Apex parents rally against school reassignment

“We will do whatever we have to do to fight this. We are totally outraged,” parent Rob Galvin said.

Armed with a petition and a PowerPoint presentation, Galvin is helping lead the charge to stop students from changing schools in Apex. He and other parents met Sunday evening to discuss how they can fight the reassignment proposal that would move an estimated 200 students from Apex High School to Cary High School next year.

“My main concern is the quality of education. That was the main reason we moved into the neighborhood that we are in, is to get the quality of education,” parent Nander Brown said.

The school system also says it needs to make room for low-income students who are often bused to schools to achieve economic diversity.

“There is no evidence to show if you bus a kid across town, they do better,” parent Marcy Bullock said.

Wake County Board of Education member Ron Margiotta was at the community rally in Apex Sunday night. He is against redistricting for economic reasons.

"We aren't in the Bronx, N.Y. We aren't in Detroit. This is Wake County, and those lower-income students can and should get the same education in their own communities,” Margiotta said.

The public is invited to comment on the plan in public meetings through Dec. 10. Public meetings, each beginning at 6:30 p.m., are as follows:

Overall, the number of students reassigned is comparable to those moved in the past three one-year plans.

Officials said they also considered schools' socioeconomic balance, the distance students would be bussed and the state's magnet-school policy.

Mailings will then be sent out to the parents of affected students, who will know their final assignments by mid-May of next year.