Board Reviews Growth Management Plan

Updated March 13, 2006 - The Wake County Board of Education made a number of changes to the 2006-07 growth management plan during a nine-hour work session today.

Board members agreed to remove 41 nodes from the plan, add seven nodes to the plan and change the assignment of three nodes that were in the plan to different schools.

The growth management plan fills seven new schools opening for 2006-07, relieves crowding at existing schools and helps the school system respond to the tremendous increase in students. Student enrollment increased by 6,400 students this year and is expected to increase by 7,000 for 2006-07.

Board members and WCPSS Growth Management staff discussed node-by-node changes as they reviewed the schools in the plan and discussed the comments they had received from six public hearings, emails and phone calls. In a series of straw votes the board agreed to make the following changes:

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

4 nodes being moved from Stough ES to Brier Creek ES were removed from plan and will remain at Stough. Nodes 361.1, 529, 543, and 673.
3 nodes being moved from Leesville Road ES to Brier Creek ES were removed from plan and will remain at Leesville Road. Nodes: 530, 570, 571
2 nodes being moved from Combs ES to Reedy Creek ES were instead sent to Kingwood ES. Nodes 579 and 580
1 node being moved from Wakefield ES to Forest Pines ES was removed from plan and will remain at Wakefield ES. Node 299.8
1 node recently created was added to plan. Board approved moving node from Forest Pines ES to Wake Forest ES. Node: 701
1 node being moved from Reedy Creek ES to Green Hope ES was instead moved to Farmington Woods ES. Node: 003
2 spot nodes added to plan. 2 nodes were moved from Farmington Woods ES to Green Hope ES. Nodes: 590, 592
3 nodes being moved from Turner Creek Year-round ES transportation to the Oak Grove Year-round ES transportation were removed from plan and will remain at Turner Creek Year-round ES. Nodes 427.1, 536.0, 562.0

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

2 nodes being moved from East Millbrook MS to Wake Forest Rolesville MS were removed from plan and will remain at East Millbrook. Nodes 248.3, 248.4

HIGH SCHOOLS

3 nodes being moved from Apex HS to Holly Springs HS were removed from plan and will remain at Apex High. Nodes 399.1, 399.2, 605, 643
1 node being moved from Apex HS to Panther Creek HS was removed from plan and will remain at Apex High. Node 399.2
7 nodes being moved from Broughton HS to Athens Drive HS were removed from plan and will remain at Broughton High. Nodes 8, 9, 10, 104, 105, 111.2, 112.
2 nodes were added to the plan. 2 nodes were moved from Broughton HS to Leesville Road HS. Nodes 361.3, 584.0
1 node being moved from Garner HS to Middle Creek HS was removed from the plan and will remain at Garner HS. Node: 613.
2 nodes were added to the plan. 2 nodes were moved from Middle Creek HS to Garner HS. Nodes 470.2, 470.3
3 nodes being moved from Green Hope HS to Panther Creek HS were removed from the plan and will remain at Green Hope HS. Nodes 554.0, 559, 692.
10 nodes being moved from Millbrook HS to Sanderson HS were removed from the plan and will remain at Millbrook HS. Nodes 312.1, 312.2, 312.3, 312.4, 312.6, 323, 324.1, 336, 338.1, 640.
2 nodes being moved from Athens Drive HS to Middle Creek HS were removed from the plan and will remain at Athens Drive HS. Nodes 417.5, 424.3
2 nodes being moved from Middle Creek HS to Holly Springs HS were removed from the plan and will remain at Middle Creek High. Nodes 438.1, 439.1
1 node being moved from Wake Forest Rolesville HS to Wakefield HS was removed from the plan and will remain at Wake Forest Rolesville HS. Node 303
1 node being moved from Wakefield HS to Millbrook HS was removed from the plan and will remain at Wakefield HS. Node 298.3

Board sets public hearing
A letter will be sent to families who were added to the Growth Management Plan advising them of a public hearing the board will hold for them at 6 p.m., Monday, March 20 in the board room of the WCPSS Administration Building at 3600 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh.

The board plans to vote on the student assignment plan at its meeting Tuesday, March 21.

New schools opening for 2006-07
In all WCPSS will open nine schools for 2006-07 including two high schools, an Early College, a second East Wake High Academy and five year-round elementary schools. The Early College will be launched with about 50 ninth-grade students in space provided by Wake Tech on their campus by Wake Med. The East Wake Technology Academy continues the process begun last year with the creation of the East Wake Health Science Academy providing East Wake High students areas of theme-based learning.

This is the first time WCPSS has opened two new high schools at the same time. Panther Creek High in Cary and Holly Springs High in Holly Springs will open with ninth- and tenth-grade students only. As parents attending the community engagement meetings recommended, rising high school juniors are not included in the proposal.
The opening of the new high schools has helped to relieve crowded conditions at existing high schools. It may be 2009 before the next high school opens. The proposed Heritage High School would be funded in the next school construction program. The proposal takes into consideration the future opening of Heritage High and three years of growth before additional high school seats are available.

The five year-round elementary schools include Barwell Road Elementary in Southeast Raleigh, Brier Creek Elementary in Northwest Raleigh, Carpenter Elementary in Cary, as well as two early start schools: Holly Grove Elementary and E19. Holly Grove will start in an unused wing of the new Holly Springs High while the new permanent school is built on adjacent property. E19 will move into the temporary modular campus on Spring Forest Road in North Raleigh. All of these schools are opening as multi-track, year-round schools, which provide space for more students.

Harris Creek Elementary will leave the modular campus and move into its permanent building on Forestville Road near Mitchell Mill Road.

March 8, 2006 article updated to add removal of nodes of Turner Creek Year-round ES transportation from plan and add removal of node 399.2 from plan. These discussions by the board were inadvertently left out out of the article.

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