If nothing else, the Cary families fighting reassignment from Apex High to Athens Drive High win recognition for being vocal and organized.
As noted in today's article by Bonnie Rochman, they've got a web site and done their own analysis of the plan to counter the rationale used by school administrators. Whether it will resonate with the school board is the big question.
School administrators say moving the students reduces crowding at Apex High and will "better utilize available space at Athens Drive High." Those Cary students are also assigned to Dillard Drive Middle, which feeds into Athens Drive.
It will also help, along with other moves, to "improve the balance between Cary High, Athens High and Apex High regarding service to students with higher needs."
The Cary parents contend that Apex High isn't overcrowded due to the recent installation of modular classrooms on campus.
The parents are also saying that while Athens Drive High's percentage of low-income students is higher than Apex High, it's still in line with inside the Beltline schools such as Broughton and Enloe.
The parents also contend that Athens only appears to be undercapacity because of the recent installation of eight modular units.
But Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney said it's better to take advantage of the available space at Athens Drive than to pay the high cost of moving the modulars to another school.
The Cary parents are also using what have become typical arguments for groups fighting high school reassignments. They say far fewer kids will actually go after grandfathering and that students are at greater risk of accidents from driving a longer distance.
The latter two arguments are used so often that school board members don't even bring them up when they propose changes to the reassignment plan.
The parents and students from Nodes 383.3 and 384.4 will hold a protest shortly before Monday evening's public hearing at Apex High.
Calla Wright, president of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children, says that moving the kids to Athens serves a greater good.
"I know the MacGregor Downs kids aren't low performing," Wright said. "If you look at the kids at Apex, they're not low performing. But when you look at Athens Drive High, you can understand why the reassignment plan is needed. You have to look at a plan that will benefit all children."
Comments
This Quote Concerns Me
Sun, 01/04/2009 - 16:16 — mpwalsh8The quote in this article really concerns me:
This sentiment seems wrong on so many levels and seems to follow one poor decision with another one. Two wrongs never make a right.
While this isn't what Chuck's said, this is what I perceived when I read his quote: "We put too many modular classrooms in the wrong location so now we're going to move a bunch of families to fill them instead of relocating them to where they are needed."
I completely understand projecting enrollment numbers is a difficult problem and several years ago Athens Drive was over capacity. Modular units were brought online and now the school has excess capacity. Obviously more modular units were brought in than were actually needed.
Reassigning nodes to fill capacity brought on due to having too much modular space doesn't make any sense especially since one of the goals of BOE is to limit the use of modular space.
I think it is completely unreasonable for WCPSS to pass along the expense of moving modular units from one school to another school where are needed to the familes and students who are affected by the reassignment. What about the cost to us? It may not appear on the WCPSS budget but it is a very real cost in real dollars and more importantly, in real time, which directly impacts our family's ability to actively participate and volunteer in a school our children attend.
Does anyone know what it actually costs to move a modular unit? I was under the impression that one of the reasons to use modular units as opposed to building brick and mortar additions was they allowed the School System some flexibility to move classroom space around the county as needs grow in some areas and shrink in others.
Mike
Thanks for reporting on this
Sun, 01/04/2009 - 10:38 — ncdad1Thank you for recognizing and reporting on how well some people are organized and how it can influence the amount of media coverage a certain point of view gets. This situation is also interesting because of all the multiple jurisdictions involved which is often mentioned as reasons for why kids should attend a certain school. The MacGregor Down's kids live inCary , and want to attend an Apex school over a school across the line in Raleigh
Definition of community
Tue, 01/06/2009 - 00:31 — SDR256"You would think the Apex parents would be pushing “Apex for Apex kids” to get more seats for Apex kids."
Yes, if we were on a community based model. But we're not, and so this "node" is actually quite close to Apex High. Apex High is on the northern side of Apex where it touches Cary, and MacGregor Downs is on the southern side of Cary.
Since these folks didn't have the luxury of a community model based on their town, they're trying to keep the community they DO have - their established school relationships. They're desire to go to Apex would conform to a proximity model. Apex is their closest High School.