Name as it appears on the ballot: Heather Scott
Age: 45
Party affiliation: Democratic (*NonPartisan Office)
Campaign website: HeatherForWake.org
Occupation & employer: Music Teacher/Substitute Teacher (Sabbatical while serving on School Board)
1. What do you believe are the three most important issues facing the Board of Education? What are your priorities for addressing these issues?
Staffing Needs in Covid-19: The Board of Education is facing several critical issues during this global pandemic. We must work to provide resources to our schools in order to adequately serve our students. Our class sizes are quite large in grade 4-12 and social distancing would be impossible without using cohorts. This places a large burden on teachers to instruct both live and remote students. While WCPSS does offer the Virtual Academy, the concern remains about providing quality instruction to students without overburdening our teachers. It is logistically difficult to implement. There is a clear indication that we will need more staff. The Board should work with staff to identify temporary staffing needs in a timely way and work with Wake County Commissioners to access CARES funding for those temporary positions.
Budget Impacts from Covid-19: Even with the federal assistance that’s available through this covid crisis, the board will need to take special care with our budget as revisions to state and local revenue streams will be possible all through this year. The challenges will continue going into the 2021-22 school year. $13.8 million of the difference between our budget request for 2020-21 was reconciled with budget reductions for services and utilities that were mostly based on delayed opening. That won’t happen next year. Also, $11.9 million of the local appropriation for 2020-21 was non-recurring. That means it is not automatically part of the county budget for the next fiscal year. Starting next year with a potentially $25 million budget gap will threaten important efforts to expand social-emotional learning, fund deferred operational needs, and any chance to address remaining pre-K gaps. While the legislature did pass a bill to prevent allotment cuts based on this year’s enrollment, we don’t know yet how much enrollment will be affected going into next year. These factors will seriously challenge our board as we try to maintain service for our students this year and next.
Academic Support in Covid-19: It has been extremely challenging to provide academic and social-emotional support in a virtual environment. WCPSS schools are desirable because they offer so much choice within them: a variety of course offerings, different school calendars (year-round, early college, traditional, and modified), co-curricular activities, athletics, clubs, CTE, and more. However, shifting these comprehensive programs to a virtual platform has been an enormous lift, and our teachers and principals have worked tirelessly to serve our students. WCPSS worked diligently to provide students with Chromebooks through the help of Activate Good. Not all of our rural communities have access to the internet, and WCPSS worked hard to provide hotspots to families in those areas. Our teachers have been using asynchronous days to connect with students to offer additional supports as well.
2. What in your record as a public official or other experience demonstrates your ability to be an effective Board of Education member? This might include career or community service; be specific about its relevance to this office.
I have served as the District 1 School Board member since taking the oath of office in December 2018. I have visited all 28 schools in District 1 to take the time to get to know the school communities. I have learned how hard their teachers work to reach their students, their relationships with the communities and businesses around them, the impact of housing trends and growth within their base attendance areas, and many other details about the students and their families. I also built relationships with the municipal leaders in the area not only to strengthen the relationship between the schools and the towns, but to open another pipeline of communication and feedback to better serve the citizens and their children. I believe the bi-partisan support and endorsements from numerous municipal leaders speaks to my willingness to listen and to help address concerns. It’s very important to know the unique strengths and needs of our very different communities in Eastern and Northeastern Wake - and to take the time to advocate for these families. Finally, as the mother of two WCPSS elementary school students I see the day-to-day rewards and challenges in their schooling and have a very personal investment in the success of the school system.
In December 2019, I was awarded the Knightdale Mayor’s Award for Commitment to Community. I have worked very closely with the town of Knightdale to increase transparency in communications. I currently chair the Student Achievement Committee, and while committee meetings were temporarily paused due to Covid-19, I have worked hard with the Office of Academic Advancement to provide relevant information to our committee members, the Board, and all stakeholders in upcoming meetings. WCPSS is now implementing a new program, “PRIMP” (partial renovation and improvement), to address facility concerns by reallocating funds within the CIP, rather than a new funding request. This will greatly benefit our older buildings throughout Wake County that are not yet ready for a complete renovation, but do have needs to be addressed.
My career as a music educator beginning in 1998 also allows me to understand what it is like to be a full-time classroom teacher. It also reinforces “my why.” During the fall semester in 1998, I worked very hard with a student in my General Music classroom. This student came from a family where not a single family member had graduated with high school, and unfortunately it appeared he was expected to follow that same path. He was a passive-resistant student who did not complete work, but did not cause discipline problems. After working with him for several weeks to build confidence and have a positive rapport, he raised his hand to answer a question - and it was quite possibly the first time he had offered an answer in a class. I was so deeply moved those twenty-two years ago, and I take that moment with me in all that I do in service to education (teacher, parent, advocate, board member). It is the role of adults to remove barriers that prevent children from accessing a high quality education. Relationships are crucial. This is the center of how I have served my community these last two years on the Wake County Board of Education.
3. Research suggests that North Carolina’s schools are becoming more segregated by race and economic status. What do you think is driving this trend, and do you think this is an issue WCPSS needs to address? Please explain your answer.
This largely mirrors housing trends and the cost of living in different parts of the county (some areas of Wake are concentrated with $500K+ single family homes, other areas have densely populated affordable apartment complexes, and rurally isolated areas with mobile home communities). At the same time, we also see more schools of choice with fewer students of color and fewer economically disadvantaged students in close proximity to traditional public schools (see my answer to question #4). WCPSS can work to strengthen lines of communication with municipalities and Wake County Government to share school demographic information across the school system. Cities and towns are keen to avoid creating pockets of condensed poverty. By placing new schools in areas that can be drawn more evenly from a diverse area, as well as encouraging cities, towns, and the county to be mindful of how zoning changes and residential zoning affect the school system, we can work toward an environment that makes it easier to keep schools diverse without as much disruption from student assignment.
4. What effects do you believe the popularity of charter schools is having on the school system? Is it exacerbating segregation or draining resources from neighborhood schools, as some critics contend?
It’s not the popularity of charter schools as much as their continued expansion that affects the school system. New charters have often been approved, built, and then allowed to expand further in areas where WCPSS has already acted to anticipate growth. Often charters have moved from application to opening inside the horizon of our 7-year Capital Improvement Plan, which means the disruption hasn’t been and can’t be planned for. In most other sectors this would not be considered an efficient way to do business.
The most efficient way to operate our schools is at or near full capacity. Overcrowded schools cause problems people can see from the street: trailers, traffic jams. Not having enough students for a building is harder to see from the outside, but it’s still problematic. We don’t get smaller classes, we get empty classrooms. Schools lose programs, specials teachers, a counselor, maybe their nurse, and so on, even as per-pupil expenditure at that school goes up because the cost of the building staff covers fewer students. When a significant fraction of a school’s base leaves the system in an unplanned way, that’s what happens to the school unless something else is done about it. It isn’t always possible or even a good idea to try to redistribute students through the assignment process to keep a school full, which means the remaining students at that school get reduced service and opportunities through no fault of their own.
Another side of this is that when the group of students that leaves the school system to attend a new charter has fewer low-income students, students with disabilities, or English learners than is average for the schools in that area, that obviously means the traditional public schools will serve a higher percentage of such students than before. That’s not a value judgment, it’s just a mathematical reality. It’s been happening to Wake Forest Elementary in particular for a long time. Unfortunately, even though schools with higher percentages of special populations are known to require specific resources to address them, it is not possible for the county to provide those resources without matching that local funding on a per-pupil basis to the charters as well. If the county were to decide that a school needed a locally funded IA and a counselor due to shifting demographics in a given school, it costs their salary and benefits PLUS the per-pupil passthrough. So if that comes to $0.75 per student across the system, it adds $12,200 to the cost of trying to solve the problem - just one example that repeats across the entire system.
5. In light of the ongoing threat of COVID-19, do you believe it is safe for students to return to the classroom? What policies or protocols should be put in place to ensure the health and safety of students? If remote learning must continue in some form in the future, what can be done to ensure students are still receiving a quality education?
The North Carolina Department of Education required all schools to compose plans for operation under Plan A (minimal social distancing), Plan B (social distancing/fewer students in the building), and Plan C (100% remote learning). The guidelines for these plans were highlighted in the “Lighting Our Way Forward” document, as well as the NCDHHS “Strong Schools Reopen Toolkit.” Governor Cooper has allowed elementary schools to open under “Plan A,” and all other grade levels may operate under “Plan B.”
We have seen many school systems open without cluster outbreaks in their facilities. Through consultation with the ABC Science Collaborative (funded through a grant via NIH), WCPSS worked hard to compose protocols and procedures to keep students, teachers, and staff safe. These plans include masks, providing proper PPE to employees and students, cleaning strategies, cohorts to allow for social distancing in larger classes, and transportation adjustments. A phased-in return has been consistently recommended to monitor the implementation of safety protocols and practices. WCPSS has composed detailed “Return to Campus” guides, FAQ lists, offers consistent communication with families/employees, and a dedicated website is available for families and employees.
It is important to continue the Virtual Academy option for families with unique health considerations and those who desire stability (schools are expected to be able to move between the Plans based on state mandates and/or local metrics). WCPSS continues to monitor these virtual settings to ensure maximum student success while balancing workload, technological issues, and healthy screen time limits. This work will be ongoing.
6. Do you support the placement of school resource officers in Wake schools? If so, what do you think their role should be? If not, what do you propose as an alternative?
I do support the role and placement of SRO’s in some WCPSS schools. We know that the experience of students at some schools is quite positive, but we also hear reports of inappropriate actions at other schools. It is urgent that we listen to the community and students who have had negative experiences to shape and refine the roles and expectations of SRO’s in our schools. Students of color are disproportionately referred to SRO’s. This must stop. The WCPSS is revising the Memorandum of Understanding - the document defining the role and expectation for SRO’s. I am hopeful that by offering a clearer definition of the role of SRO’s in schools, relationships and expectations can be improved while we continue to address the disproportionate referrals through deeper studies and additional training.
We need to fully fund our counselors and better support students with special needs. I strongly support an increased use of restorative justice programs in our schools as well, especially as an alternative to disciplinary measures where a child is removed from school or referred to the court system.
7. Black students make up about a quarter of Wake County public school students, yet, according to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, are nearly eight times more likely to be suspended than their white peers. Are racial disparities an issue you think the board of education needs to address?
These types of racial disparities should absolutely be addressed by the Board. In 2010, the WCPSS came under federal investigation from the Office of Civil Rights. The school system entered into a voluntary resolution agreement in 2018 that will close the matter pending final evaluation in 2021 based on changes the district had already made. Among these have been changes to reduce suspensions for minor infractions that were disproportionately affecting students of color, as well as careful considerations to help adjust the Student Code of Conduct to provide a positive description of expectations for students. The WCPSS is taking a deeper look into the remaining racial disparities with discipline referrals.
Teachers and school employees have worked to implement restorative justice protocols that have been shown to reduce the need for discipline that takes students out of the classroom. We need to recognize where that has been working and lift up those efforts to benefit the entire system. Above all we need to recognize and accept the story that the data still tells us - that there is work to be done to prevent school discipline from being a barrier to students’ opportunities to access their education.
8. Identify and explain one principled stand you would be willing to take if elected that you suspect might cost you some points with voters.
While the complications of Covid-19 have renewed calls that WCPSS is “too big,” I remain steadfast in that I do not support breaking up our school system into smaller school systems. Our unified school district helps ease the tax burden on smaller municipalities - who are all feeling the impact of the global pandemic. Having consistently-funded strong schools throughout Wake County ultimately benefits all citizens, all business owners, and our economy as a whole. WCPSS needs to continue to address inequitable opportunities that exist within some schools and that work has started. Public education is a common good and I want all of our children to have access to the best opportunities. I believe in our unified school system.
Comment on this questionnaire at backtalk@indyweek.com.
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