Should the Wake County school system hold spots at specific schools for families who say they're leaving but intend to return?

If a guarantee can be given, should it be limited only to families citing sabbaticals from universities or professional leave to go on unique job opportunities? Or should there be no guarantee for any family that leaves with Wake saying it will try, space permitting, to put them back at the same school when they return?

Those questions formed the heart of a lengthy discussion at Tuesday's school board policy committee meeting on whether not having base assignments in the new student assignment plan requires development of a family and professional leave policy.

What responsibility does the Wake County school system have in providing transportation to preassigned rising sixth- and ninth-graders who don't have bus service this fall?

As noted in today's article, the school board voted to direct staff to, when possible, modify existing bus routes to accommodate students or to offer them a spot at a school on their proximity list that would give them transportation.

But that motion stops short of guaranteeing bus service to their feeder school. And that motion only extends to students who are receiving bus service this year and would lose it this fall, not transfer students who now don't get bus service.

More to come later but the Wake County school board voted tonight to direct staff to try to provide transportation to the 470 preassigned students facing losing bus service.

The board passed 6-3 this motion: "WCPSS, shall provide transportation, when it can be provided with adjustments to existing routes, to all rising sixth- and ninth-graders currently receiving district transportation, who are pre-assigned without transportation for the 2012-13 school year OR offer that student a seat in one of the schools on his/her proximity choice list with transportation."

The board resisted language that would have required providing transportation, including potentially adding extra buses. The board also resisted amending the motion that would have  added 539 rising sixth- and ninth-graders who are at their current school as transfer students.

Susan Evans, Christine Kushner and Jim Martin were the dissenting votes.

The Wake County school system is now taking transfer requests from families who want to attend a different school than the one they've been assigned to attend this fall.

Parents are finding out today where their children will go to this school this fall, either by looking online, receiving a letter in the mail or in their children's backpacks. Families who find out today have until June 1 to submit a request in writing to change their assignment.

Copies of the transfer form can be found in English or Spanish by clicking here on the district's transfer information page.

During today's news conference, Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata announced a new online survey on the magnet school program and pointed to an uptick in home sales to dispute allegations that the student assignment plan is driving people away.

Starting with magnet schools, click here to take a survey that will run through June 1. Wake will use the feedback from the survey as part of the review of the magnet school program.

Tata said part of the review is looking at whether the objectives of the magnet school program should be revised, including making student achievement one of the components. He said the achievement gaps in magnet schools are "pretty stark."

Should the Wake County school system guarantee bus service to all students who choose to stay on their current feeder pattern?

It's an issue in the new student assignment that the school board has been wrestling with for the past several months. The discussion got personal at times last week with board member Jim Martin, the most outspoken proponent of providing the bus service, taking shots from board members Debra Goldman and Deborah Prickett.

For now, staff is continuing to review what bus service can be provided.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

Wake County parents who still haven't gotten their first choice should keep looking daily to see how much they've moved up on the wait list.

School officials say that waitlist results will continue to be updated to June 29, when they're scheduled to be dissolved. The daily updates mean that families who saw they were still on waitlists on Thursday may now have gotten the seat they wanted.

The school board could decide Tuesday to leave the June 29 date in place, end the wait lists sooner or push them past June 29.

A number of families who are still on waitlists by June 1 will likely file transfer requests.

Don't look for the word "waitlist" to be included in the revised version of the Wake County school system's student transfer policy.

During today's work session, board members agreed to modify wording that says requests may be denied for "application for transfers to schools if classes are full and a waitlist remains in place for seats at that school."

They'll replace the waitlist reference to say that transfers may be denied if there is no capacity at the school or at that grade level.

School board members Jim Martin and Susan Evans said they were concerned that putting in the waitlist reference would discourage people from seeking transfers.

UPDATE

The transfer policy was unanimously approved tonight on second and final reading.

School administrators and Wake County school board members agreed to recommend some changes to this version of the student transfer policy during Wednesday's policy committee meeting.

One change is to modify the title of Section B to say "Reasons Transfer Requests May Be Approved by Office of Student Assignment." A similar change is being made to the title of Section C to add in the words student assignment staff.

The wording was added to try to convey to parents that Section B and Section C don't bind the school board when it handles transfer appeals.

UPDATE

Click here to view the policy that will be voted on Tuesday.

School equity, student transfers and athletics will be on the agenda for today's first meeting of the reconstituted Wake County school board policy committee.

Now chaired by board member Jim Martin, the committee will review the proposed equity policy and its R&P. Martin worked on the policy when he was a community member of the economically disadvantaged student performance task force.

The committee has slotted half of the two-hour meeting to talk about the revised transfer policy before it's referred back to the full board on Tuesday.