Racial Equity Rowan's 'Exploring Education' Forum Paints a Big Picture of the Rowan-Salisbury School System – Salisbury Post

SALISBURY — In February, Racial Equity Rowan held a forum to discuss inequalities within the county and the prospect of acknowledging those injustices. One of the main topics mentioned at the conference was education, and at the Wallace Education Forum on April 29, Racial Equity Rowan held a follow-up gathering called “Exploring Education” to encourage the public. We invited people to dig deeper into the conversations we've had.

Rowan-Salisbury Schools Superintendent Dr. Kelly Withers spoke about the overall situation of the district and the trajectory the district is headed for, and Chief Resource Officer Carol Herndon touched on the district's funding and financial situation.

Withers said the RSSS's “accountability model” is: Although it is based on 80 percent proficiency and 20 percent growth, educators also said they believe it is “broken” and “not a great representation.” Proficiency refers to “grade level” and growth refers to the amount of growth per grade. Economically disadvantaged students tend to fall further behind academically, undermining the overall progress of students and teachers.

“In the current 80/20 model, grades actually reflect poverty status rather than reflecting the influence of teachers in the classroom.” Withers said.

RSSS has 18,195 students enrolled, 72 percent of whom are economically disadvantaged as of June 2023. Withers said charter schools are public school districts but have “flexibility” in schedule, curriculum, staffing and finances.

Mr. Withers outlined the district's action plan, titled “Renewing Our Work,” our future strategies and how we will achieve our goals.

“We are determined to be a system where student performance actually determines the economic status of our communities,” Withers said.

In addition, Mr. Withers provided an update on the status of the recently demolished former Knox Middle School site and a presentation planned for the summer to the school board regarding the direction of the project.

Withers hopes to witness an increase in four-year graduation rates over the next three years. The number of schools that match or exceed expectations for work-based learning such as internships, students with career development plans, positive outcomes in enrollment, enlistment, and post-graduation employment, and growth.

When it came time for Herndon to present, she described what the school was like. Funding comes from a variety of sources, including state, local, federal, and grants/donations.

“Unlike businesses, we don't create anything to sell or provide services for a fee. We rely entirely on state, local, and federal governments for the majority of our funding. It's difficult sometimes because we don't know what their budget will be, so it's hard to predict whether we need to summarize our budget to reflect that. It’s difficult to reflect that.” Said.

Herndon explained that most of the funding comes from the state and the majority of the spending goes toward education services for staff salaries and benefits.

The RSSS's ADM, or average daily membership, has steadily declined from 2016 to 2017, and Herndon said it's “lower for us” as it correlates with the amount of funding it receives. “This is the biggest challenge,” he said.

Herndon said RSSS and Rowan County rank last in local spending per pupil and local spending per pupil, respectively.

“We want our county and district to move up on these two charts so we can get the funding to make our strategic plan a reality,” Herndon said. Stated. Said.

After the lecture, the audience asked Withers and Herndon questions about the teacher shortage, the current state of diversity, the division of equity and inclusion, how diversity is taught in schools, diversity training requirements, discipline, and more. I had a chance.

East Spencer Councilman Sean Rush thought the forum was very informative. As an elected official, Rush has interacted with many parents concerned about the school system. His main takeaway from that night was the importance of the RSSS retaining its teachers.

“Going back to county legislators, it's up to them to increase their pay to prevent teachers from moving out of state or moving to other school districts,” Rush said.