Wake school board gets homework

Members must rank factors to consider in changing schools to a year-round calendar

RALEIGH -- Wake County school board members have a big homework assignment: To rank the factors that could be used to pick which 16 to 30 elementary schools will be converted to a year-round calendar in 2007.

School administrators gave 12 possible criteria to board members Tuesday. Board members will have to weigh, among other factors, whether it would be preferable to convert the fewest number of large schools or to convert more small schools to avoid overloading any one area with the year-round calendar.

"If we only target the biggest schools, it will almost solely be in the far north, far west and far south of the county," said Chuck Dulaney, assistant superintendent for growth and planning. "That would go against ... providing families traditional-calendar options."

The year-round conversions are part of a $1.06 billion construction plan to keep up with record growth. The idea is to gain 3,000 seats, reducing the need to build new schools. Year-round schools are in constant use and thus can handle more students than traditional-calendar schools.

The school board passed a resolution Tuesday requesting that county commissioners put a bond issue on the Nov. 7 ballot. School leaders have warned that the failure of the bond issue could force them to convert all elementary and middle schools to a year-round calendar.

Hope Carmichael, a spokeswoman for Wake Families For School Choice, a group opposed to mandatory year-round schooling, said Tuesday that the group would support the bond issue. She said it also would lobby for options such as a local half-cent sales tax for schools.

For now, administrators are going through the tricky process of figuring how to convert schools for the 2007-08 school year.

"There is nothing simple in any of this," Ramey Beavers, senior director for growth management, told board members.

Administrators want the board members to return their rankings of criteria in the next few days. School leaders will use the responses to create a list next week and say they will identify in August the schools to be converted. They want a board vote by September.

In other news, Friday has been declared Bill McNeal Day in honor of the retiring superintendent.

County commissioners passed the resolution to recognize McNeal's 32 years of service to the school district, including the past six as superintendent. Friday is the last day of classes for traditional-calendar schools.

McNeal is retiring June 30 to become executive director of the N.C. Association of School Administrators.