New Wake County student assignment plan based on proximate student assignments

I do think it is important to provide more incentive (in the form of transportation in this case) to get people to go to newly opened schools. I don't see how we can argue to the CC and to the people of Wake County that the schools needs a multi-million dollar bond to build new schools when they will sit more than half-empty for years because no one will volunteer to change schools. It is a waste of resources to operate a school like Rolesville Middle or Richland so underenrolled when other schools are paying the price through overcrowding.

That being said, this new plan, like the one before it will be plagued with problems because there simply isn't enough excess capacity in the system to provide meaningful choices. This year the whole county has basically gone through some of the challenges that magnet parents have lived with for years, but magnified. The uncertainty and disappointment of not being able to get into the school one really wants because there simply isn't room, and the transportation craziness that comes from going to school far away from home, such as having more than one school on a bus, and long rides as the bus goes through many neighborhoods picking up a few kids here and there until it is full.

Tata had said that he thought that as the choice plan was in effect for many years people would revert to schools closer to their homes and the bussing would be less complex and costly. But, I think our experience this summer proves this wouldn't happen because newcomers end up being stashed whever there is room, perpetuating the same bus routes that are currently in place.

and at some point I'd love an answer from the BOE - You want to be able to assign low performing children to high performing schools, but WHO ARE THE CHILDREN WHO ARE "HIGH PERFORMING" IN THOSE HIGH PERFORMING SCHOOLS?  Which demographic group?

They constantly talk about healthy schools - for whom are those schools healthy? Are they healthy for ALL children? Or only a certain demographic group?

Bottom line, a healthy school is NOT a school with the right mix of black and white, rich and poor. It is a school where ALL children are learning.

For sure we had tremendous academic growth under Tata's leadership and our weakest schools for ED and minority children were held accountable - for the first time ever - for teaching all children. Even Hunter made growth in our most vulnerable subgroups - and Hunter has been eating ED kids for years. My concern is that if we go back to focusing on the size of a child's house and the amount of $ in their parent's wallet that we will loose all the tremendous growth we have made as a county.

Keung,

There are some comments from Board members about not releasing the maps related to the plan. Is that possible? Aren't they public information?

Also, do you know when/if they will put an address search function online for this? I assume after today's presentation?

So pretty much, new kindergartners are guaranteed their base school. Older siblings can go to their base if there is room for them. But if your school is over capacity as it is, chances are there won't be room. So, you could have kids in two different schools?

I cannot believe that they are going to make Underwood, Wiley & Joyner Group 3 magnets with 80% base. Those schools are already basically private schools for the affluent who can afford to live in those base areas. Now it will be even worse. The rest of us will be paying for those areas to have incredible extras at their schools & then a lucky few in other areas will be allowed to attend. This is BS.

To the wake county school assignment slip of paper that was sent home to the students in June that had their assigned high school for 2013-2014?  Does this change again?  Does this mean we get another assignment?  Are we just going to keep being bounced around like we have for the last 10 years!!!