Detailing possible bell schedule changes

Here's more detail on the 11 schools whose bell schedules could sharply change next year and those that are no longer being considered by the school board.

First, click here for the handout presented Tuesday on possible bell schedule changes. I'll walk you through the ones in play and those that are not.

The one most likely to be approved calls for moving East Wake High to the second tier. This would change the opening from 7:25 a.m. to 8:05 a.m.

But changing East Wake High means pushing Wendell and Zebulon elementary schools into the first tier. They'd now start at 7:45 a.m. instead of at 8:30 a.m.

Since the same buses serve multiple schools, changing one school's time can impact other schools.

"For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction," said Don Haydon, chief facilities and operations officer.

School board member Lori Millberg was really thrilled that starting East Wake High later would only require changing two elementary schools.

The one potential drawback is that it could mean that some Wendell and Zebulon elementary students would be picked up as early as 6:30 a.m. But Millberg said the later start would help East Wake while there aren't that many dark days at 6:30 a.m. for the younger kids.

“It’s a very reasonable switch," Millberg said.

With Millberg so much in favor of changes affecting her district, other board members deferred to her.

Now we come to elementary schools.

Chief Academic Officer Donna Hargens said they looked at what Title I elementary schools on the third tier could be moved to the second tier. This would mean starting at 8:45 a.m. instead of 9:15 a.m.

But moving some elementary schools to the second tier would require others going to the third tier.

The belief is that starting Title I schools earlier would make it easier for them to run afterschool programs that could provide academic help. It was felt that the current 3:45 p.m. dismissal time made it too hard to run effective programs.

Additionally, board members said younger kids get up earlier than teens.

Based on the list, board members told staff they may want to make four pairs of changes. They asked though for more feedback on staff before proceeding.

The first proposed change still in play is to move Barwell Road Elementary to the second tier and kick Rand Road to the third tier. It was pointed out that Barwell Road has more low-income students than Rand Road and is also labeled as low performing by the state.

"Barwell needs the better time," Millberg said.

The second change being considered is to move Conn Elementary to the second tier and send Joyner Elementary to the third tier.

The third change that could be made is to move Fox Road Elementary to the second tier, bumping Wildwood Forest Elementary to the third tier. The large disparity in the demographics of both schools despite being only a few miles apart has been an issue for years.

"It’s a clear situation where the preferable time shoud go to the school with the greater challenge," Millberg said of the Fox Road-Wildwood proposal.

A similar rationale was given for moving York Elementary to the second tier while dropping Sycamore Creek Elementary to the third tier.

When the board went with moving East Wake High, it dropped the option of moving Wendell and Zebulon elementary schools to the third tier to start Wakelon and Carver elementary schools earlier.

The board dropped moving Creech Road Elementary or East Garner Elementary to the second tier because the school that would be bumped to the third tier, Aversboro Elemenary, also has many low-income students. Haydon said they only had proposed moving schools to the third tier based on whether it was feasible for transportation.

Similar objections were raised by the board about not moving up the times for Harris Creek, Lynn Road and Wilburn elementary schools.

A different reason was given for not going ahead with moving up Poe and Bugg elementary schools. The problem was that it would require three additional buses, something board members said they can't afford this year.

The idea of moving up Timber Drive Elementary was dropped when staff said they couldn't find a school that it could move to the third tier to replace it.

The official vote will be on Tuesday when the board adopts the 2009-10 bell schedule for every school.