Tuesday's discussion about Fox Road Elementary highlights the challenges and limits that the current assignment policy faces in Wake.

For those who don't want to read the whole post, I'll run off some of the main points from Tuesday's facilities committee meeting. Staff is reviewing the draw areas for magnet and year-round schools, which could affect where current and future application students will go.

For diversity reasons, some magnet schools were deliberately left with empty seats this school year. For diversity reasons, an effort to encourage more low-income students to apply for year-round schools may have backfired, at least at Fox Road Elementary.

School board members are still considering changes to how students are selected to magnet schools even as they realize that the new board could undo whatever they adopt.

No changes were agreed to on Tuesday. But Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney was directed to come back to the Oct. 27 facilities committee meeting with more details about how 143 transfer students were allowed to leave Fox Road Elementary.

During the discussion, school board member Lori Millberg acknowledged that whatever they agree to do could be undone as it "depends on what the next board does if there’s no busing."

School board candidate Cathy Truitt is revising her account of being asked if she'd support firing Supt. Del Burns.

Truitt had said on WPTF on Sept. 24 that school board member Ron Margiotta had asked her in a vetting interview if she'd support a motion to fire Burns. Truitt said Wednesday that she was asked that question but she's not sure if Margiotta was the questioner.

Truitt said that at several candidate vetting interviews she was asked the same question. The question was whether she would support firing Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney.

Changes are looming for how students will be selected to fill Wake County's magnet schools.

Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney told board members on Tuesday that his staff will be working on a formal board policy on magnet schools. This would help formalize the year-to-year guidelines that his staff develops.

One of the goals of the new board policy would be to try to address how some non-magnet schools are being negatively impacted by magnet schools. In other words, you could see changes that make it harder for some students to get into the magnet program.

UPDATE: LINKS AT END OF POST NOW WORKING 

Transfer requests are up this year and the expanded grandfathering options are being cited for much of the cause.

Through Aug. 5, Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney said that more than 7,800 transfers had been requested with 68 percent being approved. He said that's compared to around 5,500 requests at the same time last year.

Dulaney told school board members on Tuesday that the greater publicity reassignment received this year and the expanded grandfathering led to the increase.

School board members and administrators managed to simultaneously defend their handling of No Child Left Behind choice requirements while also acknowledging they can do some things better.

Recent stories have questioned how Wake isn't providing the advance notification required under No Child and is forcing parents to return to their old failing schools and reapply to get back out.

During Tuesday's school board meeting, Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney said Wake is following all federal guidelines for No Child Left Behind.

UPDATE: CORRECTED WORDING IN BOLD IN POST

Get ready for some overcrowding in parts of the county now that assignments to Forest Ridge High, Rolesville Middle and Walnut Creek Elementary have been put on hold.

As noted in today's article, the school board voted Tuesday to delay the assignments to those three schools by two years because the recession has delayed when they'll open. There will be consequences.

Not assigning students to Forest Ridge High until 2012 means that Wake Forest-Rolesville and Wakefield high schools will need to keep their off campus ninth-grade centers until at least then.

Imagine being told you have to return to the academically struggling school you left and also having to change your year-round track.

As noted in today's article by Ray Martin, Joni Duell's two kids were sent back to Barwell Road Elementary School after having taking advantage of their options last year under No Child Left Behind to transfer to a more successful school.

It's a double whammy for Duell, whose children were on track 4 at East Garner Elementary. Instead of starting the new school year on July 27, they were given a track at Barwell that started July 7, forcing them to start classes three weeks earlier than planned.

Will a new school district analysis of how far students live from school quiet criticism over the busing program?

As noted in today's article, the new report found that 86 percent of students are assigned to schools within 5 miles of their home and it's up to 99 percent when you increase the distance to 10 miles from home.

Supporters of the district are hailing the report as proof that busing complaints are overstated.

The school system could crack down on students who are illegally attending school in Wake.

School board members have asked that the policy committee review what steps should be taken if a student who is not living in Wake County is found to be attending school in the district without permission. Non-Wake residents are generally only in the district if they're paying tuition.

While some of you guys may scoff, there are a lot of people who live in the surrounding counties who would much rather attend school in Wake.