Wake County school administrators could face a lot of questions about whether the new student assignment plan being unveiled Tuesday does enough to balance schools by student achievement.

As noted in today's article, the versions of the new plan that school board members saw as it was being developed is producing some vastly conflicting reactions. How that shapes what the final plan looks like remains to be seen.

For instance, school board member John Tedesco said it looks to be a workable hybrid of the old assignment plan and the choice plan. He praised the new plan’s strong focus on proximity and its provision for families to apply to multiple schools in their areas.

How will the Wake County school board, in practice, balance the competing goals in the student assignment directive of proving stability, proximity and diversity?

School board members Susan Evans and Jim Martin provided some insight of how they'll approach the assignment issue during the Aug. 21 board work session on the federal magnet school grant. The issue was over staff not recommending magnetizing Barwell Road, Creech Road and Hodge Road elementary schools because it would result in reassigning out part of their enrollments and having a negative impact on minority isolation at surrounding schools.

Some board members gave different reasons for questioning whether that concern should keep the schools from being magnetized.

The UNC School of Law's Center for Civil Rights is blaming this week's Wake County school transportation problems on the elimination of the diversity policy.

In a blog post today, Elizabeth Haddix of the CCR, calls the past week of school "an overwhelming fiasco." It's not a surprising statement from her considering that the group is providing legal assistance to the NAACP in the ongoing federal civil rights complaint against Wake for eliminating the use of socioeconomic diversity.

"Despite the administration’s repeated protestations to the contrary, the root of the school opening debacle is the school board’s insistence on adopting a student assignment plan so focused on eliminating diversity that other important values were eliminated too: transparency, community engagement, attention to legitimate public concerns, and efficient resource management," Haddix writes.

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children is trading barbs again with Wake County school board vice chairman Keith Sutton.

In the latest dispute, CCCAAC President Calla Wright accuses Sutton of "hiding" from the group for not answering its requests to meet with him. Sutton declined the invitation, citing "the tone and tenor of your last meeting that I was invited to," but agreed to answer the group's questions.

CCCAAC had a long list of questions, many involving what more will be done to help Walnut Creek Elementary School. Questions also dealt with topics such as why Sutton is supporting the use of performance pay for teachers, whether any magnet schools will lose their status and when will revisions to the student assignment policy be presented.

What role should Montessori education continue to play in the Wake County school system?

As noted in today's article, school administrators say they still think that Wake should offer Montessori even though Poe Elementary School hasn't been able to attract enough magnet students.

But with Lynn Road Elementary School's PTA balking at receiving Montessori, Wake is back to determining who should become the new Montessori school. Options include finding an existing school which would support Montessori more or just opening a new school to offer that theme.

Is the Wake County school system letting Knightdale's schools down?

As noted in today's article, speakers at Tuesday's school board meeting complained that the school system has not done enough over the years to help improve the academic situation in Knightdale. The words got both harsh and impassioned.

At the same time, school administrators and board members say they're trying to find ways to help schools in the town.

Fox Road Elementary School has replaced Lynn Road Elementary School as being recommended by Wake County school staff to receive a magnet program.

When staff presented the list of new magnets last week, some board members had questioned why Fox Road wasn't on the list. At the time, staff said they were concerned that magnetizing Fox Road would hurt Millbrook Elementary's magnet program.

But staff said today that Fox Road's magnet draw area could be created without hurting other nearby schools. Staff said today that they're still not recommending Barwell Road, Creech Road and Hodge Road elementary schools, despite the request from some board members, because they're concerned the draw area would hurt surrounding schools.

Staff is still recommending adding magnet programs to Green Elementary School and Carroll Middle School and overhauling the magnet themes at Poe Elementary and Moore Square Middle. A final decision on which schools to include in the federal magnet grant isn't expected until next month.

What would Wake County's magnet schools look like if they lost those programs and were only populated by the students who live near them?

That's a question that school administrators tried to answer last week for school board members reviewing the magnet program. This chart indicates that many magnet schools, particularly those inside the Raleigh Beltline, would have higher percentages of minority and free-and-reduced lunch (FRL) students if only populated by proximity students.

You can see a big demographic difference from the magnet population going to the schools and the base population being assigned out.

Student assignment and diversity seems to find its way into just about every topic that's discussed by the Wake County school board.

As noted in today's article, the discussion about which schools should get magnet programs spun into a discussion about diversity as a factor in the student assignment plan. At issue is what to do to reduce racial and minority isolation at schools, which is the main purpose of the new federal grant Wake will seek.

The goal of federal Magnet School Assistance Program grants is to "assist in the desegregation of public schools by supporting the elimination, reduction, and prevention of minority group isolation in elementary and secondary schools with substantial numbers of minority group students.

Wake County school staff will recommend today adding magnet programs to Green and Lynn Road elementary schools and Carroll Middle School.

All three North Raleigh schools are proposed for inclusion in the federal magnet school assistance grant that Wake will apply for later this year. Staff says magnetizing the schools will attract magnet applicants that reduce their high percentages of free-and-reduced price lunch students.

Also as part of the grant, Wake would seek funding to overhaul the magnet themes at Poe Elementary School and Moore Square Middle School. More details of the changes will be presented during the school board work session.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST