School Construction Report
September 21, 2004
The School Construction Report will report on Wake County Public School System construction and facility improvements to meet the growing student enrollment.
PRELIMINARY ENROLLMENT NUMBERS TOTAL 114,000 FOR 2004-05
Preliminary enrollment numbers submitted by the Wake County Public Schools
System to the NC Department of Public Instruction for the 20th day of school
show an enrollment of 114,092 students. That's 5,122 more students than
last year's total of 108,970.
Eight WCPSS high schools have more than 2,000 students. Cary High has the largest enrollment with 2,410, followed by Enloe with 2,263 and Leesville Road with 2,232. Southeast Raleigh High has 2,184; Apex, 2,161; Broughton, 2,123; Green Hope, 2,104; and Millbrook 2,044.
Of the four largest WCPSS middle schools, two operate on a year-round calendar and two operate on the traditional calendar. Year-round middle schools West Lake had 1,403 and Durant Road had 1,390. Traditional calendar schools Leesville Road had 1,184 and Wakefield had 1,106.
Four WCPSS elementary schools have enrollments of 1,000 or more students. The largest schools are West Lake Year-round with 1,122; Durant Road Year-round with 1,096; Wakefield with 1,059; and Heritage Year-round with 1,023. There are five elementary schools with more than 900 students. Fox Road has 962; Timber Drive Year-round has 941; Davis Drive has 928; Wildwood Forest has 912; and Wilburn Drive Year-round has 900.
WCPSS will review the enrollment data with the NC Department of Public Instruction before finalizing the enrollment count.
WCPSS PROPOSES OPTIONS TO MEET ENROLLMENT SURGE
In the last two years, WCPSS enrollment has had an influx of 9,600 students:
5,100 students this year and 4,500 students last year. This rapid rate of
growth along with the state mandate to reduce third-grade class size requires
additional steps to meet the start of the 2005 school year. WCPSS will need
space for 5,000 elementary students when school opens for 2005-06. More
than half of those seats will be needed at schools in Central Wake County,
but additional space demands are countywide. WCPSS will need space for 1,237
additional high school students.
Next year WCPSS plans to open Cedar Fork Elementary in the Morrisville area providing space for 612 students and renovations at North Garner Middle School along with current mobile unit classrooms there will provide space for another 178 students.
In order to meet the needs caused by this sudden surge in student enrollment, the Board of Education has been presented options to consider related to scheduling, facilities and programs. The options either bear a significant capital cost, impact instruction, or impact family routines.
Scheduling related options include expanding use of the year-round calendar system wide or at selected schools, or creating double shifts or flexible schedules at middle and high schools. Facilities related options include the addition of mobile classrooms, the creation of modular schools, or leasing space in churches or other locations. Program related options include making kindergarten a half-day, requiring art and music teachers to work from carts, or converting cafeterias into classrooms.
WCPSS administrators have discussed a range of options with the Board of Education and discussed the issue before the school board and Wake County Commissioners. In order to take the steps needed to meet the needs for the start of next school year, board members will be asked to settle on options at their Oct. 5 meeting.
BOARD APPROVES CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS FOR MILLBROOK HIGH
At its September 7 meeting, the Board of Education approved construction
documents for Millbrook High School additions and renovations. The project
is funded through the PLAN 2000 and PLAN 2004 building programs.
The School Construction Report is published electronically for subscribers
to the Wake County Public School System's School Connection and Online Connection.
Is what you read in this edition helpful? What information would you like
to see in future editions? Contact me by calling 850-1829 or e-mailing bposton@wcpss.net.
Bill Poston
Wake County Public School System
Communications Department
3600 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
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