For you numbers crunchers, here's additional information on Wake County year-round and traditional-calendar acceptances by base school

The most year-round applicants by base elementary schools this year was at Wildwood Forest Elementary, where 67 of 109 applicants were accepted. That's compared to 52 acceptances out of 78 applicants last year.

The most year-round applicants by base middle schools was again Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle, where 242 of 265 applicants got accepted Last year, 252 of 282 applicants were accepted.

There are some interesting facts when you look at which Wake County base schools lost applicants to magnet schools for the 2011-12 school year.

A lot of Walnut Creek Elementary families took the advice of supporters of the old diversity policy who urged them to consider applying out based on the high percentage of F&R students on campus. The data shows that 55 out of 141 magnet applicants from Walnut Creek got accepted.

At nearby Barwell Road Elementary, you apparently had a lot of families who didn't want to hang around and see how it would fare under the new Renaissance Schools Model. You had 80 out of 229 magnet applicants get accepted compared to 35 out of 149 last year.

Do not freak out if you see a lot of police cars and helicopters swarming around Dillard Drive elementary and middle schools today.

Taking advantage of today's teacher workday, the Wake County school system is teaming up with 15 other agencies to conduct an emergency response drill on Dillard's campus in Raleigh. They're going to respond to a simulated attack on the campus.

"This exercise will dramatize an event that is more severe than any emergency our schools would likely face, but this will help us be prepared for everything," said Randy Dishong, a school system security investigator coordinating the drill, in a press release. "We will be testing our ability to communicate, delineate and execute our responsibilities during a serious incident."

The actual student reassignment changes recommended on Thursday were small in number, but they show the difference in thinking with the new Wake County school board majority.

As noted in today's article, the board's student assignment committee recommended seven changes for this fall’s student assignment plan and left on the table for further review a dozen other changes. All were based on parental requests to have their children attend schools closer to home.

“We’re not talking about socioeconomic status anymore,” said school board member John Tedesco, chairman of the student assignment committee, after the meeting. “Once we pass the resolution, we won’t be talking about it again.”

(For those who are looking for the changes discussed Thursday, click the read more button to find the link later in the post.)

The state NAACP is not happy with the Wake County school board's rejection of the group's request for 45 minutes at a board meeting.

As noted in today's article by Jim Wise, the NAACP is circulating a petition calling for school board chairman Ron Margiotta to give them the time. At Sunday's NAACP-sponsored meeting, NAACP members passed out the home telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of school board members.

"The NAACP is not going to be ... told it can come to a committee," Barber said at the rally.

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 

New principals have been named tonight for Dillard Drive and Carnage middle schools.

Jacob N. Bryant will become the principal of Dillard Drive Middle in Raleigh, receiving a salary of $87,606. Bryant has been the principal of Jeffreys Grove Elementary School since 2006.

Bryant replaces Teresa Abron, who is retiring. School officials say there’s no connection between her retirement and the December 2007 incident in which Dillard was faulted by federal civil rights officials for holding segregated assemblies for black and Hispanic students after a fight.

SEE END OF POST FOR BIO SHEETS

Wake is now apologizing for a December 2007 incident at Dillard Drive Middle School in which racially segregated assemblies were ordered by the principal.

Principal Teresa Abron had called for separate assemblies for black and Hispanic students after a confrontation between a black student and a Hispanic student. Wake had been defending Abron's actions and refused to issue an apology.

But in a letter released today by the ACLU of North Carolina, which had filed a civil rights complaint, the U.S. Department of Education said an apology has now been issued.

UPDATE

Click here for Wake's response to the feds. Click here for Abron's apology letter. 

The high school moves may be wrapped up tonight.

Kevin Hill, vice chairman of the board, juggled his schedule to attend tonight to discuss the high school changes. He's not going to be here tomorrow due to a prior conflict.

If Hill couldn't attend tonight, the board might have held off until Thursday on the remaining high school review.

UPDATE

Due to the large crowd, the work session has been moved to the main board room. There's plenty of space left.