Board Completes Review of 2011-12 Assignment Proposal
January 28, 2011 – The Board of Education completed its second work session Thursday reviewing the 2011-12 Assignment Proposal after devoting an all-day session to discussions Tuesday.
Public hearing and special called board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 15 |
Magnet/calendar application period changes to Feb. 21 through March 7 |
The work sessions followed five public hearings held at Millbrook Magnet High, Heritage High, Southeast Raleigh Magnet High, Garner Magnet High and Cary High that attracted 199 speakers. At the hearings, the public commented on the staff proposal drafted after months of work including community workshops and discussions with the school board.
The proposal provides for the opening of the new Walnut Creek Elementary as a traditional calendar school and the new Wake NC State University STEM Early College High School, as well as addressing crowding at existing schools.
As a result of the updates to the proposal, WCPSS Growth and Planning staff is notifying by mail families who were added to the proposal. They will be able to speak at a public hearing prior to a special called board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 15 when the board is expected to approve the assignment plan.
These families would be part of the following changes:
- assign base elementary students in node 504.1 from Creech ES to Aversboro ES;
- assign base middle students in node 380.7 from East Cary MS to West Cary MS; and
- assign base elementary students from node 246.1 to Wildwood Forest ES (instead of Fox ES).
The proposal includes 70 changes requested by families, the school board and school principals along with recommendations from staff to the final year of the multi-year assignment plan.
The proposal currently includes 3,739 students, including 2,069 in elementary, 988 in middle and 682 in high school. Fewer students will be involved since 1,869 students and their siblings may be able to continue at their current schools under current grandfathering rules. Earlier versions of the proposal had included 4,703 students.
The school system currently serves 143,289 students in 163 schools and expects more than 3,000 additional students in 165 schools for 2011-12.
After board approval of an assignment plan, letters will be sent to all currently enrolled families impacted by reassignment decisions. The new timeline for the assignment process will result in changing the magnet/calendar application period for parents to Feb. 21 through March 7.
-wcpss-