President Ronnie called the meeting to order at 12:35 pm.  Gayle Smith introduced the guests and visiting Rotarians.  Howard Chadwick gave the Health and Happiness Report. Jim Boniface recognized Don Haack, the "Indiana Jones" of Rotary, as a new Paul Harris Fellow.   Al Allison spoke of the upcoming Rotary Scout Show, this year to be held on April 24. Ed Ellis led the singing of "Happy Birthday" to our speaker Eric Smith.
     At the Head Table were Jack Knight, Ken Harris, Jesse Hite, Phil Volponi, and Judith Diamond, who gave a prayer from Marian Wright Edelman.
     On the day of a major scheduled vote by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board on a future plan for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), John Lassiter introduced Dr. Eric Smith, who spoke on those plans. He stated that this is an exciting time for public education, with such issues in the forefront as academic achievement, safety, and community collaboration.  He said that CMS has been successful in moving our schools forward.  For anyone who wants to see how our 100,000 children are doing, please look at the handout he brought, "Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools: Building Dreams." The 2000 enrolled in the pre-school program are measuring up to their peers. All test scores are up with the exception of those in grade three, where CM has focused on reading.  By the year 2001, the target is for 85 percent of all students to be reading at or above grade level. CM has one of the largest International Baccalaureate (IB) programs in the country; there has been a dramatic increase in enrollment, not only in the IB programs, but also n the Advanced Placement (AP) programs. "By all indicators," he said, "this community should be proud of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools."  He further stated that if we kept the vision and the focus, we'll keep moving the system forward. The current problem now is that after the legal issues are over, what do we want the schools to look like on the other side of the decision?  Now is the time for the adults to plan, to make decisions.  What are the critical issues?  What do we want to say about the schools in 2010?  We do want to have a commitment to all children.  He invited us to read the whole plan, "Achieving the CMS Vision," the abstract of which he also brought with him as handouts.  (It is also available in its entirety on the Internet.) He termed it a complex document that is not about pupil assignment.   It first talks about academic achievement, which is about hard work.  Students must be encouraged to take the hard courses.  But, he warned, there is a dollar cost attached -- for teacher salaries, for laboratories, for classroom supplies, he named as examples. He then went on to say that we must hold our school-houses accountable, and that we must persuade the State to let us hold everyone more accountable. On the topic of pupil assignment, he said that he had been able to reassign every pupil in CMS in the last two and a half years.  We now need twenty-one new schools, including five new high schools, an opportunity for reassigning everyone again. School choice, as the new plan calls for, will shift the burden of choice away from Board-dictated to parents having control.  There is no guarantee, however, that everyone will get his or her choice. There are elements in the proposed plan that still need definition -- what do the clusters look like?  Where will the magnets be?  CMS needs the authorization to proceed in the plan's development.  He will hear any disagreement, but the proposed new school choice will be market-driven (parent-driven).  [Note:  The vote was postponed by the School Board, in order to have time to clarify some of the elements in the plan.]  He tried to clarify the $1.3 billion proposed expenditure:  it calls for an equal expenditure of about $150 million in each of the next ten years. The fallback position will be a bond package of $355 million this September. Because family choice will choose the schools, each school must have equitable distribution of resources. He urged us to keep our eyes on the end-products:  what do we want for all children in our CM Schools?
     A brief Question and Answer period ensued:

     Q:  Why are the schools not equal in Mecklenburg County?
     A:  After the schools have built at different time periods, there are no
standardized lists for materials at the State level.

     Q:  What about the non-academic student?
     A:  We're moving forward on a work force technical high school, for which the land has already been purchased.  It will be state of the art.

     Q:  What happens if the great schools become overpopulated?
     A:  We will have to deal with that.

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In Memoriam

THOMAS R. WARREN, JR.

November 4, 1914        March 23, 1999

     He knew more about Charlotte Rotary than any one.  For 23 years since he retired, he's been the mortar that has held the club together.  No doubt, he's already made contact with Rotary Saint Paul (Harris) and is computerizing Rotary Celestial.  After 84 years, Tom Warren's body finally gave up, but never his spirit and enthusiasm.  He died at Carolinas Medical Center after a long illness.
     His funeral was Friday at Harry and Bryant Chapel with Rotarian Dr. Julian M. Aldridge, Jr., officiating.  He is survived by one son, Lewis R. Warren, and his wife, Joyce S. Warren, both of Matthews.  Memorials may be made to the Rotary Club of Charlotte Scholarship in care of the Rotary Office.
     Born in Durham, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  As Tom said, he left school during the Great Depression "when jobs were hard to come by."  He sold advertising and sporting goods and worked in a men's store.  He was even certified as a Lionel train repairman.
     In 1942, someone told him to apply for a Scouting job; he deferred because "the starting salary was too low," and he didn't have the requisite car.  Later, he did acquire a car when American Tobacco went on strike in his hometown, and someone needed to sell a '38 Chevy.
     He did join the Scouts in 1944, beginning his career in Charleston.  In 1948 he moved to Greensboro where he served as scout executive for 11 years.  He came to Charlotte as scout executive in 1959.
     A stickler for details, Tom spent his last two years with the Boy Scouts developing Camp Grimes in Dysertsville.  Most of his waking hours were devoted to overseeing construction from beginning to end.  A bronze plaque at the came commemorates his labor of love: In Appreciation to Thomas R. Warren, Jr., Camp Development Director, 1974-1976, Mecklenburg Scout Reservation, "For Service Beyond the Contract."
     He applied that same dedication and enthusiasm to his work as our executive secretary.  Nary a club president or secretary during his 23 years' service would have wanted to do their jobs without him.    Said one president, "When Tom got a cold, the president gets pneumonia."  Tom joined Greensboro Rotary in 1949; Charlotte Rotary in 1959.   He became executive secretary during Pete deWitt's presidency in 1976.   "I had just retired from the Scouts and Beth Small (Rotary office secretary) was leaving.  (Club Secretary) Malloy Rash told me, "You're not doing anything; get us a secretary!" And, he did.  After his beloved wife, Carolyn, died, Rotary, in particular Charlotte Rotary, became his life.
     And he wasn't at all deterred by the changing times.  He tackled computers with the enthusiasm one would expect from an engineering student.  He brought Charlotte Rotary into the computer age, even to the point of buying a home computer to hone his skills.
     Tom Warren leaves a proud legacy of service to our community and our club.  We will miss his knowledge, his experience, his wise counsel, the security we felt when "things were under his control," even his raspy voice.  But we will never forget his love for Rotary and his true example of "Service Above Self."
     We will truly miss you, Rotarian Tom Warren.  In your honor we will make a contribution to the Club's Scholarship Fund.
                                                     Henry Bostic

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WORDS OF TRIBUTE:
Mr. Thomas Ruffin Warren, Jr.
By Dr. Julian Aldridge

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