Roanoke County Schools invited into Carnegie Foundation 'Future of High School' network with $100,000 award

Roanoke County Public Schools officials told the board that the Carnegie Foundation invited the division to join its Future of High School network, selecting 20 districts nationally to partner on rethinking high school outcomes.

Mike Riley and Susan Peterson said Carnegie—known for creating the Carnegie Unit—selected the division in February after interviewing district staff and reviewing the district's opportunity-portfolio defense work. Riley said the portfolio defenses and the division's effort to measure broader learning outcomes aligned with Carnegie's focus on what students should know and be able to do beyond content knowledge.

Carnegie will provide a $100,000 award to support travel, professional development and work to refine district practices over two years, district staff said. Peterson explained the grant-appropriation process: the award is considered a special (nonbudgeted) grant this year, and staff will ask the board at the next meeting to appropriate the $100,000 from the special projects grant fund; the first payment is expected this fiscal year and the second payment next year.

Riley said the division will showcase the opportunity-portfolio defense model as the centerpiece of its Carnegie work and partner with other districts to refine measurement and signaling systems for broader student knowledge and skills. Staff asked the board to approve receipt of the award and appropriation at the next regular meeting; no vote was taken at the work session.