The Wake County school board voted 5-4 tonight to rescind its decision to lease an office building to house freshmen from Cary’s Panther Creek High School.
The board had voted Feb. 7 to lease a 77,574-square-foot office building at 3700 Pleasant Church Grove Road in Morrisville. Parents complained that the office building was too far from the main campus to allow for convenient access to classes and extracurricular activities.
Left undetermined is what the school system will now do to relieve overcrowding at Panther Creek.
The school board had previously rejected placing modular classroom units on the site of a planned middle school next to Alston Ridge Elementary in Cary. The Alston Ridge site wouldn't be ready until the 2013-14 school year, compared to this fall at the office building.
School board member Deborah Prickett pointed to the need to deal with crowding this year. But school board chairman Kevin Hill said he's satisfied Panther Creek can hold the freshman on the main campus for one more year.
The vote went along party lines with all five Democrats voting yes and all
four Republicans voting no. A vote to delay the decision until March 6 was defeated by the same 5-4 margin.
Comments
Was is Brier Creek
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 13:56 — local23even in Panther Creek? Do you know how long their bus ride is? This high school is in Cary, yet we bus kids 10 miles away from Raleigh? And the bus will be taking the new TOLL Road, who pays that bill?
ask Mrs. Prickett
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 14:06 — EBDarcyThat's her neighborhood
Why does
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 17:02 — local23it seem like Kevin H. is always responding about this area?
5 to 4
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 11:24 — jgegbgmgDon't you just love the 5 to 4 voting - Sort of reminds me of the past - I know the four leftovers from Margiotta's posse are beside themselves - I can see now into the future where a 5 to 4 vote will call for Tata's dismissal and we can bring a REAL educator aboard to run our system - Maybe Dr. Burns will be asked to be our interim superindendent and be voted in by a 5 to 4 vote - Wouldn't that be SUPER !!!!!
Burns intentionally sat on
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 11:34 — DrActualFactualBurns intentionally sat on and withheld the EVVAS report from the board. SAS brought it to the attention of two board members who then had to demand it from Burns so that it could be discussed. I believe this was prior to your time as a poster here but it was not the appropriate thing for him to have done. We are FAR better off without him.
That is simply not true.
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 13:20 — virginiadareThat is simply not true. You have no way of knowing what Burns "intentionally" did, unless you discussed it with him. He certainly didn't "sit" on it or withhold it from anyone. According to him, he sent it to E&R for analysis and response, which was appropriate. Those board members politicized the issue as part of their campaign, days before the election.
Sorry to burst your Pom Poms
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 13:51 — FSandYOUBut you have no way of knowing what was intentional or not either now do you.
Hmm...what was E&R's
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 14:31 — DrActualFactualVDare--Oh yes, E&R's analysis and response; presented to the public many, many months later when David reportedly walked out and had his staff present the answers. BTW David's final answer at the ED Task Force was something close to "... perhaps there is a bias.." followed by a reassignment out of central office to teaching English at some HS. What should the public make of that; especially since that response came YEARS after the initial report discovery. BTW, it was Eleanor Goette and Ron Margiotta that requested the report and Mrs. Goette wasn't running for reelection. Del Burns can publish fictional books skirting issues in Wake but can't seem to pin down the truth--how convenient. Supt. Tata is involved, engaged, and working hard every day to transform and improve this county's school system. Look at all the academies, themed schools, etc. that he has brought about. Talk to the principals at the schools that he is changing--like Hilburn, and you will find that after years of being ignored they finally have hope. If Burns were still here he'd be sitting on his rump staring out the window. I'm sure Del Burns is a nice enough person but he was not nearly as effective as Supt. Tata is--compare the results.
Sucess
Sun, 02/26/2012 - 19:26 — Solon77Success is measured by rising test scores and higher graduation rates of the economically disadvantaged- anything else is window dressing. Don't forget one of the free audits was to look at communication and it was determined wcpss did a poor job of marketing itself. Tata has done a good job of adding minimal resources here and there and marketing the heck out of it.
Hopefully gone are the days
Tue, 02/28/2012 - 19:01 — DrActualFactualHopefully gone are the days of reassigning kids from one school to the next in hopes that their parents money, time and resources would help that school--that approach was not nearly as effective as ascertaining which schools are struggling and sending in resources to turn the school around. You must view the magnet program as very expensive window dressing.
Nice to know I am not the
Tue, 02/28/2012 - 16:44 — kbrooks500Nice to know I am not the only one who thinks Tata is masterful at PR spin.
nope, you have lots of company
Tue, 02/28/2012 - 18:36 — EBDarcyIt was obvious from his first week that Tata understands how to work the media to his advantage. In the past WCPSS reacted. Tata told the staff they needed to get out in front of the story so that they could control the message.
Let's be truthful
Tue, 02/28/2012 - 19:13 — FSandYOUIt doesn't take a genius to work the media to one's advantage.
Wow...
Mon, 02/27/2012 - 11:52 — Bob_SconceRather limited definition. Everybody else can burn in oil, as long as the ED students are improving.
And...
Fri, 02/24/2012 - 18:57 — Bob_SconceMargoitta asked for it multiple times. It should have been provided the afternoon that he first asked for it.
Financially, the mobile
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 07:58 — mnordbergFinancially, the mobile classrooms is more attractive than the lease. It saves millions of dollars if you include actual residual value. Fundamentally, the way they went about the decision is non-transparent and bad goverance. If they are worried about 9th grade and crowding, then they should have manipulated seat capacity in the choice process to limit entering 9th graders and modified the feeder pattern to not overfill it.
Did They Talk About The Issue With Common Areas????
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 09:06 — JanisTangoWith more mobile classrooms on campus doesn't that cause a strain on the common areas like the cafeteria, etc? Did they talk about the plan for that?
This has been a long term issue
Thu, 02/23/2012 - 09:07 — musicianThis school has been overcrowded since its third year. They have dealt with the commons areas issue and many others. Instead of ignoring the overcrowding issue the school board needs to deal with the issue. Adding 22 modular classrooms and signing 6 year 9th grade center leases ignor the problem for a total of 10 years.
Are you talking about
Thu, 02/23/2012 - 11:10 — jenmanAre you talking about building a new high school? I agree that a 9th grade center is a bandaid for the growth problem.
There will be a New High School
Thu, 02/23/2012 - 15:09 — local23off of Roberts road, approx 6 miles - that should help aleviate PC, but in reality they really, really, really need a new MS and HS by the Brier Creek area.
THey do...
Fri, 02/24/2012 - 19:00 — Bob_SconceBut, Brier Creek is sandwiched between the airport/Umstead and Durham County. It's just in a really lousy place to put a high school unless you buy and raze the Angus Barn.
I've Actually Heard Rumblings....
Fri, 02/24/2012 - 21:46 — JanisTangothat there might be an opportunity to annex land in Durham county to build a MS and possibly HS in the Brier Creek area. I haven't heard anything recently, but I do know it's been discussed.
The HS campus at H-10 was
Thu, 02/23/2012 - 16:30 — DrActualFactualThe HS campus at H-10 was chosen for construction next rather than H-7 that you reference as H-10 is a large campus (2200 students) and H-7 design was for 1600. I wish staff had tried to create a K-8 at the leased location. WCPSS has, in the past, often used other schools for 9th grade centers--they could use Alston Ridge ES for the 9th grade center and under the choice plan the 502 students there could opt for either the leased location (which I guess is off the table now anyway) or selected ES schools proximate to their residence. This scenario could have perhaps provided a cushion for students while the MS was being constructed; housed the 9th graders closer to the HS so that shuttling back and forth to class would be quicker, and use an underenrolled facility to help with HS capacity needs. I guess there is time for staff to reduce the available capacity/seats at PCHS prior to running the first round choice selection now that a 9th grade center won't be available. Staff has always regretted that they had no seats in the Brier Creek area--I have to wonder if this idea would have flown if not proposed as a HS but rather ES/MS.
Where is H10?
Fri, 02/24/2012 - 14:17 — local23I could not find this in the short nor long term plans?
NBC17 and TheApexHerald .
Fri, 02/24/2012 - 22:34 — DrActualFactualNBC17 and TheApexHerald . com reported Sept. 21, 2011 that the site selected for another HS to be built in Apex area is on Humie Olive Road--Mr. Hui ran a story on it with maps awhile ago.
Found H10
Mon, 02/27/2012 - 16:45 — local23Which is located about 11 miles from Roberts Road where the H7 high school is suppose to be built.
But I did not find anywhere on WCPSS pages where H7 is not going to be built??
H10 is scheduled for a 2015/2016 year..that is quite aways off and I'm not sure how many from the H10 area are actually attending PC, but I am sure it will help some, they really need to build both High Schools ASAP and get another one for Brier Creek area.
H10 will go forward under
Mon, 02/27/2012 - 17:10 — DrActualFactualH10 will go forward under the current bond funding. H7 will have to wait for another bond to be passed to be funded/constructed (as I understand it).
Yes you are correct
Wed, 02/29/2012 - 23:04 — local23I spoke with Growth & Mgmt and they really want both H10 & H7 built because PC is going to be so overcrowded with all of the new builts and the middle school kids for 6th grade that feed into PC has a much higher attendance than any other year (going back 6 years), but the new K and 1st grade will be one of the biggest ever.
IMHO there is so much land not being used for many MS and HS that someone should really look at building these schools bigger in their land envelope. Decrease the amount the needs to be pond, grass, etc. and build up. Why is PC and Apex only 3 stories, why not 4?
The Dr. is correct
Tue, 02/28/2012 - 09:51 — realisticAnd, it was determined that the volume of children "in the pipe" would be more of a challenge to seat near H10 than H7, so H10 will be built with real money first. I do not see how these schools will affect each other directly. It looks to be indirectly - a shift of students going from north to south to fill H10, vs a shift of students going from south to north to fill H7. (I think we need both, now). Choice plan enables that shift. But wait - there are guaranteed feeder patterns. Somebody tell me - will it take 13 years for the feeder pattern to change? Will only the rising kindergartners in 2013-14 have H10 as a high? In what elementaries? This is where I get stuck with the Choice Plan - guaranteed feeders. Nobody higher than Kindergartners starting school in 13-14 are going to a newly constructed high school unless they jump out of their feeder. What am I missing?
will be interesting to see
Tue, 02/28/2012 - 11:24 — turnerk1Filling new schools is where the logic breaks down for me too. On the one hand, they say that most people want feeder patterns for stability and that they would expect that few people would want to move out of their feeder patterns. On the other hand, they don't expect problems filling new schools because people like to go to new school buildings, even if they have to change out of the feeder pattern they'd been promised. hmmm
Well, I guess we'll just have to see if both those statements are correct.
What the?
Tue, 02/21/2012 - 23:05 — starsonoursFirst they vote for it then 2 weeks later they vote to overturn the previous vote....This would be funny except when you stop to think our children's education is being decided by this group.
...
Tue, 02/21/2012 - 22:31 — SideburnsNow they will hear from all the parents that want to relieve the overcrowding for next year.