Latest Enrollment Numbers To Affect Wake Schools Funding

The enrollment numbers for Thursday, which marked the 20th day of school for Wake County students, will be the official enrollment numbers for the school year. Once made public, the numbers will have an effect on everything from school funding to future projections.

Early estimates show the numbers much higher than they were last school year. By the 10th day of the 2005-2006 school year, more than 120,000 students were enrolled -- about 6,400 more than the 10th day the previous school year. Officials say this year was a record-breaking year for attendance.

If enrollment to continues to grow at this rate for the next school year, the school system says it will not have enough space to put students.

Year-round schools are one option because they can accommodate about 25 percent more students than schools on a traditional school year calendar. Other options, officials say, are modular schools and more mobile classrooms.

Officials say, however, that there are already 900 mobile classrooms in use in Wake County and that many campuses do not have space for more.

While some parent groups want the year-round schools to remain mostly voluntary, school system officials say that option is getting more endorsements at

community engagement meetings

that began this week.

School officials have requested a meeting with the county's planning department as soon as possible to try and get a handle on the projections for next year.

In the meantime, they hope to focus on a long-term plan with the community meetings.