Year-round foes let frustration fly

In their first chance to speak out since the Wake County school board and commissioners clashed over year-round schools, angry parents demanded Tuesday that plans be abandoned to convert 22 schools to the new calendar.

Last week, the school board voted to proceed despite the commissioners' vote to delay funding the $3.4 million needed for conversions. The school board said it would come up with the money itself or consider suing the county.

In the first two public hearings Tuesday on the record student reassignment plan, parents at Green Hope and Middle Creek high schools applauded the commissioners. They said the school board should defer to the commissioners and drop the conversions.

"I wish the school board, like the Wake County commissioners, would listen to us parents," said Cindy Sinkez, who attended the meeting at Green Hope.

Kathleen Brennan, who spoke for the anti-year-round parent group Wake C.A.R.E.S. at the Middle Creek meeting, said some school board members might have been embarrassed by the commissioners' vote. But, she said, they should set those feelings aside to help families who oppose the change.

"It's nothing like the hardship that the plans you've come up with are causing to families in this area," Brennan said.

Year-round conversions form a major part of a reassignment plan. The proposal to move 11,079 students to different schools this summer is the largest plan ever presented to the school board.

Wake annually reassigns thousands of students to fill new schools, ease crowding at existing schools and promote socioeconomic diversity. But school leaders said the new plan is so large because of the need to house a record 8,000 new students expected this fall.

School leaders say the conversions are needed because the year-round schedule allows schools to hold more students by splitting students into four groups, with three in class at all times.

The reassignment plan would force many existing year-round students to switch to different schools. Many students would be moved out of the converted schools to other year-round schools. Additionally, 18,000 students would go from a traditional-calendar to a year-round one when their school is converted.

A vocal group of parents has said the conversions would disrupt families by splitting children between year-round and traditional-calendars. They also complain that the year-round calendar, which eliminates long summer vacations in favor of periodic breaks, isn't compatible with their lives.

Critics also say the seats to be gained from conversions are overstated, especially when they think alternatives such as using more mobile classrooms would solve many of the problems.

"You want to remember you represent the parents and families of Wake County," said Melissa Inglis at Green Hope. "Please hear what we're saying. We don't want mandatory year-round."

When the school system wouldn't back away from the conversions, parents asked commissioners for help. Even though commissioners still won't retreat on opposing the conversions, school board members said Tuesday that they won't back down either on moving ahead with them.

"There aren't any other alternatives," said Patti Head, chairwoman of the school board. "We're not going back to the beginning."

(Staff writer Marti Maguire contributed to this report.)