Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/22146
Schools Make Progress, Still Work to Be Done by JOY G. CROWE With 89 schools serving more than 52,000 students, educating the youth of Cumberland County is no small challenge. As 2010 comes to an end and a new year lies ahead, we spoke with Dr. Frank Till, superintendent, about the “state of the schools” and the accomplishments and challenges of the school system. According to Till, the county schools have much to be proud of in 2010. “We had a good year. Achievement was up signifi cantly. And, we have begun to be recognized for our global initiative, which was even highlighted by the State Department. We feel good about that recognition and our future opportunities,” said Till. Of course, the focus of the school system is still on making sure our students get the basic skills — science, math, languages — to make them competitive to get into colleges and careers. Achievement in those areas went up signifi cantly. Many subject areas were above the state average and 56 of 89 schools became high growth schools. But the global studies initiative takes the basic education up a notch, preparing students to work in a global economy and be competitive for jobs worldwide. “Through several partnerships, we are exposing our students to international opportunities, and exposing them to languages such as Spanish, Japanese and Chinese.” Dr. Frank Till Although Cumberland County celebrated many achievements in 2010, the year ahead offers many challenges. “I think we’ve made good progress. But we can’t be satisfi ed with where we’re by JANICE BURTON While the majority of the nation felt the overwhelming impacts of the Great Recession, Cumberland County remained somewhat insulated, and in fact, grew business and increased its per capita income. Those trends have economic developers hopeful for continued success in 2011. “We have not suffered the same level of job loss that so many communities have suffered,” said Doug Peters, CEO of the Fayetteville/Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce. “And for that, we are thankful and fortunate.” Peters said his staff used 2010 as a time to “really beef up their retention and expansion” efforts. Adding that they spent a lot of time meeting with, and listening to existing industry to determine what their needs and requirements are, and then worked to meet those needs. “We listened to what they said they needed and then worked to meet those requirements or to, recruit other industry that could support their business,” he said. 2010 was also a turning point for the Chamber in its relationships with the City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County. Peterson said that through renewed efforts to inform the local governments, they had a better understanding of how economic development works. “Economic development is a very competitive arena,” he said. “A lot of states and counties have upped the ante and are doing everything from giving away land to buildings. We had to fi nd a way to remain competitive without giving everything away. We’ve gotten very good at that, by looking at adding value to the economic development process that doesn’t cost the community by using existing infrastructure and looking at locating business at areas that are aged or in need of redevelopment.” Peters noted that the county, city and Chamber have come to an agreement on what defi nes success in economic development that is based on performance objectives such as number of visits on the retention side, the number of new jobs developed, new investments, and how well the Chamber is marketing the community by placing our community in the national spotlight. And, the Chamber is gaining high marks in these area. Last year the Chamber visited 159 companies in an effort to recruit them to the city. They were involved in the investment of $127 million in the community through new business. Their efforts WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM resulted in the creation of 929 direct jobs and 1,800 indirect and induced jobs. Peters noted that much of the growth is tied to Fort Bragg, but it is the county’s relationship with the post that has kept it insulated from the recession. “Three hundred of the new jobs were created by the relocation of Booz Allen Hamilton from Atlanta to Fayetteville,” said Peters. “They considered us for a year and a half and came down to three sites: Fayetteville, Raleigh or Virginia. We worked very hard with them. They talked with local government, and then they chose this community. Only 40 percent of their workforce transferred here, so they had 60 percent of the jobs to be fi lled out of the local market. They saw that our work force was of a quality that would allow them to fi ll the jobs. One big win like that creates a big win for the county.” Peters said the presence of Booz Allen Hamilton will also draw a number of other defense contractors to the community. “If Fayetteville is good enough for Booz Allen then it is good enough for a lot of other contractors.” The Booz Allen Hamilton announcement also put the county in the national media spotlight. Over the past year Fayetteville has achieved attention from national media that it has never had before. The community has been featured on Good Morning America, in Newsweek and countless other media. In 2010, the county had the second largest per capita increase in the state according to the Business Education Association. It was listed as the 18th Best Performing City in the Nation, according to the Milken Institute. It had the seventh strongest building market according to Business Week, and was named the best performing housing market in the nation and one of the top places to retire. Chamber offi cials say that Cumberland County was the silver lining on the dark cloud of the national economy. And all of this is before BRAC happens. Peters said the expectation is that much of the BRAC growth will occur in Cumberland County. “In my heart of hearts, I don’t think anyone knows the long-term economic impact of BRAC. Nobody can really get their arms around it. BRAC is going to change the complexion of the community for a long, long time,” said Peters, giving a nod to the increased number of jobs, higher paying jobs and involvement of the new residents in the community. DEC. 29, 2010 - JAN. 4, 2011 UCW 9 at; We have to keep growing. We can’t be complacent. We have to keep moving in the right direction.” One of the biggest challenges is to implement a new technology plan to go completely wireless in the next three years. This includes every facility in the district, plus new devices for all teachers. In some subject areas, if funds allow, there will also be new devices for students. And of course, with the state of the economy, funds are a challenge. “Logistically, the state is still going through some tough times so we have to sort out our budget cuts. We hope, from some things we are implementing, to minimize the impact on the children and the classroom,” says Till. And then there is BRAC. The community has been abuzz about the Base Realignment and Closure and the infl ux of new people to Fort Bragg. Naturally, those people will be bringing families and school-aged children to our area. But Till is certain that we are prepared for them. “In the short term, we’ll have more students, but we are prepared facility wise. We opened a new elementary school this year, and will open a new middle school in 2012. A new college-type high school program will start next year around international studies,” explained Till. “We believe we have enough capacity in the short term. We’ll be ready when it occurs.” As Till completes 2010 and his 19 months with the Cumberland County School System, he is excited about the future. “I think the real key is just continuing to put things in place to continue growth in student achievement. We want to be above the state average. Our goal is to be among the top school districts in the state in achievement and opportunities for children,” he said. “We want Cumberland County to truly be a place where any student who works hard can achieve their dream. We’re proud of our young people and our staff and we think together we’ll create a good future for Cumberland County.” County Business, Financial Outlook Looks Bright