I may be new here, but what I am not new to is living in an area experiencing exponential growth, that could potentially cause the public schools to literally burst at the seams.
I know what you’re up against because I saw the same situation unfold in South Florida.
I can’t say that I feel your pain, but I do understand your plight.
I’ve seen the stories on the news and I know that some of your decisions have made a whole slew of folks unhappy.
However, I know that you have to manage this growth somehow and I’m in no position to tell you how to do that.
As a new Wake County resident, I will go on the record saying that I fully accept and respect your decision to institute year-round schools.

Here’s what I can’t accept:
Assigning a new child, (particularly one said kindergartner who has just moved hundreds of miles away from the only home she’s ever known) to a class that has only five days left before tracking out.
If you think this doesn’t happen, I’m living proof that it does.
Less than a week after being coined the “new girl from Florida” at her elementary school, my 6-year-old daughter took on the same moniker at the YMCA.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that kids are resilient. I’ve seen that resiliency in both of my girls since officially taking up residence in Holly Springs on what I’m told was an unseasonably cold February 3rd. But let’s be honest.
That’s an awful lot of adjusting, and I think you should cut new residents a break.
In the future, why not try assigning the new children to a track that will give them enough time to make at least one or two friends and get used to their new teacher and new surroundings?
A minimum of four weeks would be a nice start.
My attempt to accomplish that goal by requesting a different track was futile. I was told that assignment is based on enrollment numbers and the class with the smaller number gets the new student. That makes sense, but that doesn’t make it right.

Now just to be clear, please understand that this is all about my child. If it were about me, I would have mentioned the inconvenience of having to search for a place to take her during this track-out period (at the last minute no less) and then shelling out $210 per week for three weeks just to secure a spot. There were also two additional days to cover at $42 each.

I also would have mentioned the fact that I could barely concentrate on the first day of my brand-new job because I was so worried about Kalyse’s ability to adjust on her “second” first day. But that’s not important.

What’s important is making sure that the changes, new rules and new criteria that ultimately come along with overhauling an entire school district are also flexible enough to accommodate the emotional needs and well-being of the students.