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Cabarrus recommends delaying opening new magnet school
Community and parents speak out about magnet school, naming of A.T. Allen
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Published: March 10, 2010
CONCORD - More than 1,000 parents responded to an anonymous survey last month about a new potential magnet school, or one with a curriculum centered around a specific focus, within Cabarrus County Schools, said Colleen Sain.
The school system currently has two magnet schools: Cabarrus-Kannapolis Early College High School and the Performance Learning Center.
After examining the survey results, staff for the school system is recommending to delay the opening of another potential magnet school until 2011.
Sain presented a summary of the parent survey responses to the school board at its business meeting on Monday.
"I feel very good about the results of the survey," said Sain, the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the school system. "People are looking for something to get excited about and to be hopeful about."
When asked to pick any and all themes their child would be most interested in for a magnet school, 51 percent of the parents selected math and science. Forty-six percent said their child would be most interested in a technology-themed magnet school.
For that reason, school administrators have decided that there would not be enough time to open another magnet school this year.
"Choosing a school for science, technology and math would take a considerable amount of work," Sain said.
At a school board meeting in December, Sain presented a timeline for opening a potential magnet school in August, saying there had been interest among parents. School board members said they were interested in science, technology and mathematics.
Based on the survey results, local parents are also interested in these topics, as well as foreign language, of which 40 percent of the respondents said their children were most interested.
The survey also asked if parents were interested in their children attending a magnet school if an additional 15 minutes bus ride is required to reach the location, and 71 percent said they were.
If an additional 30-minute bus ride is required, 36 percent said they were interested.
The 71 percent response was significant enough to say that there is a high interest in a magnet school, Sain said.
Parents were asked to select other themes for a magnet school not listed on the survey, and many suggested International Baccalaureate (IB), Sain said.
Themes of the arts, including writing, design, literature, graphic design and performance, were also suggested by parents, as well as biotechnology. Many who responded also asked for a magnet school for academically or intellectually gifted students.
There were also some parents who said they opposed opening a new magnet school because they did not want their children to leave their home school or after seeing negative results at other schools, among other reasons.
In addition to the survey results, Sain told the board that there is grant money available from the federal government to develop a magnet school.
Board member Carolyn Carpenter asked about the funding for establishing a magnet school.
"There are grants available," Sain said. "I believe there are ways to do this and not pull money off the top of our school budget."
The next task on the school system's list for developing a potential magnet school is to determine themes to be used and present them at the school board's work session on April 12.
Community speaks about changes at A.T. Allen
At Monday's meeting, the school board held a public hearing for the renaming of the current A. T. Allen Elementary School, which will be replaced when its new location opens in the fall.
The soon-to-be former A. T. Allen will be used for a preschool program, offices and staff development, beginning in the fall.
L. Don Hoyle Elementary/Preschool, Mary Frances Wall Child Development Center and The Allen Center were names submitted to the board for the facility.
Kimberly Hoyle Kachmarik requested to name the facility L. Don Hoyle Elementary/Preschool in honor of her father, who has been an educator for the school system and held his first principal position at A. T. Allen.
"I feel my father is a true educator and representative for the Cabarrus County school system," Kachmarik wrote on the request form.
Jessie Blackwelder and Beth Feeback were the only speakers at the public hearing, and both asked for the center for be named after the late Mary Frances "Frankie" Wall, a former kindergarten teacher with the school system.
"Frankie Wall embodied all that is admirable about our teaching profession," Blackwelder said. "She demonstrated love and dedication as she set an example that all of us should strive for: to cherish all children."
Feeback told the board that she created a Facebook page in honor of naming the center after Wall, and about 250 people have become fans of it. She shared some of Facebook group responses about Wall with the school board.
There was also a group of about 10 people who stood at the meeting to show their support for naming
the school after Wall.
Trina Wenzel also submitted a request to name the facility The Allen Center because it is the name of the community in that area, she wrote on the request form.
"The center would be a multipurpose facility, and the name will not reflect any one program more than the other," Wenzel wrote.
She added that the name would stay in line with other facilities in the school system, such as The Glenn Center and The Education Center.
The school board had originally scheduled to vote on the facility's name at this week's meeting but postponed it, due to the absence of Board Vice Chairwoman Cindy Fertenbaugh and member Holly Blackwelder.
"All three names are very deserving, and it's going to be a tough decision," said Wayne Williams, board chairman. "This will give us time to think about it."
• Contact reporter Jessica Groover: 704-789-9152
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