Some Consent Forms Turned In; Most Choose Year-Round

Raleigh, N.C. — The Wake County school board got an early sense of how many Wake County parents agreed to have their children attend year-round schools.

Chuck Dulaney, assistant superintendent of the Office of Growth and Planning, announced Thursday that two-thirds of schools in the district have reported receiving 80 percent of consent forms. Of the consent forms returned so far, officials said 90 percent of families have sent their consent to send their child to year-round schools.

Dulaney said the current pattern continues, then the school system will have to find traditional seats for somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 students.

The school board also learned that River Bend Elementary School has the highest percentage of families choosing the traditional calendar. School officials said finding room for those wanting to stay in the traditional track could take some work, but they believe it is doable.

Superior Court Judge Howard Manning ruled on May 3 that the school district must get parental consent before assigning students to year-round schools. The school system distributed letters to 30,500 families seeking permission.

Officials said the 22 schools slated for year-round conversion will likely not be under capacity as some angry parents had predicted.

"I think parents had little choice but to accept the year-round (track). They didn't have much choice because they didn't know where they might be going," said board member Ron Margiotta.

Other school board members said they are respectfully complying with the court ruling.

"This was a way that we felt that without compromising the educational program, we could accommodate those additional number of childrens we didn't have space for at school," school board member Susan Parry.

The consent forms are due back Friday. Parents who forget to submit the consent form will have their children automatically switched to a traditional calendar school. After the Friday deadline, the Office of Growth and Planning will start calling families they have not heard from to get an answer.

The school board hopes to have a firm count of traditional students and year-round students by next week. For parents who opted for the traditional calendar, the school system hopes to have those assignments by June 20.

The district is asking for $305 million from the county for the upcoming year, which marks a $29 million increase over the current funding level. The new figure could mean an increase in property taxes.

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Latest Comments

Forget vouchers-- they wont work. They gave the hurricane victims in La. vouchers and you remember what they did with them. Drug dealers and drug addicts would figure a way to misuse them. Anyway, if the parent gave the voucher to a private school and the parent changed their mind, they just take the Board of Education to court and the judge would mandate that the county accept the student again-- and the voucher would be spent and lost. We be paying for the same student twice. By state law a student under the age of 16 must attend school and the voucher would not negate that.

superman
May 18, 2007 9:00 p.m.

new home, new school,heck honey, we have enough money left over from selling our house in Pawtuckett, we can buy us a new Van! whhooo boy! i like calling NC home! as summer ends and we get ready for a new school year....WHAT! what do you mean my angelbunny can't go to the back yard school! IT'S BRAND NEW and I WANT MY PUMPKIN to go to schooll where we live! HUH? BUS? ain't no dang way my angelpooh is riding no filthy bus filled with.....uh, you know...those kids.I demand my angeleyes go to school with the other PUMPKINS that live in our gated neighborhood.i pay taxes you know! and vote too...and i want my angelpooh to be raised and edecated in a GOOD school.just like the ones pictured in the magazine!

e2brtus
May 18, 2007 3:13 p.m.

dear pooh,581,and other irrate parental units...taxation is a part of American life, always has been, always will be. remember why this country was founded in the 1st place? think for a moment about the arguments you aread here...most of us; including myself want our cake;so carefully decorated as to be a work of art, and oh so delicious, to be eaten too.BUT! we can't have it all, despite what the political players promise, it just ain't gonna' work.period.our children have a leglisative right to a " free and reasonable education".This fact is as American as Fat Free Apple Pie,we expect it, it's our God given right, by golly! and dang it, my pumpkin is going to go to school where the other pumpkins are. in fact, by george, we'll pack up the van and move to....mmmnnn where is that Forbes magazine? North Carolina! Raleigh here we come.WOW honey can you beleive the price we paid on this 6 bed 8 bath house? and the school is just down the street, looks new too.

e2brtus
May 18, 2007 3:02 p.m.

Vietnam Vet: I am very surprised at your comments. Assuming your alias is accurate and that you served our country in that way, you more than most should understand that life, let alone Wake County Schools, is never, every going to be a matter of paying for only what you use. I seriously doubt your went into "battle" with the stipulation you were doing so to uphold the rights and freedoms for only you and your family. Wake County Schools most certainly did create this problem. However, they are not alone. The growth in the school systems you speak of did not happen over night. It has been discussed in the media and at what's left of neighborhood bus stops since I moved to this area 17 years; and I am sure it began before then. We are in this predicament becasue some in the School Administration and local and state governments were either blind to this growth or just simply place no value at all on family or community as valuable instruments of educating ALL of our children.

hkypky
May 18, 2007 10:45 a.m.

Bogie: Maybe if we stayed traditional, we would get a more efficient school system that is not top heavy with administration, construction that is fairly priced, and actual planning on the part of those whose responsibility it is to plan rather than just reacting to foreseen crisis? And maybe our taxes would go up. So what? I have absolutely no problem paying taxes provided that they are being used wisely. Given the state of EOG tests, failing schools, "union" arrogance, and an elected BOE that seems clueless, I DO have trouble with school property taxes at the moment.

And the threat of split scheduling reminds me of the old National Lampoon cover, "Buy this magazine or we'll kill this dog." Not gonna happen, but the threat sounds good, doesn't it? At least it served it's purpose in the BOE apparently getting what it wanted without regard to the actual education of kids.