School board sets legislative goals
Feb. 17—GUILFORD COUNTY — Leaders of Guilford County Schools want to make sure that state legislators meeting in Raleigh the next two years know the school district's needs and what they require to provide the best education possible to students.
The Guilford County Board of Education unanimously approved its legislative priorities for the 2023-24 N.C. General Assembly session during a special meeting Thursday night at the school district headquarters north of downtown Greensboro.
The school board members are scheduled to meet Monday with the Guilford County delegation to the General Assembly to present its priorities. State legislators convened for the General Assembly session last month.
The legislative goals emerged from a series of community meetings and town halls held starting last fall. The session engaged more than 5,500 people including parents, students, educators, GCS staff, business and nonprofit representatives, and religious leaders.
The legislative priorities reflect the sentiments of the community, said GCS Chief of Staff Jose Oliva.
The legislative priorities include:
—Provide an increase in state-funded base pay for teachers to reach the national average.
—Increase pay allotments for classified staff, such as bus drivers, nutrition staff and custodians, to meet market rates for compensation.
—Provide funding for retention bonuses.
—Allocate $3.1 million to sustain the school district's tutorial program that was launched to stem learning loss amid the coronavirus pandemic.
—Provide $3.3 million to sustain learning hubs for high school students, another innovation to help students during the pandemic.
—Expand access to pre-kindergarten programs.
—Give the school district flexibility with the local school calendar.
—Support a comprehensive approach to school safety and security.
—Provide funding to shift from diesel to electric school buses.
pjohnson@hpenews.com — @HPEPaul — 336-888-3528
