RALEIGH -- A majority of Wake school board members voiced support today for at least temporarily restoring parent counseling services to Project Enlightenment rather than giving the work to the county.
School and county officials had planned on turning over the counseling services to Wake County Human Services, a move that the school board had agreed to last month. But most school board members said today that it didn't make sense to remove those services from Project Enlightenment.
"I think it would be a big mistake to discontinue a program that's really working well," school board member Dr. Anne McLaurin said of Project Enlightenment, which has provided services to children from birth through kindergarten since 1969.
No formal vote was taken today but school board chairman Ron Margiotta said he's discussing when to bring the issue up on the board agenda.
As part of this year's budget cuts, the school board had agreed in April to lay off all nine of Project Enlightenment's parent counselors. These clinical social workers and psychologists provided advanced counseling services to children from birth through kindergarten.
Amid lobbying from Project Enlightenment's supporters, school board members had asked staff last month to restore four or five of the the counseling positions. But the plan presented from staff, and approved by the board, called for using $225,000 in savings to contract with the county for the counseling work.
The new model using the county to provide the counseling would focus on helping lower-income families.
Several school board members raised concerns today with the new plan, especially that it hasn't been implemented yet. The new model is still being developed.
Also today, a collaboration between Wake County schools and human services departments was unveiled that will provide a one-night-a-week, literacy-focused program for early-childhood students and their parents in a pilot effort starting next month.
The program will be piloted at three high poverty elementary schools and one middle school, which were not initially identified, schools and human services officials said at a joint meeting of the school board and board of commissioners.
The pilot program was described as being part of a closer effort by the school system and Human Services to work together to meet all the needs of students and their families. More than $100 million a year is spent by both groups as part of the partnership.
"I really applaud this effort to work together," McLaurin said.
