Community Meetings to Discuss 2006-07 Crowding Solutions
October 21, 2005 - The Wake County Public School System will hold a second round of community engagement meetings Oct. 24 through Nov. 3 to continue to seek public input in the growth management process.
2005 Community Engagement Meetings Resource Center |
WCPSS' student population has doubled since 1985 and another 100,000 students are projected by the year 2025. Approximately 6,400 students joined the school system this year, bringing total enrollment to 120,507. Each of the last three years has set a new record for increased student enrollment with 4,597 in 2003-04, 5,098 in 2004-05, and 6,439 in 2005-06.
Barwell Road Elementary, Brier Creek Elementary, Carpenter Year-round Elementary, Holly Springs High and Panther Creek High were the new schools originally scheduled to open in 2006-07.
To provide additional classroom seats for next year, on Oct. 18, the Board of Education approved opening two more elementary schools and designating those plus Brier Creek and Barwell Road as year-round. Holly Grove Elementary students and staff will begin a year early in space at Holly Springs High School (opens with ninth and 10th grades) while the permanent school is being constructed. Similarly, E-19 or North Forest Pines Drive will start early in the modular complex on Spring Forest Road.
To further take advantage of available space at the new high schools, rising ninth- and 10th-graders will be expected to attend their newly assigned school. In addition, WCPSS will retain East Cary Middle as a ninth grade center for another year, add another eight-classroom modular unit to the Wakefield High campus, and add up to 95 mobile/modular classroom units systemwide.
The community engagement meetings will provide families the opportunity to hear the most current information used in making decisions on school construction and student assignment, as well as an opportunity to provide input into the development of new plans.
Growth Management Senior Director Ramey Beavers will gather input and discuss:
· Preliminary feedback on the public input received,
· Timing of future school openings,
· Student assignment to fill new schools and manage growth,
· Short-range student movement,
· Possible movement for these future schools, and
· Other priorities that might be unique to specific schools or groups
of schools.
Since some of the information will be area-specific, families should attend the meeting closest to their school(s). The following are the meeting dates and locations for round two:
| Oct. 24 | Wake Forest-Rolesville High | 420 W. Stadium Dr., Wake Forest, NC 27587 |
| Oct. 25 | Green Hope High | 2500 Carpenter Upchurch Rd., Cary, NC 27519 |
| Oct. 26 | Knightdale High | 100 Bryan Chalk Lane, Knightdale, NC 27545 |
| Oct. 27 | Athens Drive High | 1420 Athens Dr., Raleigh, NC 27606 |
| Nov. 2 | Garner High | 2101 Spring Dr., Garner, NC 27529 |
| Nov. 3 | Leesville Road High | 8409 Leesville Rd., Raleigh, NC 27613 |
All meetings are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and last for approximately two hours.
The goals for these meetings are to provide parents and other interested community members more information about school construction and assignment issues, gather input from parents regarding school assignment, growth, proposed changes in assignment, school sites and construction schedules and identify for parents potentially affected schools when new locations are known.
The Office of Growth Management will incorporate data from these meetings into a draft proposal, which the department plans to release in December for the community to review and provide feedback. Growth Management will then review the input and present a revised plan to the Board of Education in February. The school board will hold public hearings and a work session before adopting the final plan in late March or early April.
Approximately 400 people attended the first round of meetings in September.
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