Reassignment Plan Could Affect 6,400 Wake Students

Raleigh, N.C. — More than 6,400 Wake County elementary students could change schools next year under the public school system's reassignment plan for the 2008-09 school year.

The proposal only covers elementary schools and attempts to get the same economic diversity in the student body at all schools. It's designed to fill seats at three schools now under construction – Laurel Park, Mills Park and Sycamore Creek.

The plan also seeks to fill seats at the schools that are losing their students to the new schools.

For instance, a number of students at Hillburn Elementary, which has a traditional calendar, are slated to attend Sycamore Creek, in North Raleigh, which will be year-round.

Of the more than 6,400 students who might be impacted, about 2,700 of those would fill the new schools.

The proposal would mean more than 3,400 students could move to schools closer to their homes in an effort to balance student diversity across the Wake County Public School System.

Karen Donlon and her family live in North Raleigh near Leesville Road. When she found out her 6-year-old daughter, Cree, would be moving to a school closer to home, based on the new reassignment plan, she was all for it.

"I do a lot of driving back and forth because she's considered a transfer student," Donlon said.

Cree is a first-grader at Briar Creek Elementary. She's slated to go to the new Sycamore Creek Elementary.

Wake School Board member Rosa Gill said the system is slated to grow by another 6,000 students next year. It's already trying to accommodate more than 134,000.

"We weigh what we have to do to provide access to all students, and then we try to come up with the best solution," Gill said.

The school system's plan also includes a grandfather option for about 1,400 rising fourth- and fifth-graders who could opt to stay at their current schools.

The entire growth-management proposal is available on the school system's Web site.

School officials will use community input to prepare an assignment proposal to present to the school board at its Jan. 8 meeting. After receiving the proposal, the board will hold public hearings and work sessions as it works to finalize the proposal in February.

Middle and high schools are unaffected by the plan.

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Latest Comments

Just be glad the school board is not runing the country....can you imagine the chaos the would create reassigning people to move from state to state to make each equal diversity!!!!!!!!!!

Desiderata
December 9, 2007 11:08 a.m.

Here's an idea - send the kids to the schools in their neighborhood. It has nothing to do with economic diversity. That's just a way to get out of saying it's based on race, which is illegal. Here's a shocker, too - black people would rather hang out with other black people, too. Look at the schools at lunch time anyway. It's not racism. It's just that whites are more like other whites, and blacks are more like other blacks. Shocking!

Space Mountain
December 8, 2007 7:54 p.m.

Why are most people who comment on this issue afraid of diversity? After all, when you get right down to it, it's all about race anyway. Here is an idea for those who oppose the plan..send your kid to a private school where all the kids look like him or her. Unfortunately, the real world is different, and they will have to deal with it long after you are gone

mrr03
December 8, 2007 7:50 p.m.

Why is the school board set on Sycamore being year round? It seems as if 90% of Hilburn (traditional) has been reassigned to Sycamore (year round). There are 2 other year round schools in our neighborhood--Brier Creek and Leesville which are both under capacity. Hilburn is way over capacity. Obviously Hilburn parents have already chosen the traditional calendar. Is the school board certain there will be over 6000 new students coming to Wake next year? They were way off with their numbers for the current school year. It seems in my mind that they are determined to have year round schools at whatever the cost and whoever's expense. I am not against year round schools but their attendance should be by choice much like the magnet programs and not by force. After all, this is supposed to be Nation based on Freedom of Choice. If ALL new schools are year round, well, that really doesn't leave much choice, does it? Perhpas the Board should try using some common sense.

momof2
December 8, 2007 6:58 p.m.

Wake County needs to go to neighborhood schools like Mecklinburg County. This would significantly reduced the amount of fuel used by the bus fleet in addition to reduced air pollution. This should put the greens and liberals in favor of neighborhood schools.

Socio economic diversity is a code word that means race based assignment busing. Socio economic diversity is used since the courts have ruled that race based assignment and busing is illegal.

Instead of apending a fortune to bus poor performing minorities all over Wake County to dilute their effects on test scores, Wake County assign these kids to the school closest to their home and spend the money needed to help them achieve academically.

Instead these poor performing minorities get bused all over Wake County and get lost in the system.

Poor performing minorities are the largest group of kids to drop out of school before graduating and are the highest percentage of kids to drop out.

DontLikeTheSocialistObama
December 8, 2007 6:19 p.m.