Pre-kindergarten classes that serve future students at four schools in the Alamance-Burlington School System will be moved from a central location back to the schools.
Jean Maness, the executive director of elementary education, said some of the system’s pre-kindergarten students are served at the system’s offices at Ray Street in Graham. Those classes will re-locate back to Andrews, Eastlawn, North Graham and South Graham elementary schools.
Maness shared information about the move with school board members during a work session this week. She said the Ray Street location has been cited this year by the state after children went unmonitored. Moving the classes back to the schools, she said, will improve accountability since principals will be able to observe what goes on.
“We do not have an on-site administrator” at Ray Street, she said. “We have been cited three times for supervisory concerns. We are close to losing our five-star rating.”
Citations of different kinds are common when the N.C. Division of Child Development does inspections. Violations involving children being unsupervised are less common than those involving playground safety issues, proper documentation of parental permission to give medicine and storage of hazardous cleaning materials. Among other Alamance-Burlington pre-kindergarten programs, Elon Elementary and South Graham Elementary have also been cited for supervision issues during the current school year.
People can search online for information about pre-school programs throughout the state at http://ncchildcaresearch.dhhs.state.nc.us/search.asp.
Board member Patsy Simpson said she’s received calls from people working in the pre-kindergarten program at Ray Street who aren’t happy with the move. Simpson said she wasn’t siding with or against the people who called but said she wanted to pass on what she’d been told.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook,” Simpson said. Board member Tony Rose said he’s also gotten calls.
Board members asked Maness if there’s enough space at the schools to accommodate the pre-kindergarten classes.
“We have built at these schools,” Maness said, since the classes were moved to Ray Street, “so it’s better than what it was.”
Simpson asked if older students will be moved into mobile units to make room for the pre-kindergarten classes.
Bill Hussey, the system’s executive director of exceptional education, said two classes of students with autism will move into mobile classrooms at South Graham Elementary.
“I don’t know the connection between that and the pre-K (move),” he said.
Maness said putting the pre-kindergarten classes back at the schools should benefit more families. Parents and guardians have to provide transportation, since pre-kindergarten students can’t ride buses without a monitor being present. In many cases, Maness said, it will be more feasible for families to transport students to and from schools rather than the Ray Street facility.
Board member Mary Erwin said the move will help students adjust to their elementary school.
“It’s better for the kids to be at their home school,” she said. Simpson disagreed, saying students “do just fine” attending pre-kindergarten programs elsewhere as long as they are in a strong program.
If the system loses More at Four funding from the state, Maness said, it will have to cut the number of pre-kindergarten classes it offers. But that is a separate issue from where the classes are located.
Source: http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/system-43998-schools-classes.html
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Jean Maness, the executive director of elementary education, said some of the system’s pre-kindergarten students are served at the system’s offices at Ray Street in Graham. Those classes will re-locate back to Andrews, Eastlawn, North Graham and South Graham elementary schools.
Maness shared information about the move with school board members during a work session this week. She said the Ray Street location has been cited this year by the state after children went unmonitored. Moving the classes back to the schools, she said, will improve accountability since principals will be able to observe what goes on.
“We do not have an on-site administrator” at Ray Street, she said. “We have been cited three times for supervisory concerns. We are close to losing our five-star rating.”
Citations of different kinds are common when the N.C. Division of Child Development does inspections. Violations involving children being unsupervised are less common than those involving playground safety issues, proper documentation of parental permission to give medicine and storage of hazardous cleaning materials. Among other Alamance-Burlington pre-kindergarten programs, Elon Elementary and South Graham Elementary have also been cited for supervision issues during the current school year.
People can search online for information about pre-school programs throughout the state at http://ncchildcaresearch.dhhs.state.nc.us/search.asp.
Board member Patsy Simpson said she’s received calls from people working in the pre-kindergarten program at Ray Street who aren’t happy with the move. Simpson said she wasn’t siding with or against the people who called but said she wanted to pass on what she’d been told.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook,” Simpson said. Board member Tony Rose said he’s also gotten calls.
Board members asked Maness if there’s enough space at the schools to accommodate the pre-kindergarten classes.
“We have built at these schools,” Maness said, since the classes were moved to Ray Street, “so it’s better than what it was.”
Simpson asked if older students will be moved into mobile units to make room for the pre-kindergarten classes.
Bill Hussey, the system’s executive director of exceptional education, said two classes of students with autism will move into mobile classrooms at South Graham Elementary.
“I don’t know the connection between that and the pre-K (move),” he said.
Maness said putting the pre-kindergarten classes back at the schools should benefit more families. Parents and guardians have to provide transportation, since pre-kindergarten students can’t ride buses without a monitor being present. In many cases, Maness said, it will be more feasible for families to transport students to and from schools rather than the Ray Street facility.
Board member Mary Erwin said the move will help students adjust to their elementary school.
“It’s better for the kids to be at their home school,” she said. Simpson disagreed, saying students “do just fine” attending pre-kindergarten programs elsewhere as long as they are in a strong program.
If the system loses More at Four funding from the state, Maness said, it will have to cut the number of pre-kindergarten classes it offers. But that is a separate issue from where the classes are located.
Source: http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/system-43998-schools-classes.html
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