New Wake Students to Get Same Treatment on Year-Round Assignment

The district implemented Superior Court Judge Howard Manning's directive for parental consent for non-traditional calendars even as it appealed his decision in a lawsuit that a parents' group brought against the plan.

In the process, the district had asked the court to be flexible about students who enrolled after June 4.

The district went through a complicated reassignment process after about 2,600 students out of approximately 30,000 said they did not want to stay in year-round schools if they were already in them or did not want to be assigned to them, as the district had planned.

It is not clear when the appeals court will hear the district's case.

Patti Head, who has served as school board chair during the year-round school effort, said officials still hoped the court might stay Manning's order for new students later in the appeal process.

The school district is converting a number of elementary and middle schools from traditional to year-round calendars this year as a way to handle increasing numbers of students. Schools on year-round calendars can enroll more students because a quarter of the student body is always on break.