla, Dr. Hill, Chief Badulla from our technology services, uh Dr. Hill, Chief Academics Officer, uh Dr. Thompson, uh assistant superintendent of technology, Mr. Patton or soon to be Dr. Patton, uh and Mr. Michael Martin from RTI. Good evening. Good afternoon, everyone.

Great. Good afternoon, everybody. I am going to uh start out and kind of jump us into this conversation. Um just a couple things. Uh we uh had a work session um in October um where we sort of had some time to talk with you all about technology and our approach to technology. And I just want to say at the outset here um this is a big and complicated conversation. Um and I just want to thank um the sort of cross functional team that chair Swanson um uh named there just in sort sort of putting this plan together. Um what we have for you today I think is a really um ambitious plan strategy um for how we would approach um devices in the classroom. Um and I do want to say that you know it's this is a big question in terms of it's technically complicated.

It's clearly pedagogically complicated. Devices are a big part of how learning happens. Um and to the last conversation that you all had, it is a budgetary conversation. It is a fiscal conversation as well. Um so it's all all three of those things, technical, pedagogical, and budgetary. It's also emotional. Um how we relate to devices um is a just an increasingly big part of our lives and a and a important question. Um, so we're going to get into um kind of talking through a strategy um today and um really want to kind of get your feedback on an overall strategy um and approach to devices. And I think with all things we want to say that it's probably not a quick pivot, right? Um it's but it's a longer term strategy. So we put together um a plan. Um, I'm gonna talk through it pretty quickly. And Chair Swanson, I just want to check on time. Is there a time that we should plan a stop?

This presentation is to 5:30.

Great. Perfect. Perfect. Okay. Um, so what I'm going to do is I'm going to sort of frame what we're talking about today. Um, and then we'll jump into the agenda and we'll go from there. Um and um so I think the the first thing we wanted to just lay out contextually is that we know that there is this sort of large global context for devices. We know that we have to prepare students for tomorrow. They need to be critical thinkers and technology is shaping that. Um, one of the quotes that I um sort of found was from the most recent World Economic Forum that analytical thinking remains the most soughtafter core skill among employers. Um, so we know that that will matter. Um, and we know

increasingly that technology is is one of the fastest growing areas. We also know that skills that aren't necessarily technology related like creative thinking, resiliency, flexibility, agility, those are all things that are are likely to be important to employers. At the same time, and if you can go to the next slide or the next click, the next two um at the same time, we know this that there is this sort of demand. We also know that we face real constricting and uncertain budgets. um pandemic money is rolling off. Um we know we need to make hard choices that direct funds towards people and resources that prepare students for the future. So we just want to say all that because I think as we as we approach this plan, we want to be able to think about both those things. Our sort of imperative and obligation from the strategic plan level to make sure kids are ready for their future and understanding that we have some budgetary constraints. So that's sort of the framing for how we want to talk about this. Then we got to move into just the recent history um in Wake County. And we really are thinking about this and the item is titled pre- pandemic uh or it's titled pandemic post-pandemic approach to technology devices. So basically to just lay out context as as I think we collectively understand it that kind of up to 2020 Wake County was adopting devices but it wasn't necessarily one of the counties that was moving super rapidly to 1 one. Um the CIP had a 3 to two 3 one provision. Um but it was moving in that moving in that direction but was not necessarily uh moving super fast. Then the pandemic hits and perforce Wake County just like every other district moves very quickly to onetoone. Um and there are really conspicuous challenges

with learning at home. Um but the other thing that happens is device use and application becomes very quickly accelerated. um CIP becomes 1 one and then we sort of move into the post-pandemic area where we know the ratio of devices is 1 one uh we know that tools are being leveraged every day for important uh teaching uh lesson or teaching objectives but we also know that there's a a an increasing sense that or a sense that potentially sometimes they're always not effective. Okay. Um so we kind of have those two epochs. The same thing that happens between like 2019 and today is that technology is just increasing very rapidly. It can and and it continues to dominate parts of our lives. Um you guys worked on the cell phone policy over the last year. Um so that we know that there is this underlying sort of sense that technology is moving forward very carefully and we want to be really intentional about how we do it. So I say all that to say the final point is we just want to be we want to ask the question how do we approach instructional technology as a school system intentionally from this point forward leading with learning that I think is our our our big question with the crossf functional group that that is working on this um that's the question that we want to answer is how do we do this intentionally moving forward so um let me just quickly cover the aims of this presentation. Um, and I will um kind of talk you through we really have kind of four parts. Um, I I just want to provide some baseline insights into the current context and takeaways about districts issue technology. Um, and then kind of the heart of the presentation will be present the

district-wide strategy. We're going to include a set of five principles that we feel like should guide how we approach this moving forward um based on the feedback and the strategy of the team. The blue part device near-term actions and long-term options. This is going to be the thing that gets most sort of I think into the weeds of the strategy. And I'm actually going to do this last because I think it has the most long-term implications. um is most likely to um you know raise questions with the board and and kind of have have you all think through it and the third part is support for devices for learning. So you know we're here really to have the conversation in many parts about the devices themselves but we cannot have that conversation absent their use and our support for them right because they're not they're not uh they're not easily separable. So I'm going to spend less time on the orange part, but it doesn't mean it's not important. In fact, it is as important maybe as important as anything is how we provide support for the application of of devices in the classroom. So that will be a major part of our presentation. We're going to go through a timeline. Um we built a timeline around the set of strategies that we have here. um that really is mindful of the 2728 budget cycle. Um so to kind of close out, I'll I'll run through the timeline that we have. Um and then at the end, we would love to, you know, hear thoughts and feedback. And I will just say that there's, you know, I I think even though we have till 5:30, this is a big and complicated conversation. So we fully expect, you know, that you guys will have thoughts and questions that we'll take away. And that's the entire purpose of putting this strategy out and and getting your um thoughts and feedback. So, let's jump right in. Let me just go

very quickly and I know you guys had this uh presentation in advance, but just wanted to kind of take off the current state of devices in um Wake County. We're one to one across the district. Um just in terms of of ratio, K12 students are issued Chromebooks with a three-year refreshment cycle at 3rd, 6th, and 9th. Um K2 students do not take Chromebooks home. Pre-K students have classics of iPod iPads which they do not take home. Um this point is really important. Current practices require devices for testing. EOCC's and EOGs need to happen on uh schoolisssued devices. Same is true for the ACT. we have remote learning policy which has been very relevant um in the last couple weeks um and you know accessing the curriculum as well as obviously many learning applications and that's related I think to the fifth bullet which is that we know kind of post 2020 practices have buil built around onetoone ratio devices for students. So, we know that that's the case and we're going to talk a little bit about out like changes that might happen to that, but they will take time in in part because the practices are built around it. We also know that some students bring their own computers. Um, and that's a practice that's happened and that will become relevant when we start to talk about some of the options. Um, current damage practices, you uh reply to a replacement device if you damage the device the first time. Um, and then if it's a second damage, it stays in school. Uh, you get an inschool issued device after the second damage. And, um, right now, Wake County purchases devices rather than leases them. So, we'll talk a little bit about that, but those are just some current um the current state of of how we manage devices. Now, I'm going to go into just a little bit of highlevel takeaways and then we're going to move into the strategy. Um, so we did some listening

across the um district um kind of really in advance of the cell phone policy, but we did ask questions about um about devices. Um and I I'm going to sort of distill them down into some of the the very big ideas that we heard um that I think are going to drive our practice. Um and the first is just this complexity around use. Um, we know devices are part of everyday instructional life increasingly as students get into middle school and high school. Um, which of course makes sense because uh in professional life is you know certainly aided and supported by computers. So there's functions everyday functions of accessing accessing learner management system checking grades instructional videos access to learning tools um organization right uh you know if you they think back to the day of of the trapper keeper that's gone now you have a a Google file right which can also be disorganized just like a trapper keeper um so we have these real clear functions but then we also have this concern about are they are we using it the right way? Is it too much time? Um and educators are particularly concerned about um unproductive use of devices. The second big takeaway we had is that on the whole the basic functioning of devices is they're basically serving their purposes. So when we ask questions about functioning well, easy to use, meet instructional needs, we get largely agree, strongly agree responses, obviously challenge challenges arrive around managing the devices, but the concern was less about the function of devices and more about how they're used. We have some quotes on the side there. I won't read to you, but these are some of the things that we heard. Then if you

move on to the next slide um we also heard um kind of two three other issues. One is that stewardship and management are important that you know just as you can imagine in a school system this size you know concerns about broken screens and and charger issues and things like that. Those are certainly things that come out and they are things that I think can be addressed tactically. um educators particularly are concerned about distraction from learning. Uh other uh you know other other um like parents are as well but it's really clear clearly in educators. And then the last issue is sort of access um and I would say what we saw in our our results was parents and teachers generally expressed more desire to manage student access while some students express challenges and dissatisfaction with access to sites and tools like that. So you that is a sort of understandable divide but I think important as we move forward and I I pulled this one quote it just felt really kind of encapsulating of the complexity of this um it's a powerful tool for learning and it can become a distraction. So what we're going to we're going to move to the next slide now and I just want to try to encapsulate one of the things that we did I think really intentionally is have conversations with you as board members in October because we wanted to sort of you know many of you have conversations about this as I said it's a it's a very important um kind of uh topic that has a lot of implications uh and people have a lot of feelings around them so we wanted to hear from your perspective as a board member duly elected and guiding um this this very large district um some of the things we heard and I I will I will say that I I just want to say that this you know this may not be everything that was said so I

don't want to act like this is encapsulate everything you think but these are some of the things that we heard in those conversations we heard concerns about overall use especially in the early grades and wanting to ensure devices are not used too much or ineffectively ensuring Security and safety are a high priority. Um, we heard some long-term questions about what we know is effective in use and ensuring those practices are encouraged and taught. Um, I would say we heard something that is a general question or concern about how much devices are shaping educational experiences of students. Uh, exploring grade levels need to take the what grade levels need to take devices home. and I think the reality of budget pressures across the system. So those were all things I think that we heard in that conversation and that are informing how we're approaching this work. So now we're going to get into it. So we going forward we have three parts of this strategy and and we're very excited to um get your feedback and thoughts on it. The first is we've distilled down to five principles and I'm going to go pretty quick over these because I want to make sure that we get to the the kind of things that are likely to influence budget and practice moving forward. But we have four five principles. I'll talk about those in a second. Then we have what we're calling device actions and options. And that we've broken into in this presentation for your consideration um near-term actions. So these are things that we either are that the district is either currently doing or will do in the very near future relevant to devices. Um the second one I think is longer term options for consideration. So these are a select set of four things that or three things that we think um are potentially larger term uh changes but we've sort of laid those out in kind of an option with some pros and cons and

and a recommendation for what we have moving forward. And those things will be put on a timeline at the end just to make sure you understand them. And the last part of this and I'm going to go I'm going to go pink and orange and then we're going to go to blue. um just in terms of describing the actions we're going to take is supporting devices for learning. So I just want to again like tell you how powerful it has been to work on this cross functional team that's inclusive of Dr. Hill and her team thinking about this from an instructional perspective um and and the technology team and and all of their sort of technical expertise and approach. Um but in the end I think this is very much and I think I think Dr. Hill and uh Mr. Patton would be very are very excited about this aspect of the work which is just developing a clear intentional framework the professional learning that happens around devices and then what we'll call our rapid uh uh innovations rapid change incubator which I'll talk about briefly. So this is the the heart of what we're what the strategy entails and I'm going to go through these pretty quickly and then we're going to get to the devices and actions. Um so the the five principles we have here if you go to the next slide I'll just keep it moving so that we get through these. Um the first one is learning drives instructional choices. So this is an essential part of what we want um want to be the case. Um we do not want to in setting up a framework and approaching devices. We want it to be about is this is this the right tool for learning not you know not anything else right and so there are certain cases where it absolutely is. There are certain cases where it probably is not. But in the end it's important as we build this work that instruction

drives the choices. The second piece is that we deeply want to ensure that students have access to technology when they need it to learn. Um and that the application of that technology is meaningful. Um so that's an essential principle that it's it is so the first is that learning drives instruction. The second is that it is there and available. Um, as we lay this out, you will see that, you know, we're suggesting some things that would change our current approach to provisioning devices. But at root, we do know that there are many meaningful learning applications obviously into middle and high school, and we want to make sure that students have access to devices um for that purpose. Principle three is that we're really deliberate about student and teacher support. So that means for students that means um and and I know um Dr. Hill's team is working on this is thinking about what does a second grader need to be able to do on a device, right? And being really intentional about that and not, you know, I think many of us have experienced being around young kids and they're just on their iPads and they can use it really quickly, but from a pedagogical perspective, what is it that you need to be able to do? Um, and so laying that out explicitly and then thinking about it from a teaching perspective, what are meaningful applications of a device? Uh, principle four is stewardship. Um, and this captures both like how we think about managing devices. Um, that is the accountability systems that are put in place, the the training and support that students and parents get for stewardship. And it also means this sort of stewardship at the the governance level of the board that is thinking about how and where we spend our resources.

And the last principle is just that technology and I will say this to you and I I I hope this feels genuine is that it is very hard for us to know what the next three, five, 10 years look like. And and I think especially you know I think we are on the precipice of artificial intelligence changing how our li how our our um our lives are lived in fundamental ways. And one can argue about you know what the degree of that is. But we really think that there needs to be kind of rapid change and adaptability and innovation built in. and we think that there's value in building a crossf functional team within Wake County that's ready to do that. So we lay out this plan but as things change over the course of the years that we are able to respond really quickly um as quickly as possible. So those are the the principles. I'll then move us back to the supporting devices for learning. And this is just simply that we want to say these are the these are the main things that we're going to do to support devices for learning. Um and I'll just go through these quickly and then we'll jump into the actions. So the three big ideas for this are we need to have an intentional technology framework and that has two parts. That means um kind of scaffolding the use of technology for students over time. So the the knowledge and skills that students need to have um you know whether that be um creating um you know a meaningful uh presentation, whether it be operating with spreadsheets, whether it be word processing um you know I think many of us have probably had the experience at some point of rapidly uh improving in our ability to use Microsoft Word or something like that. Um, so we want to think about what students need to know know and be able

to do with devices and then what the high lever teacher practices are. So one of the things we want to put into place is that technology framework and then we want to have the professional learning and educator support around that to intentionally apply that. And I think one of the things I would say is I you know in a district this size there are amazing and innovative uses of technology all the time. And I think there's a lot of value and a lot of momentum amongst Dr. Hill and her team to think about how we provide that structure and framework moving forward. Um and the last part is simply related to the fifth principle which is just we need to have a a rapid change incubator internally and this would be a cross functional team that building on I think the the collegiality and success of the of the academics and technology combining um centrally we also want to bring in teachers and school leaders to highlight the innovative learning first applications that are happening to stay aware of you know tools or practices that are that show compelling evidence of helping students learn. Um or the opposite, right? I mean, I think that's that like I think things that are not working successfully. Um but we want to build that team and a a a constant structure and habit to say we'll return regularly to think about our approach. Um so those are I'll I'll talk about those in the timeline. The last part of this presentation that we want to go through um before we get into the timeline and questions is just actions that will uh that we are going to take and then long-term options for consideration. So these have these are I think things that we feel like are responsive to you know that second slide I talked about about the environment of ensuring that we have um access to the

right devices and that we are but that we are also operating within um within uh a tight situation in terms of budget. So the first one is uh and I think we heard this um we heard this from the board and we also heard it from the field um that we we want to consider classroom sets and take-home policy. Um so the current the current practice is that prek2 devices are classroom sets. So they're they're not sent home with students K2. Um they're they're just classroom sets. Additionally, and I don't think we have a hard I think this is a a a hard thing to collect. So I can't I don't think our staff can say or way county staff can say x number of schools don't take their devices home. But I think there are some schools right now 3 through five who are not sending their devices home um currently. Now, current practice is if you're a third grader, you get assigned a device um with a with a um with a a number on it, right? So, you have an individual device, but probably for various pedagogical reasons and other reasons in some cases, I think that that is not happening. What we would like to do and what we plan to do is throughout this this seme like spring semester um into next year is to really work closely with elementary school principles to determine the benefit and implications uh and make recommendations about how we should um how that practice should or should not change for the 35 school year. Um, I think the assumption is that, you know, if there's if there's

places where that makes the most sense, I think there's a strong logic that says the devices could be being damaged in transit. So, it may um be helpful in terms of device damage. Um, but at the same time, we also want to be sure, you know, if there are students, students with IEPs, for instance, who require devices at home, there would probably be exceptions that we'd work out. But I think I think we have enough evidence to say that's something that we want to consider. Um, and that it might have um positive long-term impacts as long as we sort of work directly with the schools to figure that out. Um, so that's a that's something that we do in the near term. The second thing is um we want to pilot and um some cost-saving measures. Um a couple of those things are considering leasing arrangements. Currently we buy devices. Um and so um Ashley Roman and some folks on Dr. Thompson's team are looking at leasing arrangements as a possibility. Um considering potentially adjusting replacement cycles if that makes sense. And I think we are also piloting accidental damage protection in sixth grade for this year and we'll have some sense of the return on investment after piloting that this year. Um so that's an an important step that we're going to take. And then the third one is to initiate a review of accountability measures for device stewardships. And it's not just accountability, it's also ensuring that everybody has the training and support they need um so that when they're issued a device, they know how to take care of it. Um and really to review those practices more generally. The the next two are um are really important. I think the first one is a is to conduct a usage study. Um so we have some tools to to the the folks on

technology have some tools to look systematically and analyze um where and when students are you using devices disagregating that data and using that to inform our strategy moving forward. Um so at this point I think that is that is something that's already underway. um you'll see it on the timeline, but I think that will help us devise a strategy overall. And the last action that definitely needs to be taken statutoilially is the is responding to the break fix um reporting and action. So there was a piece of legislation that requires um reporting on um uh break fix data, total cost of ownership data that is required by August of uh 2026. Um so that is a on the list of things that we will respond to. So those are the key I think near-term actions. Now, we're going to talk about some of the I think the longer term options that we feel like have uh that have real implications. And I think we we we discussed these because we wanted to have board members um dialogue about this. I will say, you know, we put this plan together as a draft to talk about how we would be approaching some of these really big questions. um and really want you know your feedback and engagement in this process. Um but based on I think what we believe to be the current situation, these steps feel the the most important and really we would take prior to the 2728 budget cycle so that we have decisions made especially in what we anticipate to be um challenging financial situations. So the first one, the first we kind of laid

these out in options and then kind of a narration of the team's recommendations. And so once we get to kind of some opportunities to talk about this and have questions, I would really invite others from our team to jump in. Um because a lot of the thinking has been informed by them. Um but we want to think really carefully about realigning ratio of devices in early elementary school. So and that is considering reducing where possible while ensuring access for instructional needs. So I think one of the the things that we we just need to think about is there are core functions that are currently we need devices for assessments and those sort of things. Um so in terms of thinking about this we kind of try to lay out the pros and cons because they are very real. This is not like this is not uh a situation where it's you know easy to make this decision. It has it's you know 52% pros 48% cons something like that. We need to think through the strategy and and it in spirit of you know making choices that align to the needs of families and students. From the proposed perspective I mean I think there's there could definitely be cost savings associated with this. Um, you know, I think the other thing that's happening here is there is this sort of big question about, you know, how much screen time should kids have in the early grades. Um, so I think thinking about how and when they spend time on devices, that kind of goes back to the usage study that we want to do that will be helpful in this. Um, but we want to think about those things and we think that collaboration with schools can help, you know, make sure that the current functions um are are able to be met. And the truth is there's a lot of different schools across Wake County. And so we

can't say this is the single practice in all of kindergarten necessarily. So we need to be mindful of that. Um, and so when we're talking about this, we put this on a timeline to be resolved by basically the end of this calendar year. So in advance of your budget cycle for 2027. The cons are, you know, there are just things that are done right now that may may create logistical challenges. There will require workarounds um for potentially some activities. Um, and then there's just access concerns. um we just want to make sure that we're thinking about those things. And I will say that one of the conversations that we've had and we'd love to hear board members weigh in on this is there may be sort of needs-based exceptions to to different things, right? So there may be circumstances under which and and practices that we could put in place that would allow um you know that would recognize difference in different circumstances in kids uh kids and famil family's lives. So I think our recommendation right now is to develop an action plan to realign prek and K devices reduce where possible but ensure functions like assessment instructional resources and of course any accommodations things like that that those would be prepared for. Um and then we'd report to the board ahead of the 2728 budget cycle. We think just in terms of timeline we'd maintain first and second grade as purely onetoone um and then kind of reconsider in the 28 29 cycle based on on what we learn because I think one of the questions that we don't know the answer to is what is truly feasible in reduction without sacrificing um the the things that the stu the things that students need the devices to learn with. Um so that that's a big and

complicated one and we'll be excited to have a discussion about that. The second one um that we want to talk about and this I think is would is a is a big shift and it is to the option that we wanted to consider was instituting instituting a formalized bring your own device policy. So this was something that I think in the in at least some of the board feedback and I certainly don't want to speak for all board members but we definitely heard this in the feedback that you know there may be cases where students are bringing their own devices and that may be okay and we know that to be the case. We know that there are kids who you know have their own computer and choose to bring that computer to to school probably middle and high school. Um, and that may mean that the schoolisssued device does not get cracked very often. Um, and so the question then becomes in this is we the student would bring their own district approved device. We're not talking about cell phones, just want to be very clear about that. We're talking about uh it would be a learning device that would meet criteria that the district sets. Um and then if the family chooses then the student would not be issued a device which then of course frees up other devices for other purposes. It potentially reduces cost as well. Um and it is responding to the current practice. So the pros are you know I mean kids are bringing their own devices. um that is you know maybe increased their sort of sense of responsibility for it and care for it. Some students are already doing this right. Some students are definitely already doing this and also being issued a school uh or an issue to district device. Um and it definitely could potentially conserve resources and lower

costs if you just think about it in high school. Um, Wake County has 40,000 kids in high school, I think. Um, you know, if you think about, you know, and we we obviously can't predict what the uptake on this kind of thing would be at this point, but you could imagine significant ability to redirect resources to other things depending on how many kids choose to do this. The cons are also significant. Um, you know, access issues. One of the things that we do think will be the case is there will be, you know, challenges of managing different devices, um, different formats and appearances, potential different functionality. That's potentially already happening. I don't think we have any evidence that we're hearing a lot of complaint about that, but I don't I don't think we've collected that data specifically, but certainly the devices would work differently. Um, currently district issued devices are required for state testing. So, you know, if you bring a MacBook to high school, you can't take the state test on that. So, we still would have to figure out the logistics of that. Um, and then um you know, there's some uh you know, complicated situations about you know, bringing your device to school and the sort of um you know, if a device is damaged, that's a personal device. and that would require policies to be set. Um, and then one of the very very significant challenges is that centralized device management would become very complex because the district cannot reasonably support the range or the the entire range of devices that would come to school. We'd set parameters um and we'd have to have policy around that. Um so I think our current our current recommendation around this is that this seems like something that we'd that we'd want to explore. Um obviously per our uh the

slide before we're thinking that we want devices to be continue to be one to one in the near term but that we would work over the course of this year thinking about the 27 28 year to develop an opt out policy a set of family commitments and computer requirements. So device requirements um that would allow a student to bring their own device and not be assigned a district device. Um I think one of the things that that the staff is very much committed to is there are some examples of other districts that are doing this that have their sort of requirements in place. um and that it is a thing that that we can explore over the course of the next um the next year basically. And I'll get to the timeline in just a second. And I appreciate you all as we talk through this. I think there's a lot of here a lot here. Um so we're excited to engage in the conversation. Um the last uh the last big idea here is that um one of the things that that um Wake County has done over the past four or five years is provision panels um in the vast majority of classrooms. Um so and and I think that's almost uniformly across the district. And I think one of the things that we are proposing here is that we ensure that the panel usage that panels are provisioned for the classrooms that need them most moving forward. That doesn't mean changing anything right now, but it does mean that we would think through a process for ensuring that where the panel is most useful is uh the classrooms in which it's most useful. you know, if it's used for second graders and they're gathered around the rug and it's used

for for that purpose and it's powerful, we want that, but we also don't necessarily think it needs to go in every single classroom moving forward. Um, and so that as well could have some cost-saving implications. All right, we're almost at the end here and then I would love for us to move into conversation. Um, appreciate everybody's uh, you know, sort of attention. This is complicated. Um so we basically laid out I think uh timelines over the next kind of year and a half um for when we imagine these things happening. Um so the first the first row is the sort of near-term actions. So uh this spring and summer we'd really work on the three five class sets. They stay in school recommendations. So, we'd think through how that would work in collaboration with elementary school principles. Um, additionally, we're currently already doing this work, but the cost-saving pilots and research around things like AB ADP and leasing, those would happen through the spring. Um, and you know, we'd share results as we can, but certainly the pilot of ADP we'd know about by by the by next spring summer. Um we do the usage analysis um over the course of the next year to to to sort of see where we are in terms of device usage across the board and then we'll have to do the break fix reporting um by August of uh 2026. So, those are near-term actions that we're proposing. And then the longer term um ones and and again, I think on these longer term ones, I I do want to emphasize that I think part of this process is collaborating deeply with schools. Um, and it's I think it's helpful to lay this this out. And I think we want to also recognize that like as we do this collaboration with schools,

we may these things may take on a different shape. We may find a far greater appetite to move quickly uh away or we may find that there are real challenges to that central principle of ensuring kids have access. So K prek overall device realignment we'd be doing that planning in advance of the December 2026 the sort of budgeting cycle the Prometheian board or the panel um based on needs we'd be doing that planning um such that that can take place and be implemented moving forward we're not talking about removing anything but we are talking about changing the practice moving forward um and then we would be researching the high school former BYOD approach approach. Um, you know, so we'd be going through the process of of especially talking to partner districts, figuring out how how they're approaching it, and then we'd have a sense, um, I think moving into the budget cycle of potential likely implications. Um and then I think the the the things that I talked about just in terms of support um for devices um we just really want to make sure that that technology framework is being worked on. I know Dr. Hill and her team are already doing that. And then the professional learning associated with that is connected and then I think chartering and convening and instituting uh innovations and rapid change incubator within um central services including practitioners to sort of meet on a regular basis um to do this work. So I think that was a whole a whole lot. Um I want to invite uh board members um you know I think this is intended to kick off a uh really systemic um uh kind of approach um to this process. I think we want to think about it as a plan do study act cycle. So we will learn things as we go along the way. Um, but I think in the end I think we want to ensure

equitable access to the right tools for every student and ensure that they're used to help them learn. And I think I think in the end I think that means getting them out at the right times and putting them away at the right time and just sort of thinking through how we approach that. That's sort of a simple way to kind of encapsulate some of the things we're saying. Um, so with that, I'd love to just open it up to to questions to um comments from the board members. Um, I will say that I I know I'm joined by other folks on our our team, so I would encourage I certainly don't want to be the one answering all the questions. Um, and I would just say in the spirit of this, I think we push this forward um, concretely in as much we as we feel like putting a concrete plan in place is helpful to become to become in dialogue about the things that we're going to have to make decisions about. Um, so with that, I'll turn it back to the chair. Oh, you're muted.

There we are. Um, thanks to everyone for putting this together and for diving into this and allowing, you know, the board's feedback to be a part of this presentation. Um, I can assure that that this will not be the last time we'll have this discussion. It'll be a in-person discussion for sure. Um, so we can also hear from the public with this. Um, but I I I'll just say that, you know, devices are not replacement for hands-on teaching and learning. I think the pandemic forced us to move in this direction. And so now we have to think through how do we reassess long term um and ensuring that we are preparing our students for the 21st century. Um and so I I I do have a couple of questions and comments, but I'll pause there and I will recognize some board members. So I'll start with uh Mr. Heerty, Dr. Ing, and Miss Gordon.

Thank you, Chair Swanson. Um, so everyone knows that I've been speaking about this issue for several months, and I'm not going to rehash any of those discussions. Instead, I have questions in three areas I just wanted to put out there for thought and discussion for the next time that we bring this back. It was interesting to see some of the the long-term and short-term strategies. The first one I had first question I had for everyone was about the use of the Prometheium boards and I was curious has there I don't know enough about this is there any breakdown or analysis of how these boards are used by grade level for example are they more essentual at the high school level or the middle school level than at the elementary level it looked like there was a discussion of an analysis of removing the boards kind of throughout the district. And I'm wondering with the pros and cons if there might be, you know, some cons at in, you know, more advanced classes, the 9th through 12th grade classes than there might be at an elementary school level. So, I'd be interested in any sort of discussion or analysis about if there's a difference in the value of these boards per grade level that we might want to consider. Uh, secondly, with the BYOD policy, you know, this is a policy that the school system has has wrestled with, you know, for years. And I do want to acknowledge that there are real pros and real cons with this policy. there will be real tradeoffs. Um, one thing though that's interesting right now is I still think throughout the public there is a lack and even within the district and even within individual schools there's a lack of clarity about what is and is not

permitted in terms of BYOD. I shared an email that I got from a a uh class president at one of our high schools uh with the superintendent and with the board chair um you know just about questions they have within their own school about different teachers enforcing that policy differently. You know, a formalized BYOD policy that could substantially impact use of devices is one thing, but then simply allowing students to bring their own devices, maybe as part of an accommodation, maybe there's a an app or a software tool they need as part of a a health plan or 504 plan, an IEP that might only work on Mac, right? As opposed to um a Google device. you know, there's there's a lot of gray area there to explore. Um, and then finally, you know, the area that I've talked about the most was looking at those ratios of devices in those early grades. I'll be honest, I just assumed the devices were the first time they were provided were kindergarten. I was not aware that there were prek devices and and that actually shocks me as to the cost and utility right there. But um I do think there is a lot of advantages to looking at those ratios, reconsidering the use of those devices. Definitely prek. I would argue kindergarten. I think for first and second grade sets, um that is something to look at if you need them for class sets. I wonder with letters training and other requirements if some of those teachers may not already be using iPads or tablets and if so do we have a duplication? Do we have multiple devices within a classroom? Um but then I do want to share one last thing with the realignment which is we've never been able to fully and adequately support

technology and devices throughout the district because of our funding and our staffing needs. And I do believe if we were able to remove these devices at the earliest grades, we could reallocate those human resources for some of our digital learning coordinators and others from those elementary grades back to the high schools and middle schools which do rely more heavily on this technology where you have more students, more teachers, I think that are more engaged with the that technology and really give them the support they need to make use of those devices the most efficient and effective. So with that, Mr. Chair, I'd throw those questions out for thought and I'll yield the floor.

Thank you.

Anything you wanted to respond?

Uh Dr. Inc.

Actually pretty good.

Um actually um Dr. Joe was sec next. I think

I know it's different on here, but I'm doing a list of how what I'm seeing on here. So, my list is different than what's happening on on TV.

Okay. As long as everybody gets a turn.

Um, thank you so much. Um, thank you for that very thorough and um really um I I think that the presentation really reflects some deep thoughts about the issue and I really appreciate that. Um, one of the things I keep I keep thinking about when you were making that presentation was, you know, are are we using the technology or is the technology using us? Um, and um

and and the device, you know, you mentioned about, you know, um, are we really focusing on the number of devices or are we focusing on use or the or the understanding use and understanding responsible use? And I think um that's um something that we're going to have to contend with. Um and um and I appreciate

also, you know, talking about kind of all the facets of the pros and cons. Um I think there's going to be a lot of issues uh that we have to navigate through. um and bringing devices from home um is certainly a a good um way of um alleviating some of the financial pressures um uh for the county system. Um and and I I really, you know, look at, you know, we're you know, the Wake County school system is not the end all in terms of of of of uh navigating our our children to the 21st century. I think that um you know I think the students are uh understanding technology more than we are. the grown-ups are um and the uh v the variable access to devices is certainly something that um we have to you know um do a deep dive in and um but certainly there's going to be a lot of people that already have devices and and and uh having them be able to to bring it in is going to be uh uh helpful to to to our um achieving some fiscal responsibility. So, um, uh, I'm going to be, um, interested to hear more about in the coming year and, um, and, u helping with, u,, um, a solid plan. So, thanks so much.

Thank you, um, Miss Gordon. Thank you um Chair Swanson and thank you for this um really informative um um presentation. Um I just wanted to say that um I fully support the um K2 devices as classroom sets. you know, um to Cher Swanson's point, I think, um we

really need to be looking at instructional shifts, um and not just device, um cuts, like looking at like more collaborative learning. Um I know Mr. Hagerty brought up the Prometheian boards. I from my time in the classroom, I don't even think we had Prometheian boys when I was in the classroom, but um from what I understand about them, they I think support more of like the collaborative learning piece. Um but looking at like more project based learning and reducing screen time. So I definitely support that. But my question is in reference to the the grades three through five um study. Um, have we also explored parents perspectives? Like I hear us talking about looking at what elementary um, principles are saying and schoolbased staff, but I think it's also important for us to look at what that looks like at home as well when students are bringing home devices or not bringing home devices. Um, but getting the perspective from um, from parents Well, I will just say just briefly to that, I think that would be part of that study is, you know, I think one of the challenges with this is like until you get down to an actual proposal and ask about the specific proposal, you sort of operate in generalities. So I think in that in doing that three through five study I think there would be a very clear question that would go home to parents saying there's actually a lot of interest in thinking about is is this the right thing to do and getting this feedback about the specific question of your third through fifth grader will not bring their devices home will that be a problem and you know we may hear first from teachers but I I think there's avenues to do that and ask that specific question but I think the assump among staff is that you would ask that

question when it's become a very specific proposal, but I appreciate that. Do you have a followup, Miss Gordon?

Um, I'm want to make sure that I understand. Are we are we doing the device study to get to the proposal or are we Are we making the proposal without getting the input from the study?

We are doing the study to get to make sure that if if we actually took this step, how would it impact people's lives?

Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. Thank you,

Dr. German. Y um I want to uh lift up what um Mr. Hagerty and and Miss Gordon and Dr. Ning Dr. Ing already said. Um so I want to ask or give feedback really about what kind of specifics I would like to see. Um I feel like uh we've your presentation rightfully so focused a lot on the emotional and social impacts of young kids with devices. But I think we need to talk about device use throughout as adolescence and how and the impact of device use throughout adolescence. I know that the higherend private schools are moving to less device work even in high school, like realizing the emotional impact of just basically living life through a screen. Um, and and communicating only through a screen. And so I want to make sure that we're not leaving out other age groups when we're looking at the research, when we're looking at studies. Um, and I also

would like to see more specifics about where some of these skills are taught that you were talking about. Um, one of the things that seems to be overlooked until very late is typing, you know, and touch typing. Um, we just kind of assume that kids are picking it up somewhere along the way and they don't seem to be. But also, like you mentioned the organization, you know, we teach kids how to organize their seat folders. We teach kids how to organize their backpacks. We don't teach them how to organize their Google Drive. And then it's constantly like, you know, I can't find this, I can't find that. um and even just being able to do future research and it's so important. But um I really uh want to um lift up to what Miss Gordon said about uh looking at instructional time and how that works besides just taking the device away. Um there are some skills like you were saying the internal incubator but we also have to figure out how we're going to teach teachers how to teach the new skills but because we've got you know students who are ahead of the game you know ahead of their teachers basically but on the other hand we I think we need to make very sure that the surveys we're using are not biasing towards the answer we want to hear like some of the questions you asked in the survey that you mentioned about how um like if the devices are doing, you know, are fulfilling the learning um goals that they were supposed to. That's a different question than could you have taught this without the device? Could you have taught this in a different way without having the the device? And could we have done more inquiry based learning? Could we have done more interactive and group learning if we didn't use the device? And those are some answers that I'd like to see with this coming up because I I you

know, I know what my bias is and I don't want this, you know, I don't want that to totally um sway my vote, but I I do I have serious concerns about how much screen time we use and I don't want it to be that I don't want technology to be the hammer that then we turn every every issue, you know, every instructional issue into a nail. So, Thank you, Dr. Joe. That was actually one of my questions is how is the survey the questions raised? Because to your point, a guided question looks totally different than an open-ended question. And oftent times I think we fall in that trap of raising those guiding questions to potentially skew the data. Um miss not saying that that was in this particular case. I just want to be clear. I'm not accusing make that accusatory statement. Um, uh, uh, Miss Evans,

thank you. Um, so why is at least the prek through 2 grade change not on the table or being considered for 2627 for this upcoming budget cycle? I mean, we just had a conversation about possibly demagnetizing a school or more. And at um our last meeting, we committed to trying to find $2, I think, $25,000 so that we don't continue to give kids, you know, the shame lunch um when they can't, you know, when they when their meal account goes down or or isn't paid. Um, and to Chair Hagerty, excuse me, I'm sorry. Um, to board member Hagert's um, point in in an earlier discussion, the challenges that we face with our budget are very, very real. So, I'm a little astonished that we're not considering any changes for a full 18 months.

Any feedback or questions? a response to Miss Edmond's question and you can certainly chime in on this, but I know that uh part of this is driven uh by the refresh cycle. Uh and so um I know that if that was already part of the the platform um or that refresh cycle, that is where they would have been included in there. I do imagine that the prek numbers are not as high uh as kindergarten in any other grade level. Uh but Shasha, I'll I'll let you uh kind of share about the refresh cycle and what's in it.

And Dr. Taylor, uh this is Ken Thompson. You uh absolutely on point. There was two phases because we really placed our ordering for devices for the upcoming year during the December January window. uh so we was past the point where we could not step back and say for this year we not do it without coming to the board to get their feedback. Secondly, instructionally uh this was uh from an academic perspective uh we wanted to truly align to the academic programming and as we partner with our academic team to to change the academic uh modality or paradigm approach. uh we really wasn't positioned for the 262 27 school year to implement in time for to make an effective shift.

One more point. Um so those devices are already been purchased and they're probably four or five years old. So it's not like we would save money by taking them away at this point. We're not purchasing any more for those. So, we have time for that study to happen um to make sure we make the correct decisions and then um going forward we just wouldn't refresh those and use them other places. I said, "Do you have a followup?"

I don't. Thank you.

Uh Miss Coffford,

thank you. uh appreciate the careful reflection that you had on the last meeting and I noticed that you really hit on a lot of points of what we were concerned about. So I appreciate you bringing that back. Um I think one of the things that I was hearing it's it's important um when we were reflecting on the feedback like you mentioned that the educators they were saying mostly above the parents um distracting uh distraction from learning So I think everything with the devices to me first and foremost comes back to is this helping our students because it's a tool to help them right so is it actually doing the job and then the second is how much you know how many devices are we supplying in what grade and how much it costs but for me it's the priority is about them learning um and I'm just not sure if we're if we're adding it in the right places. I agree with uh Mr. Hagerty. I did not know that we were doing it in preschool. Um I did know that we were doing it in kindergarten that we were providing devices. Um but we shape the learning, not the other way around. So I feel like if we're putting the computers out there, is it actually doing the job it needs to be? And one of the things I just recently heard was um it's Dr. Jared Cooney Harvest, if I'm even saying that right, and he just did a testimony um in front of um Senate and he was talking about how this is affecting our children with these devices. For me, I feel it's really important for us to evaluate K to five. We are going to have specials. I mean, we've always had the specials where they learn technology. They will not be at a disadvantage for that. But I'm just curious why we're spending so

much time on a study when we do have so many out there just K to three and we know that third grade is so pivotal for our children with learning. I'm for me I would rather us consider K5. It's not only budgetary for me it's more about our kids learning and looking up rather than at a device. I think that they are not going to be missing anything if they don't have the devices. So, I'd like to see our kids looking up more than they are looking down. I think the social skills and the things that they pick up from our teachers, it it's just historically always been that they're looking up at their teachers, not at a at a computer. And now we're seeing all these things that are coming out. We've we recognize social media. We recognize the cell phones. So, I think not only would it help us with our budget, but it also help our children. They could advance on the school on the skills with the computer later on, but I think in the earlier grades, I think it would really just be beneficial for us to just take it out of the classroom and then we won't have one-on-one. We won't have the damage. They won't be taking them home from school and they'll just be in the classrooms that they need it where the lessons apply.

Good. here trustee uh board chair can I respond please uh usage data and and thank thank you for that question and that's something that uh the district the usage data uh and I and I believe after this afternoon's board meeting we will have a we haven't had great visibility into that but I think after this afternoon we will have greater insight into the usage data that our students are experiencing the usage data screen time because the data we we have access to was really uh you know it it was our perception of of how we use it. But I think after this afternoon, moving

forward, we will have a tool that will allow us to have greater visibility into the screen time, what our students are using, what applications are they using, how long are they on uh to make those determinations and and board member, you're right on point. That would be uh provide great insight as to next steps. What devices are needed at that level? What you know, are they proving the needs? Are they the tools are there? So, uh that would give us the insight we need to make better decisions in that arena. You're muted, Tyler.

Thank you. Sorry. Um, thank you, Dr. Thompson. Uh, Vice Chair Hershey.

Thank you, Chair Swanson. Um, so I'm going to piggyback on a couple of issues with the timeline. I'm not sure I'm understanding why the idea is to keep onetoone classroom sets um for first and second grade for another two and a half years. I understand that it didn't impact you know we can't do it for 2627 but can you explain why we can't move that to 2728? I and I just want to put some context that we hear a lot about the lower grades more than anything

was testing but I don't

and and the last point within that context is if we're doing a the Prometheium board study we're going to have a sense of or at least we should of K through two classroom use with those Prometheium boards. I I certainly see them in elementary schools and they're used well. What would be the point of having those and then continuing for an extra year with the full class sets in first and second grade?

I mean I think that's that's a very appreciated feedback. I mean I think our I think in our conversations about this it is

anticipating that this move will be challenging and require collaboration with the schools and you know so I think you know we the option that we sort of laid out kind of with your feedback in part was just really thinking about the ratios at early early elementary generally. Um and I think and I would love other people just to add to this but I think the conversation that was had internally was you know this is a big change and so we the to make sure that we do it right kind of doing it in phases um felt you know like the the thing that will allow us to have the most ability to learn from that process. But I take your point. I mean, that's part of why we wanted to put this plan out in place. I don't know if other folks want to feedback on that. Well, my followup would be if we're doing K, preK and K, it makes sense to me. I don't think prek should take a lot of studying if you're doing it as a set because we're dividing up. I mean, we're already dividing up three, you know, 3 through five. Uh, which I can tell you that we definitely do not bring our computer home every day. I don't almost never, which is great for fifth graders, but I just think it's a natural. We always talk about K through two and frankly, I just would like to see it accelerated because I think we can do that. And we can always adjust if we we can always adjust backwards. So if we are doing it and we're with an eye on 2027 and we say you know what board we we did all this research we really need an extra year then we can adjust back to 2028. But I'd rather be more ambitious upfront with the flexibility to move back than take

longer when this is an issue on the forefront of everybody's mind.

And and uh board member Hershey that that was a great that was part of our conversation and if I could ask Mr. Patton to respond because from an academic perspective we took a deep dive into it. Charles would you respond to that that question for me please?

Yeah happy to. Um and Mr. Mr. Hershey, if you could just in my brain what I'm hearing is the the balance of devices at certain grade levels both in terms of individual devices and panels, right? Like and the aggressiveness of the timeline.

Well, I and I'm also thinking about I'm thinking more about the younger grades being a priority than

9 through 12 for instance.

Yes, sir. Um so in general like all of you are right on um we've had to step back and take a deep look at what are we providing for staff in terms of what the instructional resources look like in the classroom. Um and in this last year doing all this cross collaborative work it has been it has been really valuable to unearth some of the places where we can do that differently. Um and so in calling the question on devices at younger grade levels there is sort of like a a sort of spectrum right to uh I can't remember who said earlier about the sitting around a carpet and like really using a Prometheian panel in such a way that the teacher can model and the student can come up and follow right like that kind of um reciprocal teaching is really powerful um at the higher levels when you get up there anecdotally right there are many teachers who are very comfortable putting slides up on a And so the question about devices is more about like where does instruction benefit from the actual function of the device. And I think that has come out in these questions, right? Like where does a collaborative panel make sense? Um and I think back I I took a note that about Miss Gordon's question related to

collaboration. It's like in a K2 setting when you have smaller classes, collaboration looks a lot different than a math one classroom with 36 children in it. You know, what does meaningful collaboration look like if we're spending money on an expensive panel in that classroom and we're trying to force our way into 36 kids collaborative working on a panel? Now, that's not to say in math one specifically, we got a lot of modeling we got to do, right? So much of that is modeling what these uh conceptual ideas look like in space and on planes and with notation. Um but the the real key here and what we analyzed was a combination of the function of the devices and how we map the function of the devices over the skills in the standards. Right? If you think about the verb of a standard and that verb is compare, that verb is analyze. Does this device meet the demand of that standard at this grade level? And so that's when we talk about needing a study, the kind of depth to really look at functionality of a device through the pedagogical lens to actually activate the verbs and skills defined in standards um is is a lot. Dr. Thompson, is that is that what you were thinking? That's a conversation that we've had a lot recently.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Charles. But first and second grade.

Great. I I had a couple of comments before I open up for the next round. I see Dr. Joe's hand. Um but I am concerned about the BYOD bring your own device policy. You know, if you have a MacBook, I have a MacBook. I use one. And so if we have a cell phone policy that is restrictive of making sure that there's no distractions in the classroom, who's to say that if we enact a BYOD, bring your own device, it contradicts that policy. So I I I don't think that is a feasible solution for me and that's something that I don't think I would be able to

support because it it could violate the state law that makes those devices or uh you know as a distraction during the K learning K classroom learning excuse me. The other piece um that I I I was concerned and I agree. I thought the timeline would have been a little bit expedient um given the fact that we have been having these discussions for quite some time that we could at least begin to see some work this upcoming school year. And so hopefully um you know there's opportunities for us to pivot accordingly. But I I don't think we can just simply do away with devices in the elementary schools, especially given the fact that uh um EOCC's and EOGs are now online and that's what our 3 through five well 3 through 12 uh are taking. So I I I don't think we can just simply eliminate them from that perspective. But I do think um there's there's I I I think that we're heading in the right direction on some of this. Uh but I think there's a lot more engagement that we can do. Um and I would love I know Mr. Hegger had raised a couple of points. I wanted to you know kind of build off of his by really engaging how teachers are using prolithium boards. Um I know he said it you I know Mr. Hegger had referenced looking at it by the different grades, you know, elementary, middle, and high school. I would love to see how, you know, hearing teacher feedback and seeing how useful they're utilizing those in the classroom and they may be doing more things that we don't necessarily know because, you know, teachers are heroes and sheer and pulling off many strings to enhance teaching learning and they're not probably keeping up to date of how many times they're utilizing technology. But I I don't I don't want us to, you know, negate their voices in this in this work. Um, and I have a couple others, but I'll stop there. And I I I see uh Dr. Job and Dr. Thompson's hands and then Dr.

Taylor, I don't know if you have any remarks that you would like to provide.

Yeah, I I do have a number of remarks, but I'll let everybody get through their comments and I'll kind of share those at the end as a sort of a wrap-up.

Sounds great.

Um

I do think that we're going to need to add um into the plan parent education. Um I you know uh going back to what Mr. Hershey said, um, we it for so long we've been pushed to this idea that the best schools have the most technology and there's a lot of things and I'm hearing that in everybody's comments like that, you know, there's a lot of things we have feelings about. We have feelings about how um, you know, technology affects students and we have feelings about how, you know, how much they need computers and things like that. But um but parents are feel very strongly about their kids access to technology because they don't want them to be um disadvantaged in any way, you know, and they worry about the workforce and like you were talking about the beginning of your presentation like what the world is going to look like. Um and so we're going to have to first of all, I totally agree with Mr. Swanson that we cannot like take computers away. I'm more much more in favor of a um a class set of of uh devices that K through five use than I am about just taking them away or even having a set for the team or anything like that. But I also think we're going to have to do a lot to educate parents about um the reasons why we're making these decisions and you know and the research behind

um Miss Cfield, sorry, Dr. Thompson, did you have a response? I see your hand is raised.

Yes, sir. Uh chair, I just want to respond just a bit if I could to uh your your reference to immediate actions. uh we pushed as as the committee moved forward we pushed very hard. We wanted

some deliverables because you know we wanted results to have that return on investment for the savings for the 26-27 school year and if you look at the presentation there are some immediate actions that we will see some savings rolling into the 2627 school year. First of all, the Prometheian boards. Uh we have made the dil the uh distinct decision that we will not be purchasing uh Prometheian boards into the in the 26 27 school year. We figure the lifespan on them, you know, our normal rotation on them is four to five years. We're going to delay that. Those those funds will be uh remain in the budget and we will not be expending funds to either purchase install those boards in classroom. The second one is the advanced uh protection that we have. Yes, it is a study to determine the return on investment, but we're targeting a huge population that's sixth grade. Uh to ask me the dollar amount, I will be very hesitant to say right now, but we expect a huge costings uh to allow that protection to be repaired when they're broken to uh receive u some uh refunds back on that. And lastly, the rotation or the refresh on the actual devices. our the Wake County right now our current refresh strategy is 45 years if we delay that you know and not purchase our regular rhythm when it come December January next year there will be dollar savings that we will actualize and see uh so uh uh Kenneth what is that dollar savings I would be very hesitant to say right now but I can confidently tell you that we will see savings rolling into the 26 27th school year

I I I think well I I'll just speak for myself. I thought that at least I was expecting to see some plans that would potentially put some pauses on uh you know some or some structures in place as relates to the A5 um ensuring that either there is a class set only or you

know something around and I I appreciate you going into details about you know the pausing on the parthe boards and the refresh um but I just think I was expecting a little bit more given the fact that we've had these discussions and grateful for the work that has and put forth, but I I I just don't want it to be the perception that we're just

delaying and kicking this can down down the road. And so I I thank you for that feedback. that they're

um one of the things I would like to um bring up is that one of the things that we paused on on um the area where we would keep the devices in schools for third through fifth is it would increase cost a little bit because we would have to purchase um charging carts for every classroom. So we really wanted to do diligence and study, you know, to make sure which classrooms before we did extra purchasing on those kind of things. So there would be an upfront cost, but in the long run hopefully there'll be savings.

Thank you, Miss Cfield.

Yes, thank you. Um I just um wanted to ask uh two quick questions. What would be the setback if we did push it along faster rather than waiting a year or 18 months for a study on it if we were to move it along? Um, and how long would it take to implement? I mean, I know we saw how we rushed uh because we had to for COVID to get the devices in everybody's hand. I'm just wondering to reverse it. Why is it have to take so long? Um and then my other question is have have we asked the teachers how they utilize and if they prefer the parentheium boards

and and u board member and that was key question I'm asked Mr. Patton to respond to that as well. We have not did that full assessment that full survey of our teachers as of yet. Charles would you help me on that one please?

Sure. Um the honestly the work of the Prometheium

panels like this project began I'm trying to think about how long this has been in motion because I I remember going to the Spring Forest modular campus when I was still an assistant principal at Milbrook High School to go like put hands on the original like when we first started rolling these out. So this has been a yearslong roll out and I think what Dr. Mr. Thompson and Miss Raman can tell you is um we're at a point now where we just got through every school bringing the classroom up to standard, right? Like a panel in every classroom. Um which is why I think Dr. Thompson said the thing about stopping but um we do not have uh particularly systemic way like we would need to put a survey together to evaluate that and there are mechanisms to do that. we just met with the superintendent's teacher advisory committee or council in order to get some feedback on digital learning and we know that there's some nuggets of Prometheian panel stuff in there. Um but it's certainly not a holistic view. Um but we can work with uh several organizations within the district to do that pretty rapidly.

Did you have a followup, Miss Crawfield?

Yes. Um I well I was just wondering my first question was what would be the setback if we sped this up to remove um in the elementary school.

Can I just ask a quick question? When you say remove

well you talked about how we were going to do

reduction. Yeah.

Yeah. And we were talking about preschool and through second grade and then third grade and up. So, I'm just cuz you they were mentioning that we have to take the time to do this. So, I'm just wondering and I mean going off of what Mr. Hershey said as well, you know, like I'm just wondering why does it have to take so long and what would happen if we sped it up?

I mean, I think there's I think the assumption is there's some risks about just about, you know, um kind of how how

it would take place. Um, and I think I I do want to I think make sure that I think in this conversation and this could be our fault for how we put the presentation together, but like when we talk about K5, we would talk about some degree of reduction, right? And I think to the all of the things that had been shared, one, there's the budgetary concern. two, we're very much hearing the like influence of devices in K5, but there would be, you know, it would be reducing the numbers potentially to class sets. And I think I mean I I certainly don't want to speak for the staff, but I think we're hearing that feedback um on timeline, but I just I want to be clear that what we're not saying is getting rid of devices. We're saying reduce them and change their the influence. I just want to make sure that that's what you're saying, Miss Cfield. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay.

And and so Mr. C Mrs. Cfield and other board members, I do want to add some of this in in terms of the early grades that um I do want everybody to understand that is the biggest part is about changing the philosophy of use. Uh and so when I hear board members say that we don't necessarily want to see technology removed from the early grades, I think that aligns with uh what uh I believe the general thinking is with everybody across the state in that um everything that we do now was pandemic driven and we knew we knew we knew that we had to send devices home but we also recognize that when we pivot back to what we call classroom sets um uh that still is ultimately ly one to one which means we have a classroom of 18 kindergarteners and we have a device for them and so the idea is that we don't send those devices out of necessity for virtual learning uh and so that's part of the philosophy of um how we need to look at this differently um

uh in terms of uh I think the use of the technology for me this has always gone back to the digital teaching and learning standards that exist for both students and teachers. And so that is where I know um a a huge focus has to be put on how the technology is used in the classroom and and and understanding that uh the use of technology does not replace uh other uh modalities of being able to teach. And so again, a PowerPoint that's the same as the notes that teachers might put on the board, that's that's not a change. Um I know that we also uh have to continue to look at how we provide technology across the board. Uh and this is what a lot of this work is about not only for Wake County but for districts across the state. And that example would be uh Prometheian boards and where we provide those um in the type of professional development that we do for teachers at all grade levels. So, thinking about an algebra teacher versus um an an a K2 teacher, uh there's certainly uh relevance uh in all of those grade levels, but part of our work has to be about uh pivoting from providing technology for everybody for the sake of providing it and then be being more intentional about how we provide the technology and where. Um um and and I think the last piece I'll add because I know we're running out of time and it is making sure that we look closely at our BYOD polic policy and uh our damage device policy because all of those have serious implications on um um what students are charged if they damage a device, who has uh access to bringing uh devices to school. Uh so all of those things are going to have uh impacts. Um Mr. Chair, I'll just pause there because

I know we're out of time, but um I I just did wanted to add uh those uh comments in.

So I guess as we conclude um I know Miss Gordon had a question. Is Miss Gordon, do you have a quick question or

I will say I will for time sake I'll save my I'll email my question. Thank you. Gotcha. Thank you. Um, so I guess the question is, you know, our next steps, when can we expect this presentation or updates to return back to the board or what is the next steps that you all need from the board? I guess maybe a better question. So I think our turnaround can be um uh relatively good in terms of wanting to get this feedback from the board. Uh and so I do think uh a lot of the questions that we had um the board has kind of reaffirmed what those are. So that should um absolutely um leverage those next steps. I do know that uh making sure we have good clear parent feedback is something that we've got to focus on. I can't say that uh that has been a major part of this effort, but that is something that uh we want to be able to uh discuss. and then ultimately um um focusing on the shift uh in the early grades uh that we are level set on what we've done for the past uh five or six years will have to be different moving forward. So um um um you know Dr. Hill, Chief Bulla, uh, everybody else. Um, um, I think I've had the ref the affirmation from the board in terms of, uh, where you are on these issues. Uh, and so I'll ask, uh, are there any, um, affirmations that you all need additional clarity on, but I think I've received it. I think we can move pretty quickly based on this feedback.

Dr. Taylor, thank you for the comment. I think we have a lot of great feedback from the board. Obviously, there is an appetite to really put flush out a short-term plan which much more detailed some of the cost savings we're talking about to really put those details together and also kind of put a really tangible plan for the long range but also see how we can expedite some of the things we're talking about. So we we can put that plan together and I will work with the team probably we should have a quick turnaround time to put this together based on the information we already have and we should be able to share that uh with the board pretty quickly. Thank you. So board members we will adjourn our work session. Um we will leave out of this team's link and join the board meeting link. uh make sure you are signed into your wake ID uh in order to access the link which I think everyone is already signed in so we won't have those issues. So uh we will adjourn the work session. Thank you to to the team for presenting and looking forward to the next steps in the the next phase of this work. So thank you all and see you all in the other link for the 5:30 meeting.