DR. SANDY JOHNSON, CHIEF INSTRUCTIONAL OFFICER

NCLB School Choice Update 2005-2006

All of the relevant information for NCLB School Choice for the 2005-2006 school year is attached.
We have met all timelines to date and held several meetings with principals and others to ensure
that everyone is fully informed. Please note that the timeline will place all students in their schools
of choice by Monday, September 26, the first day of the second six weeks. By State guidelines,
Choice must be completed by October 1.

Please do not hesitate to contact Terri Breeden or me if you have further questions about any of the materials.

LANCE LOTT, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR TECHNOLOGY AND STRATEGIC PLANNING

From a technology perspective, school opening went well. We have a small number of teachers that are
awaiting PCs in their classrooms or login credentials for access to the network. Each year we have to
move PCs between buildings due to the fluctuations in faculty size. Even though this work is going
on prior to school opening, last minute moves and changes create logistical challenges that take a
few days for us to work through. We also had some school level network problems related to the
startup that had to be fixed during the first week. The Internet connection was lost at ENA (state
provider) on Thursday morning which prevented access for a few hours.

The Customer Service Center celebrated some successes but also struggled with issues that left
many callers frustrated the first three days of school. On the good side of the ledger we centrally
served a large number of customers that visited the Customer Service Center. This proved to be
an orderly process and customers did not have to roam the halls of the district office trying to
find specific departments to assist them. The vast majority of the customers visiting were trying
to work through issues related to transferring schools. We will use the data from this week to
improve these processes in the future.

On the negative side, our phone system and the number of phone lines coming into the buildings
could not meet the demand put on it. By noon on Monday we had over 10,000 attempted calls
with over one-half of those not making it into the call queue. The vast majority of the remaining
calls were abandoned due to long wait times. We received several complaints about this due to
the frustrations of not being able to get answers to questions on a timely basis. By noon Thursday
we had worked with customers on 3,574 calls. On Thursday morning our calls totaled 897 up until
noon and we were able to process 635 of those calls. All of these calls made it into the call queue
but we still had 262 calls that were abandoned. We are debriefing now to begin to understand how
we can better serve customers next year during the opening. One strategy will be to improve our
utilization of the Call Center software. This software has many features that have not been
implemented yet that should help us greatly in the future.

Finally, many of the district departments are reporting a much smoother opening than ever before.
The transportation department had representatives in the Customer Service Center which
dramatically improved our ability to resolve these types of issues. The Student Assignment Office
had a much easier time processing transfer requests since they were not directly working with
the customers. The Customer Service Center has much room for improvement but the concept
assisted greatly in the opening of schools.

CHRIS HENSON, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR BUSINESS AND FACILITY SERVICES

Joe A. Edgens, Executive Director, Facilities and Operations

Land Search for High School in Antioch Cluster – We are continuing to pursue all sites listed in last week’s update. Our focus now is on the 245 acre site on Old Hickory Blvd. A meeting is set for Friday, August 19 th, for the initial discussion with the owner’s agent to determine the best type of offer we can make for a portion of the property. If the meeting goes well, we will then begin negotiations with the intent to purchase 45 to 50 of the 245 acres. We have also determined that sewer is available on-site and have studied the site topography to know that this is the best site in that area in terms of site grading costs.

We have also contacted Metro Water and Sewer about sewer availability for a second site, which is a 40 acre site available on Battle Road across from Cain Ridge Park at Burkitt Road.

WOODY MCMILLIN, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER

Responded to more than 30 media calls on topics including: the first day of school and related safety and traffic issues; use of computer software to track sex offenders residences near bus stops; teacher retention; ACT Scores; Overton graduate who was killed in automobile accident; school lunch menus; First Day Festival; sales tax referendum; school zones for Goodlettsville residents (can they attend in Sumner); grades accessible to parents via computer; fuel costs for bus fleet; students without schedules; student missing from school; explosion at Pearl-Cohn (actually a transformer down the street); Eakin construction project.

Finalized content and layout of special insert for Nashville Parent Magazine.

Continued work on Annual Report for 04-05.

Issued media advisories and press releases on ACT scores and First Day of School event at Andrew Jackson; provided photographs to various community groups and departments.

Worked First Day Festival event at Gaylord Entertainment Center; provided support to Mayor’s staff and coordinated appearances by high school music groups.

Continued to work on arrangements for Family School visits (set for first three Tuesdays and Thursdays in November).

Met with NAACP education committee on Moving Forward Together events; continued work on elements for first event with MNPS staff.

Continued to work on website elements, including school profiles.

Printed and mailed invitations for Ruby Major dedication, met with Teresa Dennis to plan dedication program and photographed school building;

Worked with Mayor’s office on the DELL computer contest.

Gathered information on Ft. Worth Ind. School District Car Give-Away to promote attendance and provided material to Nashville Alliance.

Coordinated Mayor’s visit to Andrew Jackson Elem. and worked with principal on event logistics/follow-up.

Attended first community forum on sales tax referendum and provided information to media on site.

Responded to numerous proposals requests (to provide information/services/materials) to schools.

Continued work on PENCIL Foundation’s Principal For-A-Day event; continued work on setting up meeting for Nashville Alliance; continued work on Hands on Nashville Day event.

PEG/jw

Attachments:

Information for NCLB School Choice for the 2005-06 School Year