It's looking more likely that parents will have to lobby the school board to allow rising sophomores to be able to avoid being reassigned to another existing high school.
Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney told board members on Tuesday that he didn't want them to make a decision on high school grandfathering without knowing how it would impact the capacity at those schools. He went on to single out Panther Creek and Wakefield high schools.
Reading between the lines, it's not looking so good that grandfathering in high schools will be extended beyond rising seniors and juniors.
Grandfathering, as noted earlier this week, means that certain students who are reassigned can request a transfer to stay at their current school. The request is automatically approved, but it means no transportation will be provided.
The problem with allowing rising sophomores to grandfather is that it cuts into the number of students who'd leave a school. This could have a negative impact on crowding.
But with thousands of high school students slated to be moved in the plan, grandfathering will likely be a major issue for the board.
Families being reassigned to the new high schools will probably also ask for grandfathering. They've traditionally never gotten it as new schools only open with 9th- and 10th-graders.
UPDATE
Staff has now listed rising sophomores back on the list of examples of prior grandfathering. Those kids weren't listed when it was initially posted on Saturday.
Comments
Baseline
Thu, 11/20/2008 - 10:30 — SDR256Keung, How do we find out just how crowded our schools would be if everyone went back to their base school, just for starters? Where would we find those numbers please?
If your'e talking about the
Thu, 11/20/2008 - 13:25 — KeungHui (author)If your'e talking about the moves in the plan, the easiest thing would be to use the numbers from the growth profile and try to determine what would happen if the students who could grandfather did so. Grandfathering is more likely to happen with older students than younger ones.
Bigger baseline
Thu, 11/20/2008 - 23:37 — SDR256Actually I had a bigger question than just this plan, or some segment, or one school. How can I see what the results would be if everyone - across Wake - were assigned to their closest school? How crowded would it be and where would be the densest pockets? The comment the other night at Leesville that Hilburn has eleven empty classrooms got me thinking.
Nothing official
Thu, 11/20/2008 - 10:29 — SDR256You cannot consider "official' anything this tyrannical system declares! The three year plan is not official, assignments are only official for the year at hand. The only thing certain is that King Charles wishes we would eat cake. This guy has a job tied to growth. I think he's trying to justify it by terrifying us with what could happen if 'growth issues get out of hand'. Job security, you know. We know one child who was reassigned to five different schools in five years and never moved! This is beyond lunacy!
Grandfathering for Other Kids is Status Quo?
Thu, 11/20/2008 - 10:21 — ForCryingOutLoudIs grandfathering for rising 4th/5th, 7th/8th and 11th/12th all "official" for 2009-10?
At this point staff isn't
Thu, 11/20/2008 - 13:18 — KeungHui (author)At this point staff isn't making any recommendations on grandfathering yet. That will come in December when the board gets the plan. But the fact that they've only just added rising sophomores to the examples list makes you wonder if that will be in the list.