Are the complaints that have come in about the new feeder patterns worth the consequences of delaying their implementation in Wake County's new student assignment plan?
As noted in today's article, the Democratic board members cited all the complaints they've received to suggest a one-year delay in implementation. But the Republican board members and staff warned that could pose major problems to the plan.
If the feeder patterns are delayed, staff thinks that will require all rising sixth- and ninth-graders to have to apply for a school this year. The students currently in middle school and high school would be grandfathered with transportation but could apply to go elsewhere.
Democratic board vice chairman Keith Sutton was the first to propose delaying implementation so staff could study it.
Superintendent Tony Tata said parents like the feeder patterns as his staff pointed to the high percentage who supported them in the test drive.
Democratic board member Susan Evans said the feeder patterns are "problematic."
Evans said she's heard from "numerous families" who are at year-round elementary schools who expected to go to a traditional-calendar middle school but now find themselves feeding into a year-round one. In addition, it's putting them into a high school that they didn't expect to feed into.
"I’m hearing from so many people who are contemplating changing their elementary school, not because they’re unhappy, but because they don’t like their feeder pattern," Evans said.
But Tata said that they would have to resend all 130,000 assignment slips.
"You're talking about a different plan entirely," Tata said.
Democratic board member Jim Martin sad it's not fair to say it would affect 130,000 students when it would only impact the rising sixth- and ninth-graders.
Tata said only a small number of people have complained about the feeder patterns. He warned about upsetting those who like the feeders.
"You’re going to flip the coin and you’ll hear the hue and cry from people who are satisfied with the feeder patterns," Tata said.
Republican board member Chris Malone said there are going to be winners and losers on the feeders no matter what they do.
Evans said she believes in stability once you get into a school. But she questioned how realistic it is to provide stability all through high school.
"Let’s be realistic," Evans said. "We can’t tell any family entering kindergarten today that 13 years from now nothing will change."
Tata responded that he disagreed with Evans' statement.
Martin argued that with new schools opening feeder patterns will have to change.
Tata said they've never said feeder patterns won't change. He said they'll give people due notice of the change. The idea has been to say that people who enter kindergarten would get a different feeder than those who came before them at that elementary school.
Chief Transformation Officer Judy Peppler said they tried as much as possible to keep historic feeder patterns.
Martin responded that staff assumed everyone in a middle school wants to go to the same high school. But he said that's not necessarily the case.
Peppler responded that people can choose to leave their feeder pattern with Martin replying that can happen if the school they'd rather attend has capacity. Peppler said that when people move it frees up capacity.
Democratic school board member Christine Kushner said that some people feel that the rules have changed on them with the new feeders.
Evans brought up her concerns about putting magnet schools in the feeder pattern will cause some magnet elementary schools to be under chosen. Earlier in the work session, she and Martin had brought up concerns that magnet families have because they don't want to feed into a magnet middle school or high school.
Martin cited the example of people who might not want to apply to or stay at Joyner Elementary because it would feed into East Millbrook Middle and Millbrook High.
Evans also said she's concerned that the feeders will cause people not to want to go to year-round schools.
Evans called these the "unintended consequences" of the feeders.
"There’s no plan on earth that doesn’t have unintended consequences," said Republican board member John Tedesco. "That’s life.”
Brad McMillen, a member of the student assignment task force, said that eliminating feeders will require them to redo the magnet application process. He cited how a person who might have liked their initial assignment may not have applied to a magnet school as a result.
Comments
solution
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 23:39 — RKCurtrightThe one thing anyone can do is to make your voice heard to the new board. State your situation briefly and tell them what is important to you and your family.
Logical emails are best. Many comments in this blog today are very valid. You should send it to the new board. They need to hear all perspectives now.
One question I have is what will they gain? They will lose the opportunity to see the effect of the plan as it is now. Rolling out the plan allows everyone to learn what can be improved for the following year with little to no disruption to families.
Simple solutions they can change now with no disruption are:
1.) Simply let go of the wording "feeders", especially for magnets. State that students get "priority" so that they can foster program continuation from one level to the next if they choose. For base schools they get priority for a determined middle and high if they choose.
The wording is causing people to choose and not choose based on these guaranteed seats at schools they may, or may not want. Even if they do not change the wording, feeders will work themselves out for folks who simply choose from outside their feeder and most will likely get in. If they do not get in they can be on a waiting list. Fear
2.) Broaden the field of “high performing schools" that can have set aside seats for students who may want to choose. The handout states that there are already seats available (5%) for students to choose a high performing school over one they feel is low performing. If we have a low perfomring school then that is what wcpss must put their focus on fixing.
It's too late Dr. Laura
Thu, 01/05/2012 - 08:44 — FSandYOUThis plan is going to be stopped dead in its tracks. Before next week ends.
As it should be.
YR Opt Out Feeder Patterns
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 21:25 — jedaviParents who opted out of MYR elementary schools are now faced with feeder patterns without transportation. Something needs to be done for these families and it needs to be done now. My daughter is scheduled to go to a middle school 30 minutes from our home with no transportation. My address only has one traditional calendar MS option on my choice list. What happens if that school is full? A delay in the feeder patterns would allow the 15% of the current 5th graders at my school to attend "base" traditional middle schools, with transportation, closer to home. I'm sure my school isn't alone in this issue.
speaking as a parent
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 20:31 — snordoneof 3 kids in the system, not as an ED Task Force member - I wish they would leave us the hell alone. Stop the instability, stop the reassignment, give us a choice - a real choice - of schools with equitable, compelling programs, strong principals and effective teachers. And then leave us alone. Fix the schools, that is the problem. It is not the children who go to the schools - it is the school.
These board members are clueless - ALL of them - about what it is like to be a parent in a base school. They support their political party, they wallow in cronyism, they posture for the cameras and speak in soundbites, but they damn sure don't represent us. I am honestly and truly disgusted with all of them.
???
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 22:09 — HereWeGoEven JT?
yup
Fri, 01/06/2012 - 20:50 — snordonehe is my friend, but I am disgusted with everyone right now.
Why do Magnets have a feeder pattern?
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:41 — tropicalgirlI don't understand why if your child is in a Magnet elementary school, you have to continue in Magnet middle and high schools. We live in Apex and have a 4th grader in a Magnet and I was surprised to see we are assigned Ligon and Enloe in the new feeder pattern. We don't want her to have to travel so far in the coming years and in fact, tried to have her returned to base last year and were denied (my own fault since I turned the request in two days after the transfer period). She's heading into 5th next year and we were planning to ask for her to be returned to base again but now there is no "base" - just 5 choices and no guarantee that she would get to go to the same school as everyone else in our node. If she gets denied again, will we be stuck with the Magnet middle as well or have a better chance of tranferring back for 6th grade? I would think there shouldn't be a feeder for the Magnets so that other parents who want to apply have a better chance of getting in.
So...
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:50 — Bob_SconceThere's no way to guarantee her a spot at any particular base school. But, what you can do is enter the choice process and only put down the one school that she'd want to return to. That way, if she gets into that school, she's in. Otherwise, she stays on the magnet feeder pattern.
You can probably tell how great of a chance she has by comparing the number of incoming feeder students with the 6th grade capacity at the base school. If there's a big gap, then she stands a good shot, especially if it's a proximate school.
I would think that you'd
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:44 — jenmanI would think that you'd have a better chance of getting out of Ligon and Enloe since they both have so many people who want to get in. Like you said, though, you might not get the 'regular' school that you really want. But I would think it would be a better chance of getting out than if you were at a middle school that doesn't have as many students wanting to get in (Centennial, Moore Square or the IB middles).
Good luck.
getting out
Sat, 01/07/2012 - 19:11 — turnerk1Does getting out of a school have anything to do with the demand from other students? Isn't the issue really getting into another school? The system won't release tropicalgirl's seat at Ligon until she's been given another seat at Salem. If Salem doesn't have room, tropicalgirl (or her child really) will stay at Ligon. Whether or not there are 500 kids or 0 kids waiting for the Ligon seat is immaterial to the decision about whether or not there is room at Salem for tropicalgirl.
I was thinking that there is
Sun, 01/08/2012 - 16:25 — jenmanI was thinking that there is a greater chance that students at Salem would apply for Ligon than Centennial, Moore Sq or Garner. AG and GT schools seem to be far more popular than the other middles.
You're right that ultimately it comes down to how many kids want to leave Salem and if they can get into the schools they want.
one lottery
Sun, 01/08/2012 - 19:53 — turnerk1This scenario is exactly why they should change to one lottery for next year. There are so few seats available at most magnet middles it is doubtful that many students from Salem will get into a magnet to free up a seat at Salem for tropicalgirl. Because tropicalgirl has not been able to apply for Salem yet, there is no way for the system to know that there is a potential seat at Ligon that would be free. When tropicalgirl does apply to Salem, there won't be many free seats, because they've all been denied seats at the magnets.
What about transportation issues?
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:50 — tropicalgirlThanks Jenman! One other question for anybody - one of the reasons we want to transfer back is that we have been providing transportation for five years and are no longer able to do that. We are trying to get back to Salem, which was our base and where our node currently goes. If they deny the transfer, will they then have to provide transportation to Wiley (our current magnet) or can they force us to go to another "choice" school? I was advised to only request Salem when the choice period opens.
If you apply for Salem and
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 16:18 — jenmanIf you apply for Salem and are denied, you will stay at Wiley with the same level of transportation you have now, which is none.
If transportation is absolutely crucial for you then I would request another school off of your list that has transportation as your #2, #3, etc. with Salem as #1. If you get one of the other ones, you will still be placed on the waiting list for Salem. But at least you will have transportation.
If you are only willing to accept Salem as an alternative to Wiley, then don't put anything else down on the choice form. If you don't get Salem, you'll be at Wiley with no transportation and you'll be put on the waiting list for Salem. Confusing enough for you? lol
Didn't they ask about having feeders during Blue v Green Plan?
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:13 — nmoskalAm I remembering correctly that at some point people could take a survey about the Blue v Green plan and that one question had to do with preference for inclusion of feeder patterns?
Does anyone remember that and what were the results?
...
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:22 — SideburnsTata mentioned that at the work session yesterday. Feeder pattern predictability was one component of the Green plan that was used to create the new Choice Plan. One of the task force members (Brad McMillan?) stated that he recalled well over 70% of parents who took the assignment survey felt strongly about having feeder patterns (or however it was worded).
He said that 70% (or
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:39 — jenmanHe said that 70% (or whatever percentage) answered that it was somewhat important or very important (or somewhat favorable/very favorable). But he didn't break it down. I'd be more interested in seeing the breakdown between somewhat and very. It was the same issue I had with their 'choice' question. They said that over x percent said that choice was somewhat or very important to them. I think the only other answer was not important. How many people are going to say that choice isn't important at all?
In addition, they asked this question when feeder patterns weren't available yet. So people were answering a question when they didn't have all of the info. Same thing with the choice question--there was no definition of choice. There's too much ambiguity in the questions and answers for anybody to make a definitive statement about what parents want or don't want.
I disagree that knowing the patterns was needed to answer
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 21:10 — nmoskalKnowing the feeders before answering really changes the question to "Depending upon how much you like your designated feeder schools, is having feeder schools important to you?" rather than trying to determine if people objectively find the concept important to them. Knowing the outcome would taint the response. Basically, if people like their personal pattern they are more likely to think it important to have them and if they dislike the pattern they are likely to say that having them is not important to them. Same with choice.
I see that point, but
Thu, 01/05/2012 - 11:58 — jenmanI see that point, but disagree to an extent. It's sort of like the old yr questionnaire. Do you prefer the yr calendar vs. will you accept any track. Lots of people say they like the yr calendar (and they do), but only if they get certain tracks. I think it's important to know the qualifiers. It might not change the ultimate solution (whether or not to have feeder patterns) but I think it's important to get the additional info.
It also reminds me of a work session that I described in another thread. The spent 2 hours to come up with the conclusion that the board wanted to move more towards the value of 'community' in assignment. That was the 'direction' they gave Dulaney, but they never defined or even talked about what that meant. For Dulaney it meant the 3 year assignment plan focused on peer continuity, which allowed him to bus low income kids to Mills Park MS and Green Hope HS because their peers at Green Hope ES were going there. Of course I had heard Dulaney talk about peer continuity before this meeting so I think the whole thing was a waste of time. He could define community any way he wanted and say that his plan met the board's wishes.
The student assignment committee could define choice any way they wanted to and say that it fulfilled parents desire for choice. I'm not saying there was something malicious going on, just that 'choice' was a bit ambiguous. We currently have choice. It may not be as much choice as this new plan, but we've got choice.
...
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 17:00 — SideburnsIMO, you either want to choose and have some input in your child's assignment or you don't. Further, you either want a predictable feeder pattern or you don't. Our school system is too big to allow parents to cherry-pick exactly what they want. And that seems to be what you're arguing.
This plan provides proximate and magnet choices, better alignment of calendars and guaranteed stability. It allows those who don't like their feeder school to apply to another one on the list. It also allows every student to stay where they are currently assigned with transportation. Not sure what is so ambiguous about that.
Oh Sideburns - - is there
Thu, 01/05/2012 - 09:24 — valsparOh Sideburns - - is there hope you are finally enlightened?
" Our school system is too big to allow parents to cherry-pick exactly what they want."
...
Thu, 01/05/2012 - 09:35 — SideburnsUh, I've always said that. Maybe you have just started actually listening to me.
I support choice for all parents but do not believe parents should have an endless menu. I have never indicated otherwise.
With all of the rumors being
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 19:38 — jenmanWith all of the rumors being spread about the 2009 board wanting to get rid of magnets and even yr, some people may have answered the choice question based on that. They want to maintain the level of choice we've had so far. In my area, speaking with parents, they did not want to have to choose between 5-8 base elem schools. They wanted a base school, a proximate calendar option that they actually had a chance of getting into and the magnets.
It may be different in your area but that is what I heard (and still hear) from most people I talked to.
...
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 14:54 — SideburnsEvans had an interesting point yesterday. She said many people in her district don't like the year-round calendar but accepted their year-round elementary assignment knowing that they would feed into a tradt'l calendar middle school. And now that the new plan better aligns calendar continuity for families, she thinks ending feeder patterns is the solution. She attempted to paint this as a problem with the new assignment plan - which it isn't - but it does still remain a problem - both in D8 and throughout areas of Wake County. Unfortunately, it seems she hasn't quite figured how this problem occurred and/or how to fix it. Changing the framework of the new plan is not the solution.
Meeting minutes
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 14:08 — sam123456Hi. does anyone know if the meeting minutes have been posted? I am curious as to what the next steps are and if they were able to fix the Brassfield feeder situation. Thanks!
Did you and your neighbors show up
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:40 — FSandYOUwith signs and loud horns?
Sam you sound like you still don't get it. Did you expect them to solve YOUR issue yesterday? I hope you can come back to us in a year or two and tell us it's been solved, but I don't look for that to happen. You are small in #'s and therefore will continue to be a casualty of their liberal war.
As Kevin said, "can't make everyone happy."
Previous Board caused Issue
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 16:18 — sam123456FSandYou,
I am confused... in your post you mentioned that "You are small in #'s and therefore will continue to be a casualty of their liberal war." This confuses me as the previous board caused the mess with Brassfield...not the current board. While we may be small in numbers real families and children at Brassfield are being negatively impacted by the actions of the previous board. My hope is that this new board will drive the necessary feeder pattern changes at Brassfield.
The problem with Brassfield
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 19:20 — jenmanThe problem with Brassfield is that no matter which schools they have you feed to (the Millbrooks or the Wakefields) , somebody gets the shaft. It's a bad situation all around.
Don't try to make sense out of FSandyou's post
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 19:03 — tartexanSam,don't even try to make sense of the posts from FSandYou. He turns most of his posts on this blog into name calling, crude remarks, and rants about anyone who doesn't agree with him. This blog is not for you if you are looking for rational answers.
Sam, I hope it was worth
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 16:24 — shearertwSam,
I hope it was worth throwing the entire future of WCPSS under the bus to correct the feeder pattern at Brassfield. When the new BOE gets done messing with you and your childrens lives for the next decade, you will long for the days when that was you major complaint.
Excuse me...
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 16:31 — sam123456Shearertw,
Why in the world are you attacking me? I don't appreciate your negative tone.
My apologies Sam. My point
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 16:47 — shearertwMy apologies Sam.
My point is, there are major issues at play here. I know the feeder pattern at Brassfield is important to you but in reality, many many folks across Wake Co. are going to get totally hosed because of the actions the new BOE majority are going to take. WW parents have been dealing with nonsensical re- reassignments, forced YR schedules, etc for years now. Due to the unprecedented national level liberal attack on Ron M over the course of the last 2 years, Evans squeaked out a narrow victory that will totally screw WW parents for a decade to come. I'm sorry but I'm just not that sympathetic to your Brassfield feeder patter problem. It may have been an oversight by the previous BOE, I'm not sure. Untangling the mess that is WCPSS was going to be complicated and difficult and some people were going to get a raw deal for a few years. There was no way around that. I read into your post that you appear to be in support of the new BOE in part b/c you believe they will listen and fix your issue. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that assumption.
I shouldn't have taking such a negative tone with you, however, and I apologize.
Brassfield - New Board
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 17:06 — sam123456Shearetw,
Thank you for your note. I know that Brassfield is just one of many schools but we are being severly negatively impacted by this plan -- this impacts many real families and children. We as well have dealt with forced YR, reassignments, etc for a long time in Northern Wake county. For the previous board the new feeder pattern was much more than an oversight. They did it at the request/politicing of parents at the Millbrooks to enhance the numbers at that school. I have no idea if the new board will help fix the Brassfield issue (I hope that they do) but I do know that the majority of the previous board would not listen at all. They just wanted us to go away because we are small in numbers.
sam, I hate to break it to
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 19:24 — jenmansam, I hate to break it to you but the new board majority is interested in balancing the schools. If you were moved to Millbrook to help the numbers, chances are this new board will not want to change that.
...
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 17:37 — SideburnsYou are being severely, negatively impacted by this plan? Besides a feeder pattern you don't like, how so?
Sam, Again, I apologize for
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 17:33 — shearertwSam,
Again, I apologize for jumping to conclusions. However, I do not believe the previous BOE majority (Ron M) included were not listening. As an n = 1, I found them to be much more responsive to my singular issues than the previous, previous BOE or Dem BOE members ever were. Sometimes, there are issues that, for a variety of reasons, cannot be solved overnight. Sometimes appearances are true and sometimes they are just appearances. The previous BOE majority was attempting a transformation of WCPSS to a more parent/family friendly school system from the ideological political football that it has been for the previous decades. The opposition successfully painted them as reckless, racist, stone age Neanderthals and that couldn't be further from the truth. Some of the relatively minor (talking big picture here) things such as Brassfield feeder patterns may have taken a momentary hit for the long-term good of the entire system. If WCPSS wasn't so darn big, those types of things wouldn't happen. If you take a day and drive from one end of the county to the other, especially N to S, any sane person cannot help to wonder why we're all trapped in this one school system to begin with. It is simply not possible to run a school system this large that covers this diverse of an area effectively without someone getting squashed. I can assure you as much as the sun will come up tomorrow, the new BOE is going to cause WAY more problems for us all in the long run by scrapping the transformational change the Rep BOE was attempting than your current Brassfield issue, as important as that is to you in this moment.
Brassfield and WCPSS
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 18:06 — sam123456Shearertw,
I fully agree with you that WCPSS is way too big and I agree smaller districts would be better. However I still disagree that the Brassfield situation is a "minor" issue. In a way it is indicative of the larger issues --- my family and many others will have children at different schools than their siblings, children will be displaced from the schools where there neigbhorhood goes to etc. Why is it ok for my children and family to suffer under this new plan?
Why Would That Be....
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 19:00 — JanisTangomy family and many others will have children at different schools than their siblings
My understanding is that siblings will always get priority in the choice process. Are you assuming the schools will be capped? So far only 2 schools in Wake are capped!
sibling would be in next school
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 21:26 — sam123456this would be the case because sibling would be at wakefield high in 9th grade. so when 5th grader goes to middle they will not have sibling priority and would be forced to go to West millbrook middle. that means we would have one at Wakefield High and one way down at West millbrook middle. that does not make sense on any level -- especially since wakefield high and wakefield middle share the same parking lot. this plan makes no sense and needs to be modified to allow current students at brassfield to follow the path of their siblings.
Understood...
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 22:14 — JanisTangobut you make it sounds like your child has no option of getting into Wakefield middle. To state that they will be forced into WMMS isn't 100% accurate. I honestly don't know if your child would get Wakefield MS if they choose it, but my gut tells me that it would be a good possibility. I know that doesn't give you any comfort, but everyone is assuming the worst. If they went back to the old way of doing things, you could also be forced into West Millbrook with no input at all. I do sympathize with your situation believe me. Years ago West Millbrook / Millbrook lobbied to get our neighborhood. West Millbrook wasn't a problem for me personally because I already have to travel 8 miles to get to our ES. I also knew WMMS is a good school with an outstanding principal, but Millbrook HS was a deal breaker considering it was over 15 miles away from our neighborhood. Unfortunately, that is the way they have been doing business for years in WCPSS and I'm tired of it. We need an assignment plan, stability and the board needs to start focusing on why these schools have issues and what we can do to help our children!
Brassfield
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 22:04 — jedaviThere are many Brassfield families that live close to Brassfield that prefer the new feeder pattern. My older daughter went to WMS and then to MHS. Our drive to Millbrook is much quicker than our drive was to Wakefield. What doesn't make sense is that I drive through the North Ridge neighborhood on our commute to Millbrook every day and those families will now be bused to Sanderson instead of Millbrook.
We have friends who live
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 23:26 — jenmanWe have friends who live right down the road from Pleasant Union and would love to go there but don't want Wakefield MS/HS because the commute to Millbrook is so much easier. So they are applying elsewhere.
I didn't hear them talk
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:32 — jenmanI didn't hear them talk about individual school feeder plans. In the document staff provided, they mentioned that somebody asked about North Ridge and Brassfield feeder patterns, but I don't recall any discussion about them.
Don't delay implementation of new plan!!!!!
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 12:16 — jenandjonWe have researched, we have attended numerous meetings, we've attended open houses, etc. etc. etc. Don't delay implementing the new plan for the upcoming year. It is a betrayal of public trust to announce the new plan, have parents put in hours of research and effort and then jerk the rug out from under us at the last minute.
It is likely that the new plan can be tweaked going forward and the concerns from the parents of Carpenter Elementary and other areas can be adjusted for '13-14. It seems that the largest of concerns are certain feeder patterns and socioeconomic diversity. Feeder patterns going forward can be adjusted and those who wish to grandfather in from the new '12-13 feeder should be allowed to do so for '13-14 (sibling priority can accompany that). It's not rocket science.
There is only so much capacity at these highly-sought after schools. That problem is going to continue with the completion of the 540 and the growth of Western Wake. I GUARANTEE that the real estate agents for the relatively new neighborhoods in Wake County gave the same warning I was given upon moving here... "Don't buy your house based on what school your kids will attend. It could change every year."
As far as socioecomic diversity is concerned, until we have strong enough leadership to attack the real problem, this county will be faced with the same issue every other metropolitan area deals with. Wealthy individuals tend to congregate together which creates a difference in socioeconomic diversity based on proximity. If you try to bus these kids to even out the %s the parents will simply put them in private or charter schools. You can not force people to integrate. They will move and take whatever steps necessary to ensure their kids are not placed into an "undesirable" situation.
Instead, be wise enough to address the real issue. Take "under chosen" schools and provide them with more resources. Have incentives to bring the best teachers there, create programs in those schools that help address the true issues facing ESL and FRL families, make the magnet programs at these schools the most attractive magnets in the county, bring in local and national spokespeople to help inspire the youth and have the school reach out to community organizations to create a partnership in shaping the future of these disadvantaged groups.
Busing for the sake of socioeconomic diversity just to have the county's overall school system %s look better is shallow and morally corrupt. Board member's please give us more credit than that. True progress is not measured by "national exposure" and rankings. If you truly care about improving the system, don't disguise the problem, openly address it.
Sorry this was so long. My first post and I just had to get out the last few months of frustration.
Sounds like you're another who needs to come to grips
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:36 — FSandYOUwith the reality of what your neighbors chose to do. Enough of them chose to listen to lunatic fringe groups with bumper stickers and elect another round of liberal morons to think for you when it comes to public education. They will study your problems, they will study them again, they will mandate their liberal solutions and you will be the good parent and follow along without causing any kinks in their master plan.
So yes, all the research, meetings and open houses were a huge waste of time. Unless you enjoy seeing what you can't now have.
Message to new school board
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 11:05 — shearertwMessage to new school board members....none of you are "pros", all of you are "cons".
Are you kidding me??
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 10:47 — srhudson06Less than 2 weeks before we are supposed to make our choices these people want to scrap everything and start over? We've already done the Magnet process (and as many said - did so based on our currect assignment).
Now they want to say- wait - that's not where you are going next year. What?? I really feel like I've been punked.
These people upset because their YR feeds ito a Middle school YR - why? That's what I would expect....continuity of schedule. You can choose to go to traditional, but you should expect to continue on year round . Lets be honest how many are going to choose year round starting in 6th grade?
This is kids we are talking about, not numbers, not just seats at a school, REAL kids and their future. They don't care about diversity or FRL% or ESL or any of the other crap they are trying to use to put the kids where they want them to go. If they spent 1/2 the effort on improving the schools that they do on this other mess, all the schools in Wake County would be great.
You feel like you've been punked?
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 11:39 — FSandYOUAre you kidding? You knew what you were getting when you voted for these people. They told you during their campaigns the assignment plan may not go forward. Kevin Hill did as well and you STILL elected him! You elected more people like Head, Gill, Millberg and Parker. You're getting what you asked for and that's far from being punked.
I do agree that everyone in YR should expect to stay on it. Why wouldn't they? Isn't that what the survey said, they loved it? Isn't that what we've been told repeatedly since they were mandated upon the public? Oh sure there are a few who had hoped to escape somewhere along the way, but they should have done so long before now.
bailing on year round
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 13:11 — garnergradLots of us need to bail on year round because with more than one kid in the system, everyone will eventually end up on different schedules. When the oldest starts high school, younger siblings need a way to get back to a traditional calendar.
A totally different complaint is how much year round middle school sucks! For starters, if your kid plays sports you drive them to school every day of track-out before 2:15 dismissal (in a tie on game day) or they don't get to play. Vacation on your track-out? No, because every extra-curricular, even church stuff, operates on the traditional calendar. Ride the bus? The bus driver to our year round school works a traditional calendar, so summer and traditional holidays we have subsitute bus drivers and it's anybody's guess what time the bus will show up if traditional is out. (Year round kids were back on Jan 2 when everyone was on their New Year's holiday.) I can't wait to bail! Looks like I missed my opportunity.
If lots of you need to bail on MYR
Wed, 01/04/2012 - 15:25 — FSandYOUthen lots of you should have spoken up long ago instead of bending over when the previous, previous board shoved it up your/our butts. Did none of you realize until now that MYR in MS would suck? What a pitiful excuse.
It sucks at all levels, unless you want it. If you want it you stick with it. If you didn't want it you and your neighbors should have stood up to them. And yes, it's too late to bail now. They've got you.
But you can look up Patti, Lori and Rosa's addresses and send them thank you notes!