Web Exclusive: Full Transcript of Vickie Thomas Interview

Web Exclusive: Full Transcript of Vickie Thomas Interview The Fayetteville superintendent talks about the current status of the renovation project at the High School, and the future of technology in the district. ON ORIGINAL MILLAGE BEING DEFEATED IN 2009... "Unfortunately that millage was defeated. And then we went back and looked at how we could create a revenue stream and show the public we were doing everything we could to try to do what we could within our budget. So the first $45 million of the project we were able to finance through qualified zone construction bonds, which are zero interest bonds to the taxpayer. And we were able to revenue stream that by making $2.5 million worth of cuts to our district operating budget, so it did not require a millage. So phase one did not require a millage." And then we went out to the public to talk with them about the opportunity to do phase two, looking at new construction as well as renovating the old '91 addition of the high school, so it was a blend. And I think it showed the public that we were optimizing the facility, the parts that we could refurbish we were able to do that at some cost savings to the tax payer, and also that we had tightened our belt in order to make this project work. And we were very fortunate that the public was gracious enough to vote the millage in for us." ON GETTING PUBLIC INPUT... -- 10,000 people showed up to the polls for original vote -- 5,000 sent back responses asking for public input "After the defeat of that first millage I sent out a survey to everyone that voted. We had over 10,000 people that showed up to the polls to vote for that millage which was unheard of for a millage election. And so we sent out a letter or a postcard to the voters saying why did you either vote for or against, and we received over 5,000 responses from our public and I read every one of them. And there were varying reasons why people either supported it, or were against it. One of the things the public said was 'are you being fiscally responsible by optimizing your facilities? Are you cutting your budgets like we have to do in business?' So we really took those things to heart and listened, and came back with a reduced plan, but that is going to get us to our goal for excellence in education for our students." ON THE COST OF RENAVATING THE HIGH SCHOOL... -- cost is about $92 Million "Everyday we look at what's happening with concrete and steel. And anytime the gas prices are high that means the cost escalates for building materials because of the transportation of those materials to and from where they need to go. And also just the cost of doing business in construction. So it escalates all the time so we really watch that very closely." ON POTENTIAL FOR 2ND HIGH SCHOOL IN THE NEAR FUTURE... "I think that it is a great thing we are a one high school town. Usually you have to have a total student population district wide of about 16 to 18 thousand students before you begin to look at trying to have a second high school, and that is because in order to have the revenue stream to be able to support them both equitably. Sometime in the future there may be the opportunity for a second high school in Fayetteville, it doesn't look like that will be for the next 10 to 15 years for sure, our student population would definitely have to grow exponentially for that to happen." ON NEW TECHNOLOGY... -- Project based learning -- Digital labs "Every small learning community will have digital labs; they will have rooms where you can do small group instruction as well as large group instruction. One of the things that we have on the horizon is the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. And that is going to require our students to work in groups together, work in teams, do project-based learning, use technology in order to make presentations, and also to develop designs and those kinds of things. And so we have built a facility that is going to facilitate the use of technology and it's going to become just like it's your textbook or anything like that." ON BRINGING OWN DEVICE TO SCHOOL....... -- adopted bring your own device policy at recent board agenda "Our students are equipped with the technology, so we need to optimize that because it is so expensive and if they can bring their own device then that helps the school district be able to get closer to one to one computing for each student. For those students who don't have those devices we do have the equipment to provide those, but it's just another way that we can have every student have access to technology." ON PROJECT BASED LEARNING..... "Eventually the future may hold that teachers may actually use for instructional purposes they may tape their lectures and those kinds of things, have their students look at them at night, and when they come to the class be prepared to engage in the project based learning. So it's a very new way of doing things, but its an exciting, exciting opportunity for our students and our teachers." ON FUTURE... "It is an exciting time in education with the new common core state standards that are coming that require us to look at our practices and how we can best educate our students and help them prepare for the 21st century. We want our students to be globally competitive. The designs that we're doing on our campuses at the high school especially are going to facilitate them being 21st century learners and also global competitors. That's our goal. And we have an incredible opportunity right now. It's probably the greatest change that I've seen in education in my entire career. So it's great to be on the forefront of trying to work on a solid curriculum that's going to meet the needs of children and also bring all of our folks into the digital age and make sure that they're highly competitive. ON IMPORTANCE OF ATHLETICS..... -- 1,000 students per day participate in PE or athletics at the high school (1800 students in total) -- 8 tennis courts replaced at Asbell elementary -- working on expanding athletic complex through second lien bonds "We believe that athletics, fine arts, those kinds of things, are the hook that keeps students engaged in school. It's something that they love. It gets them to school. And they want to be participants in it."