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Board Approves Changing Five Year-round Schools to Single Track

May 4, 2011 - The Board of Education approved Tuesday changing five under-enrolled year-round schools to operate on a single-track for the next two years. The change should provide an operational savings of $400,000 for the school year.

The board acted on a recommendation from Superintendent Tony Tata who asked for the change to allow principals to focus on student achievement, operational efficiencies and maximum use of resources.

The five schools are:

The schools will operate on track four for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years.

The five schools have fewer projected students for next school year than the single-track capacity of the school.

 

Alston Ridge

Highcroft

Lake Myra

Rand Road

Timber Drive

Single-track Capacity

800

800

766

724

741

Projected enrollment

665

785

571

564

542

The schools could serve more students on a multi-track, year-round calendar.

Tata recommended the change as part of a facilities utilization review and budget-building process, and after surveying staff and parents at 14 schools where the student enrollment is less than 100 percent of single-track capacity. 

Students will receive their official school assignments on May 13.  Families who wish to transfer their student to a different year-round school in an effort to remain on their current track may submit a transfer request between May 13 and June 1.  Every effort will be made to help families find placement at another year-round school without transportation.  Families who wish to transfer to a traditional calendar school may submit a transfer request between May 13 and June 1.  Every effort will be made to place their student at the traditional calendar application school for their address with school district transportation provided.

The school system will take steps to help families and teachers who stay at the five schools. Schools will work closely with families to address sibling issues at feeder schools and provide transfer opportunities. The schools will make every effort to help families that have older siblings at feeder middle schools to have their elementary and middle school students assigned to track four. The schools will offer a July intersession to help families who had planned on children being in school. Families who had already planned vacations that now conflict with track four will have vacation absences excused. The school system will disperse teacher pay so that teachers will receive a July paycheck.

Nine other year-round schools were not recommended after the school system’s review. The schools were Ballentine Elementary, Banks Road Elementary, East Garner Elementary, Harris Creek Elementary, River Bend Elementary, Wakefield Elementary and West Lake Elementary, as well as East Cary Middle and Holly Grove Middle. Most of these had difficulty accommodating siblings on track four at feeder schools.

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