The Wake County school system is back to square one when it comes to finding a ninth-grade center to relieve overcrowding at Panther Creek High School.

The Cary Town Council voted Thursday against amending a town ordinance to allow the school system to place modular classrooms at the site of the future Alston Ridge Middle School to house the ninth-grade center.

Town staff said the change would open the door for any other school to put trailers on vacant lots. Council members were also worried about how temporary they'd actually be on the site.

It's been a long winding path where the school board initially voted to lease an office building in Morrisville that would have been ready for this year. But after parental complaints, the Democratic majority nixed the deal and voted along party lines to go with the Alston Ridge site, which wouldn't have been ready until 2013.

UPDATE

Click here for the Saturday article on the vote by Andrew Kenney.

Three Wake County school board members are requesting a revote on placing  Panther Creek High School's ninth-grade center at the site of the future Alston Ridge Middle School.

Republican board members Deborah Prickett, John Tedesco and Debra Goldman are requesting a discussion and revote on the location of the ninth-grade center at the June 5 meeting. They're citing the concerns raised by Cary Town Councilman Don Frantz about the town having to grant an ordinance amendment to approve the use of the site.

But the board's fourth GOP member, Chris Malone, is asking "isn't it very late to be having this discussion?" He asks what the "value proposition is" to reconsider the item at this late date.

The Wake County school system could find it hard getting approval from the Cary Town Council to erect a ninth-grade center for Panther Creek High School.

Cary Town Councilman Don Frantz writes in this Wednesday blog post that "we can all agree that we need additional school capacity, and I am well aware of many of the issues Panther Creek students and teachers are dealing with."

But Frantz adds he has several concerns with granting an ordinance amendment that would allow the ninth-grade center to be erected on the site of a future middle school next to Alston Ridge Elementary.

The Wake County school board voted 5-4 along party lines today to use land next to Alston Ridge Elementary School as the site for Panther Creek HIgh School's off-campus ninth-grade center.

The board will place classroom trailers at the site, which is slated to house a middle school, to temporarily relieve crowding at nearby Panther Creek High. The ninth-grade center, which will have a net cost of $5.4 million over the next six years, wlll be ready for the 2013-14 school year.

The board had voted Feb. 7 to lease an office building in Morrisvlle for the ninth-grade center that would have been ready for this August. But the deal was rescinded Feb. 21 after parents complained that the office building was too far from the main campus to allow for convenient access to classes and extracurricular activities.

Today, the five Democrats voted to use the Alston Ridge site. The four Republicans voted no.

Budgets and student assignment headline a long list of items on today's Wake County school board agenda.

 As noted in today's article, during the work session, staff will present recommended changes to the assignment plan based on the results of the first round of the choice selection process. The board has scheduled a vote on changes for the regular meeting.

Chief Transformation Officer Judy Peppler previously told the board they may recommend adjustments in four areas: whether seat set-asides should be allocated for some or all of the high-performing schools, the percentage of magnet vs. base students at some schools, options for students whose feeder doesn't include transportation and sibling priority in grades 1-5, 7-8 and 10-12.

Wake County school board member Deborah Prickett is flinging some harsh words and accusations at fellow board member Susan Evans about how the decision was reversed to lease an office building for Panther Creek High's ninth-grade center.

In an email Friday sent to board members, Superintendent Tony Tata and other senior staff and the news media, Prickett accuses Evans of "lying" about her initial vote on the lease. Prickett writes that after rescinding the deal "we have no direction and nothing accomplished except Susan Evans feels better."

Here's the text of Prickett's email:

The Wake County school board voted 5-4 tonight to rescind its decision to lease an office building to house freshmen from Cary’s Panther Creek High School.

The board had voted Feb. 7 to lease a 77,574-square-foot office building at 3700 Pleasant Church Grove Road in Morrisville. Parents complained that the office building was too far from the main campus to allow for convenient access to classes and extracurricular activities.

Left undetermined is what the school system will now do to relieve overcrowding at Panther Creek.

Stay tuned Tuesday to see whether the Wake County school board reconsiders the deal to lease a vacant office building to use as Panther Creek High School's new ninth-grade center.

School board chairman Kevin Hill said that the lease deal, approved by the board on Feb. 7, is the sole topic of the specially called board meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Parents have been flooding the school district to voice their objections to the deal.

If the school board does a 180 on the lease deal, the likely alternative would be to plop some modular units on the site of the future Alston Ridge Middle School. While closer to Panther Creek that the office building, the Alston Ridge site wouldn't be ready until August 2013.

On a related note, school board member Deborah Prickett sent out an email today saying that it's been determined that the official vote on Feb. 7 on the deal was 8-1 with only Jim Martin voting no. This comes after the email exchange between Prickett and Susan Evans about the vote.

Wake County school board members Deborah Prickett and Susan Evans have been engaged in a heated email exchange over how the vote went to lease an office building to use as the ninth-grade center for Panther Creek High.

Evans says the vote was not unanimous but Prickett says it was unanimous. The issue may hinge on whether you're talking about the vote in closed session or the one in open session at Tuesday's board meeting.

The board was briefed on the proposal during the work session.

Here's the quick recap of today's press conference held by Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata.

Tata defended the proposed bell schedules changes as a way that will save money that can be put to better use in the classroom. But he also acknowledged parental concerns, pointing to the online survey that has generated 1,100 comments so far.

Tata also said today that, based on parental feedback, he'll talk with school board chairman Kevin Hill about taking another look at the deal to lease an office building to serve as a new Panther Creek High School ninth-grade center.

The board opted not to stick modular units on the site of a future middle school next to Alston Ridge Elementary School. While the office building at 3700 Pleasant Church Grove Road in Morrisville is further away from the high school, it can be ready for the 2012-13 school year.

UPDATE

Click here for the online story.