Year-Round Questions
1. At the year-round schools if some of the students are going to be the base population then the city ought to help at track-out time. Now it’s just the Y, which is expensive. I like the year-round program, but childcare is an issue.
Childcare is an issue for some parents regardless of the calendar. While we look for additional options for parents, there are presently no track-out care programs without costs provided by the school district. There are some programs that offer academic assistance during that time but not the entire time.
2. How will magnet year-round schools magnet populations be adjusted when a base population is added? If, by demand, a year-round school is needed is the one new elementary school opening in the area traditional?
There has to be a balance between year round and traditional schools. A base can only be added to a year round school if there is space available because another year round school is opening.
3. If you are reassigned to a year-round base, what will be the procedure to remain in a traditional school? What are the options in choosing a traditional school?
At present, students assigned to a year-round base population can request a transfer to a traditional school. All such transfers that are granted are done so without transportation.
4. Will there be a mandatory base population for Turner Creek? Have you established what that base is? Please share and explain.
A base is planned for Turner Creek Elementary. It has not been designated since we have not finished the Community Engagement Sessions.
5. Once a student is based at a year-round, can they be reassigned to a traditional calendar school?
That is certainly possible but not at all likely.
6. Year-round schools should be voluntary, my children go to year-round and we love it. My concern with mandatory year-round that it will greatly affect property value if it is the only mandatory year-round school. Unless the entire school district goes year-round, neighborhood schools should be prioritized by WCPSS, consider vouchers for private schools to alleviate overcrowding.
As written, this is a statement of belief of the writer. There are no plans to make an entire school have a year-round calendar AND a total base population. The discussion has been to have the year round schools have some of their population be base students.
7. I’ve heard the argument that by building year-round schools the school system saves money and fits more kids in a school. But since year-round school have to pay their administrators, teachers and assistants a higher salary than traditional school employees and pay for utilities and busing for 12 months instead of 10 months, plus the school suffers more wear and tear on the building, over time is there really a saving? I also thought year-round schools were supposed to fit 1/3 more than traditional schools, but according to WCPSS web site, the traditional schools in the western county hold as much and often more students than the year-round schools. As a result, the year-round schools actually cost more to run than the traditional schools. So, does it make sense to make Turner Creek Elementary a year-round?
Facts to support this:
1. Morrisville Year-Round 925 students
2. Green Hope Elementary 917 students
3. Davis Drive Elementary 987 students
4. Olive Chapel Elementary 959 students
5. Oak Grove Elementary 964 students
6. Apex Middle 1033 students
7. Davis Middle 1197 students
8. Lufkin Year-Round 915 students
When you compare the enrollment at various schools, regardless of calendar, you have to look at the capacity of the school including the number of mobile units. Some traditional schools have large mobile unit populations and thus have higher enrollment numbers. Your observations about wear and tear on the building are accurate.
8. If you absolutely insist that Turner Creek Elementary become a year-round school, why does it have to have a mandatory base? There are more than enough people in the immediate area who would like their children to attend a year-round school voluntarily, so why force people who don’t want to go year-round. The year-round program was supposed to be completely voluntary so why are you going back on your word?
The WCPSS School Board has determined that they would like a base at all year round schools. While year round schools were begun totally voluntary, they have had some type of assigned base for some time. This includes a regular assigned base or a base made up of students with program needs such as ESL.
9. I’ve heard that if there is a mandatory base for year-round school that the people who didn’t want to go year-round could apply for a transfer to a traditional calendar school. But will they then have to supply their own transportation? Will the parents get to pick the school they want their children to go to instead? Will everyone from the same neighborhood who does not want to go year-round get to go to the same traditional calendar school?
Any student who wants to go to a different school can request a transfer. All transfers that are approved are done so without transportation. Your last statement refers to an alternate base school and that has not been the method used to grant transfers.
10. We live across the street from the new Turner Creek School. My child is at Davis Drive Elementary. We would like to stay in a traditional school, but I have heard that Turner Creek could be our base school, is this so?
If Turner Creek has a base population and your node was identified as part of that base, Turner Creek would become your base. As indicated earlier, you can request a transfer to another school. There are no guarantees that transfers will be granted but each will be evaluated individually.
11. When opening a year-round school, I think if you poll the nearby neighborhoods you might get more support for mandatory attendance than you might think you have. (based on my bus stop poll). Can you take the time to poll the area to see if you have support for mandatory attendance before deciding against it?
If parents who live in the immediate vicinity of a new year round school wish to attend, they can certainly apply. Where a base for a year round school will be located has not been determined. We have not polled neighborhoods to see which school they wish to attend.
12. Where does the stability of a year-round student stand? Will redrawing transportation patterns and moving students this year count toward one assignment change in three years?
It would count as an assignment change in three years for the year round students. That would have no bearing on the movement of the same nodes to a different traditional school. This certainly could happen in areas of the county where both year round and traditional schools are opening at the same time.
13. How will Turner Creek base assignment be determined?
The base for Turner Creek will be determined after the Community Engagement Sessions have ended. The method for making that determination has not been decided.
14. Turner Creek will open as Year-round in 2003-04. Will any students be assigned as base school there or on by magnet program? I was told that the assignment of magnet school program year-round is based on current base school capacity, is this true?
As stated above, Turner Creek should have both a base population and an application population. Some of the application population will be students moved from an existing year round school and some will be new applicants.