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WakeEd
The WakeEd blog is devoted to discussing and answering questions about the major issues facing the Wake County school system: the reassignment of thousands of students, the conversion of traditional-calendar schools to a year-round schedule, the district's response to growth and the school construction program.
WakeEd is maintained by The News & Observer's Wake schools reporter, T. Keung Hui. While Keung posts information and analysis on the issues, keep us posted on your suggestions, questions, tips and what you're doing to cope with the changes in Wake's schools.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg's busing changes
Submitted by KeungHui on 07/03/2008 - 15:21
Rising fuel costs are forcing Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools to make changes in bus service for the upcoming school year.
As noted in today's Charlotte Observer, the school district plans to make elementary students walk about two-tenths of a mile, while stops for middle- and high-school runs will be about four-tenths of a mile from homes. It had been less than one-tenth of a mile this past school year.
To put it in perspective, Wake elementary students now walk three-tenths of a mile to the bus stop. It's a half-mile for middle school and high school students.
Charlotte-Meck will also experiment with more “common stops” for new subdivisions, making all students come to a clubhouse or other safe stop for large numbers of students. It's something Wake bus readers know about.
Charlotte is also mimicking Wake with another change. Students who move out of their base school's attendance area after the first day of classes will no longer get transportation if they choose to remain there.
Wake currently doesn't provide bus service to those students who move during the school year and choose not to go to their new school. They're considered transfer students.
Charlotte plans to have 3,800 fewer bus stops this fall. School officials say they hope to burn a little less fuel by stopping less often and snaking through fewer side streets.
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Comments
send all your cards and
Sun, 07/06/2008 - 08:33 — bigwinniesend all your cards and letters, this is yet another appalling example....
http://www.johnlocke.org/acrobat/cjPrintEdition/cj-july2008-web.pdf
Fraud Found in N.C. School Lunch Programs
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 13:24 — Anonymous (not verified)http://www.johnlocke.org/acrobat/cjPrintEdition/cj-july2008-web.pdf
hmmmm, *surprisingly* Wake
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 08:29 — bigwinniehmmmm, *surprisingly* Wake didn't make the list;
http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/06/27/schools-places-family-forbeslife-c...
1/3 of a mile isn't much...
Fri, 07/04/2008 - 12:00 — Bob_SconceThe bigger problem isn't the distance, but the safety of the stop itself and the total time children spend on buses. Putting bus stops on main roads is a bad idea; having kids waiting at bus stops before dawn is a bad idea; having kids spend an hour each way to/from school is a bad idea. Unfortunately, the district has fallen down on these aspects of busing, not how far the stops are from the home.
Having healthy children walk 1800 feet to catch the bus is hardly onerous. Sure, it's a nuisance for the parents, who (especially with younger kids) will go to the bus stop with their kids, but it's far from the 10 miles uphill in the snow that my parents had to walk.
Completely Agree
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 11:31 — Lisa_BWow Bob, I think our parents must have gone to school together--if they had to walk 10 miles uphill BOTH WAYS that is.
In all honesty, I don't know why the media isn't investigating the REAL issues with the busing fiasco. The distance that a bus stop is from home isn't important---it's busing children across town, past several other schools that is unacceptable.
Skirting around the issues and shifting the focus to irrelevant matters is just MIND BOGGLING.Â
Mr. Hui, can you get approval to do an investigative story on the "truth behind the spin"???
Off topic: Could someone
Fri, 07/04/2008 - 11:07 — choice4allOff topic:
Could someone tell me why over 30 million $$ was spent on a new school (Sycamore Creek) with the capacity of over 1000 students only have 645 going? Why would they overcrowd a school, only 2 miles away, into trailers when there is room for over 400 students down the road in a State of the Art facility? WCPSS says they "Left room for growth" Oh please growth has slowed and Sycamore Creek butts up to Durham County (Litereally)  with 2 YR schools within a couple of miles of each other. I would like to know why they burden the infrastrucre of an exsisting school with overcrowding when space is available 2 miles in each direction. Anyone?Â
No winners in NW Raleigh
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 11:40 — Lisa_BHi Choice4All:
It's the failure to plan that keeps coming back to hurt EVERYONE involved.Â
It's been said by MANY that Leesville ES was "targeted" with MYR, and then made an application school as someone's personal vendetta against our school community. I have tried to ignore that possibility, but I guess we'll see if they try to make our Middle School YR. If they even attempt to take that route, I'll have to change my opinion and I'll KNOW it's "personal".
After the DISASTER created by the Leesville Elementary School MYR conversion, I would hope that WCPSS would never even consider doing something that divisive and devastating to our community again. The thought makes me physically Ill.
When are the CC going to step in to let WCPSS know that they're not going to allow this wasteful insanity to continue?? I haven't witnessed any of their new-found authority coming into play yet.
They went after Davis Drive, too
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 17:57 — gstelmackAfter Davis Drive families complained vociferously about the latest re-assignment plan, Laurel Park Elementary (where many of the Davis Drive families were being assigned) got Joyner Elementary, 19 miles away, as its traditional opt-out. No other Cary or Apex school had an opt-out anywhere near that far away.
As for what to do about it, keep all of this in mind next year when board member elections roll around again...
And Eleanor, Del, and Chuck laughed all the way......
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 21:02 — WuptdoFor many of us other VICTIMS of the WCPSS in Cary, seeing the last bastion of "protected" schools in Cary fall was a good thing. Now you all know what it is like to be treated like the "scum of the earth" because you choose to work for a living and live in Cary. An not only did they hurt your school, they pretty much destroyed it -- and enjoyed themselves in the process.
What many of the Davis parents don't realize is for all those years you where "protected" from reassignment, you helped destroy many other schools in Cary during the process. Now that we all are treated like "scum of the earth" we can all finally work togather to make our schools better, and try to break free of the tyranny of Rosa Gill and the "inside-the-beltway" elitist. Getting rid of Jennifer Weiss will be the first step. Â
However, once elected, look like Mayor Harold has sold us all down the river to appease the "diversity" god.
IMHO, a "personal" reason
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 07:21 — bigwinnieIMHO, a "personal" reason by someone in charge. what else makes sense? to take a physically attached ES, flip it to MYR, have it so underenrolled they had to collapse tracks, then to make a point --change it to an application school because so many opted out, and NOT have Sycamore Creek be an app school knowing they cannot "assign" there......and now have it so crowded that certain classes do not even have an "assigned" room no less, they will be traveling.....that's real stable for the children....Â