'Things Going Well' at GCPS, Superintendent Says

“For the most part, things are going well” in Gwinnett County Public Schools, Superintendent/CEO J. Alvin Wilbanks reported in his annual state of the schools address Tuesday, “but we still have our challenges.”

Wilbanks’ address was delivered during the District III Area Meeting of the Gwinnett Board of Education hosted Tuesday (April 17) night by Duluth High School. A reception in the lobby preceded the meeting. Dr. Mary Kay Murphy, who represents District III on the school board, presided over the meeting. District III includes several Suwanee schools, including North Gwinnett High and Peachtree Ridge High.

The agenda also included a video outlining 10 GCPS Strategic Priorities for becoming a world-class school system in 10 years (2010-2020).

“Our test scores remain among the top in the state from elementary to high school,” Wilbanks said. “An increasing number of students are taking Advance Placement classes, and several of our schools were recognized as AP Honor Schools.”

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Specifically, Wilbanks noted that eight GCPS middle schools ranked in the top 20 in Georgia on the Eighth Grade Writing Test, and GCPS SAT scores averaged 11 points above the national average and 66 points above the state average.

eClass digital learning that will be piloted in 33 GCPS schools next fall, he said, will “truly transform how we deliver instruction in our schools,” he said. The program will be piloted in the Archer, Berkmar, Duluth, North Gwinnett, and Shiloh clusters.

Annual enrollment growth has become “more manageable” in recent years, Wilbanks said. The Gwinnett school system has 160,400 students and is the largest in Georgia and among the largest in the nation. While enrollment continues to grow, he said, the figures aren’t as dramatic as annual increases of 5,000 to 6,000 students experienced in the late 1990s and earlier 2000 years. Over the next few years, enrollment is expected to grow by 1,200 to 1,300 students annually.

Voter passage last fall of SPLOST IV, he said, will provide funds for five new schools, renovations that will turn the Monarch School in Duluth into a middle school, additions to seven existing schools, and build-out of the third floor at Meadowcreek High School. The projects are scheduled from 2012-17.

Updated Academic Knowledge and Skills curriculum adopted by the Gwinnett BOE will guide instruction in the 2012-13 school year. This aligns the AKS in Gwinnett County schools with the state’s Common Core Georgia Performance Standards, Wilbanks said.

Also, GCPS is participating in developing a new State Personnel Evaluation System, he said.

“Our biggest challenge remains the budget,” Wilbanks said. The FY 2013 budget was the most difficult he’s faced in his 17 years as GCPS superintendent, he said. To balance the budget, a shortfall of $89 million had to be overcome. Financial challenges are expected to continue through the next three to four years, Wilbanks said.

Prior to the meeting, the school board tentatively approved the superintendent's proposed $1.7 billion FY 2013 budget. Public hearings are scheduled on the budget for 7 p.m. May 10 and 6 p.m. May 17 at the Instructional Support Center in Suwanee. The board is expected to adopt the final budget and a tentative tax millage rate May 17. The final millage rate is slated to be set in June.

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