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Mo Green has released his proposal for regionalization. See the presentation and proposed regions here. The list of regions, the schools in them and maps are near the end.

I should not "proposed." There were some, Green and board chairman Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes and Paul Daniels, who felt Green should have the authority to choose how to divide the county up.

A reminder, this would be creating geographical regions led by regional superintendents. This should have no impact on what schools your children go to.

Looks like the state Department of Public Instruction is on the same side as some of you about the days GCS has selected for make up days.

I'll provide more info as I get it here and in the story.

Should the school board approve spending nearly $1 million for 10 buses? I've not heard from school officials yet, but I'd be willing to bet they're replacing some worn rides. Then again, times like these would it be worth trying to get at least another 9 months out of them?

And as an FYI, when I was a kid growing up in rural, eastern N.C. and had to ride the bus for about an hour that's what we called it, the big yellow limo.

Were any of you inconvenienced by the late call on the delay of school this morning? How did you handle childcare?

Here's the new make up schedule.

Two snow days in a row. Here are some activities you can do with your kids from the Charlotte Parenting Examiner website.

Parents, what are you doing with your kids?

So what does everyone think about Green's decision to forgo his contractually required 3 percent raise. It'll only save the system $7,500 but school board Chairman Alan Duncan said the act is less about the money and more about character. He, and the rest of the board, praised Green for opting not to take a raise in a year when other GCS employees will likely get a pink slip.

His salary is $250,000 plus perks. Read about it here.

Preliminary End of Course test results are out for the Fall semester. You can see the whole presentation here. The system has shown moderate improvement in many areas and some strong growth in others. Algebra I proficiency is down however, which makes me wonder will the Algebra II scores drop next year?
Scroll way down to find the individual school results.

Some interesting information from research on students who took longer than four years to graduate from high school. The research was conducted by the Center for Public Education and can be found here.
The group followed 8th grade students from 1988 until 2000 and found "that late graduates do markedly better in all arenas than GED recipients and dropouts. Additionally, when the data is controlled to compare students of similar socioeconomic status and achievement level, late graduates come close to on-time graduates' achievement."

Highlights of findings include:
• Late graduates distinguish themselves not so much by enrolling in college, but in completing a degree. While they are not significantly more likely (59 percent) than GED recipients (51 percent) to enroll in college, they are much more likely to go on and obtain either an associates or bachelors degree.
• Late graduates are more likely than GED recipients and dropouts to be employed and to hold full-time jobs.
• Late graduates are significantly better off in terms of job benefits. Of the late graduates who were employed after 1994, close to two-thirds (63 percent) held a job that offered retirement benefits compared to just over half (53 percent) of GED recipients and less than half of dropouts (45 percent). Seventy-six percent of late graduates also had health insurance coverage compared to 66 and 61 percent of GED recipients and dropouts, respectively.
• Although late graduates are no more likely to be registered to vote than GED recipients, late graduates are significantly more likely to have voted in a recent election (40 percent versus 29 percent).
• Late graduates are more likely than GED recipients and dropouts to be non-smokers and to exercise more. There were no differences among the groups in drinking habits.

So the state board of education met yesterday and will meet again today. Among the things they'll discuss is the dropout rate for the state and school districts. I requested Guilford County's information yesterday from several people at GCS and the state board office.
GCS said they didn't have it and the state board just didn't return my call or fulfill my request.
This morning The Charlotte Observer has an article about the new conference Charlotte-Meck Superintendent Peter Gorman held yesterday announcing his district's dropout rate has decreased from 6.4 percent in 2006-07 to 5.9 in 2007-08.
So how is it that the Charlotte super had the numbers but our own Mo Green didn't? Are Gorman and his people better dialed into Raleigh and its workings? Could this hurt us as we battle with budget concerns?

So now that it's out what are your thoughts?
Find the plan here.