Wake County Public School System — Policy Analysis 2026
Grand Total
68 / 106
64.2%
Base Score
60 / 96
Extra Credit
8 / 10
Score by Section
| Section | Score | Max | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culturally Responsive Training | 3 | 8 | Notes |
| Clear & Consistent Policies | 7 | 8 | Notes |
| Restorative Justice Practices | 4 | 8 | Notes |
| Bias Awareness & Mitigation | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Culturally Relevant Curriculum | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Community Engagement & Collaboration | 7 | 8 | Notes |
| Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion | 4 | 8 | Notes |
| Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Data Collection & Analysis | 8 | 8 | Notes |
| Student Voice & Leadership | 1 | 8 | Notes |
| Equitable Access to Support Services | 6 | 8 | Notes |
| Continuous Evaluation & Improvement | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Extra Credit | 8 | 10 | Notes |
Suggestions to Improve the Score
Every item below its maximum, worst gap first, with the reviewer's own notes as the rationale.
Show suggestions (32)
- 1.4 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Regular feedback/measurement on training effectiveness — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found describing a formal process for measuring the effectiveness of cultural-competency/equity training.
- 4.3 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Cultural competence checks in hiring — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found describing cultural-competence checks specifically built into the WCPSS hiring process.
- 8.2 [Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices]: Safe, supportive spaces (mindfulness/sensory) — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public WCPSS documentation was found describing a district-wide policy or program for dedicated safe/sensory/mindfulness spaces in schools.
- 10.1 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student advisory councils/leadership groups — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found of a WCPSS-wide student advisory council or formal student leadership body analogous to those seen in other districts; only adult/community Board Advisory Councils were found.
- 10.2 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student feedback informs policy/procedures — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation was found describing a formal mechanism for student feedback directly informing WCPSS policy or procedures.
- 10.3 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Students facilitate restorative processes — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). WCPSS's restorative practice processes (circles, mediation) appear to be led by a trained adult RP team and law-clinic partners rather than student facilitators; no evidence found of students facilitating restorative processes.
- 1.1 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Mandatory cultural competency training for all staff — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS historically ran mandatory-style equity/implicit-bias trainings (e.g., 'Courageous Conversations,' antibias sessions) through its Office of Equity Affairs, but that office was dissolved in 2025 due to budget cuts and a new NC law restricting 'divisive concepts' training (nsjonline.com, cbs17.com). No current public documentation confirms a mandatory, district-wide cultural-compet…
- 1.2 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Mentorship programs for culturally diverse staff — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS has a Beginning Teacher Support Program with one-on-one mentoring and a Retention and Recruitment Core Team/Framework aimed partly at hiring and retaining a diverse workforce (ed.gov Project LEADERS document), but there is no evidence of a dedicated, mandatory mentorship program specifically targeted at culturally diverse staff.
- 1.3 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Culturally relevant PD resources in staff learning — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Past Office of Equity Affairs materials describe equity-competency PD and culturally responsive teaching resources, but with the office's 2025 dissolution it is unclear whether these PD resources remain active district-wide.
- 2.3 [Clear & Consistent Policies]: Staff training on consistent application — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS promotes MTSS as a framework for consistent behavior response and trains new teachers via BTSP, but no specific documentation confirms mandatory, district-wide staff training on consistent code-of-conduct application.
- 3.1 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Restorative circles/conferences to repair harm — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS has an established Restorative Practices program with a trained RP team using circles, mediation, and conflict/harm circles, done partly in partnership with the Campbell Law Restorative Justice Clinic (wcpss.net/Page/44695), but it is unclear whether this is mandatory in every school rather than centrally coordinated.
- 3.2 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Staff training in restorative practices — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district states its Restorative Practice team is trained in circle process, mediation, and restorative responses, but there is no evidence this training is extended to all staff district-wide.
- 3.3 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Curriculum integrates conflict-resolution skills — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS ties restorative practice to Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) competencies, suggesting some conflict-resolution skill-building, but no evidence of formal curriculum integration was found.
- 3.4 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Peer mediation program — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Mediation is listed as part of WCPSS's restorative-practice toolkit, done in partnership with a law-school clinic, but this appears staff/clinic-led rather than a formal peer-mediation (student-led) program.
- 4.1 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Implicit bias training for staff — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS previously conducted implicit-bias training (including for school board members) via its Office of Equity Affairs, but that office was eliminated in 2025 and current status of implicit-bias training for staff is unclear.
- 5.2 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Teacher PD on integrating diverse perspectives — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Historical equity-office PD covered culturally responsive teaching, but with that office's dissolution in 2025, current district-wide PD on integrating diverse perspectives is unconfirmed.
- 5.3 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Community collaboration for supplemental resources — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS references community partnerships for family support (wcpss.net/family-support) and external groups like the John Rex Endowment partner on related equity programming, but no evidence of a formalized process for community input into supplemental curricular resources.
- 5.4 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Culturally specific courses/electives — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). At least some WCPSS high schools offer an African American Studies elective covering African American history from West Africa to the present, but it is not confirmed to be offered at all schools district-wide.
- 6.4 [Community Engagement & Collaboration]: Outreach to ensure all families are informed/involved — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS Title I schools use Panorama's Family-School Relationships Survey in multiple languages to gather feedback, guided by the Dual Capacity-Building Framework (panoramaed.com/blog/family-engagement-wake-county), but this outreach appears limited to Title I schools rather than confirmed district-wide for all families.
- 7.1 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Ongoing anti-bias/equity training — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The former Office of Equity Affairs ran recurring equity/anti-bias PD, but since its 2025 elimination due to budget cuts and state law, current ongoing anti-bias training district-wide is unconfirmed.
- 7.2 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Workshops on culturally responsive teaching — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Historical evidence shows workshops on culturally responsive teaching were offered through the now-dissolved equity office; current status is unclear.
- 7.3 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Equity topics in staff meetings/PD — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Equity is embedded as a cross-cutting theme in WCPSS's strategic plan and policy, suggesting equity topics appear in district planning, but specific evidence of equity being a standing staff-meeting/PD agenda item was not found.
- 7.4 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Participation in equity-focused conferences — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS has previously held internal leadership conferences featuring equity-focused panels (e.g., promoting voices of English Learners), but no current evidence of staff participation in external equity-focused conferences was found.
- 8.3 [Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices]: Trauma-informed staff training — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS's School Mental Health Improvement Plan references strategies like the 'Community Resiliency Model' and improving access to licensed mental health professionals, implying some trauma-informed training, but a specific mandatory trauma-informed staff training requirement was not confirmed.
- 10.4 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student-led peer education — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS partners with 'Somethings' to connect students with Certified Peer Specialist Mentors (young adults with lived experience), which is peer-based support, but not clearly a student-led peer-education program within schools.
- 11.2 [Equitable Access to Support Services]: Targeted academic support (e.g., tutoring) — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS research reports describe targeted academic supports like bridging courses and math support courses, though usage/enrollment in some supports (e.g., reading support) was noted as low, suggesting partial rather than fully consistent implementation.
- 11.4 [Equitable Access to Support Services]: Systems to remove access barriers — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). The district's Family Support page and MTSS framework aim to reduce barriers to access, and Title I family surveys are offered in multiple languages, but a comprehensive district-wide barrier-removal system was not explicitly documented.
- 12.1 [Continuous Evaluation & Improvement]: Standing committee/task force for discipline equity — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS has previously had Board committees and a formal equitable-discipline plan addressing discipline disparities, but with the 2025 dissolution of the Office of Equity Affairs, it is unclear whether a standing discipline-equity committee/task force remains active.
- 12.2 [Continuous Evaluation & Improvement]: Surveys/focus groups (students, families, staff) — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS uses Panorama surveys for family feedback in Title I schools and convened a community feedback panel for its 2024 equity policy review, but broader, regular survey/focus-group practices covering all stakeholders district-wide were not confirmed.
- 12.3 [Continuous Evaluation & Improvement]: Benchmarking vs. state/national comparators — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). WCPSS directs the public to NC Department of Public Instruction School Report Cards for state-level comparison data, suggesting some benchmarking occurs, but a dedicated district benchmarking process was not independently documented.
- EC4 [Extra Credit]: Restorative Practices partnership with Campbell Law School's Restorative Justice Clinic to conduct mediations and conflict circles. — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Leveraging a university law clinic for restorative justice facilitation is a notable cross-sector partnership model, though its scale/coverage across all WCPSS schools is unclear.
- EC5 [Extra Credit]: Free, on-demand teen peer mental health support app ('Somethings') backed by NC DHHS/DPI, connecting students 13-19 with trained peer specialist mentors at no cost. — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). This state-backed, no-cost peer support tool is an innovative low-barrier mental health resource beyond traditional school counseling.