About 1 in 5 Wake schools up for some reassignment next year

Wake County Public School System officials have unveiled their first draft of next year's enrollment plan and want public feedback on it.

Posted 10:10 p.m. Sep 20, 2022 — Updated 2:12 p.m. Sep 22, 2022

Emily Walkenhorst

, WRAL education reporter

CARY, N.C. — Proposed redistricting of student assignment zones would move dozens of students across 46 Wake County Public School System schools next year.

But current students would not have to move schools if they don’t want to, so long as they can arrange their own transportation to school under the draft student assignment plan unveiled Tuesday.

The draft plan is intended to provide relief for overflowing schools and help fill schools that are under-enrolled. It considers, among other things, students' proximity to their schools and allowing for more efficient transportation. Family surveys have shown many parents want their children's schools to be close to home. At the same time, the district is experiencing a continued decline in bus driver employment.

Glenn Carrozza, the district’s assistant superintendent of school choice, planning and assignment, told the school board the district is also trying to keep schools’ student bodies similar, by keeping them from having too many students in poverty. That has been a goal of the school system for years, though less so in recent years.

School board members asked Carrozza to report how the assignment changes would impact school bus routes. Earlier in the afternoon, Board Member Roxie Cash noted how dependent magnet schools are on buses and said she was concerned long commutes were turning families away from the district’s choice schools.

Next year’s student assignment plan, as drafted, would have a smaller reach next year, when no new schools are set to open, than this year’s plan, as four new schools opened this fall. Last year, the district’s proposal affected 62 schools and 2,300 to 3,000 students, who largely could not stay at their current school as a transfer for longer than a year.

Assignment changes generally impact a handful to a few dozen students at any given school implicated by them.

Before creating the draft plan, the school system surveyed more than 2,800 people on what was most important to them in a school for their child. Officials then held three focus groups of six to 10 people. Those focus groups emphasized clear communication from their school, using year-round calendars to avoid capping schools, the school being close to home and strong and education teachers.

The school system would not force existing students to change schools, however. Under the proposed stability rule for next year, existing students could stay at their school under “transfer status” until they finish their final grade level at that school. They would not receive busing. Only rising kindergarten, sixth grade and ninth grade students who do not have a sibling at their previously assigned school would not be able to.

Those who want to learn more about the plan and submit feedback can visit the school system’s website here.

The public can submit feedback through ThoughtExchange -- a portal linked to on the district's website -- through Oct. 7.

The school system will host four virtual public information sessions, and each one will have a different geographic focus. They’ll be:

Sept. 28, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for central and northern parts of the county.
Sept. 29, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for southeast Raleigh and the eastern and northeastern parts of the county.
Oct. 5, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for southeastern and southern parts of the county.
Oct. 6, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for southwestern and western parts of the county.

The district’s proposal, which can be found here, breaks out each proposed change by region. People can use that to find out which session they’d like to attend.

The school system will present a second draft of the assignment plan Oct. 18 and will hold a public hearing Nov. 10.

The school board is scheduled to vote on the plan Nov. 15.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated the number of schools implicated in the assignment plan. It's 47 schools, or between one-fourth and one-fifth of schools.

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