Foes: School fight futile

Opponents of forced year-round schools say they will prevail over proponents

As forms went out Friday asking families whether they want to voluntarily attend year-round schools, critics of Wake County's year-round school conversions said efforts to organize mass opposition to the plan appeared headed for failure.

The school district sent forms home with more than 30,500 students assigned to year-round and modified-calendar schools this fall. Much of the focus is on what parents will do at 22 schools Wake plans to convert to a year-round calendar this July.

Attending the year-round schools was made voluntary by a court ruling last week. Opponents of year-round conversions had hoped they could get so many families to say they don't want to attend year-rounds that the school system would abandon plans to convert their children's school.

But some organizers of those efforts say parents are worried that they won't get enough to block the conversions and the only result would be that protesters would lose their seats at their school.

"We can't get parents who are willing to take the risk," said Mindy Lawton, who had tried to organize other parents at Leesville Road Elementary School in North Raleigh. "I can't risk putting my child at the school behind door number two."

Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. ruled that the school system can't require students to attend year-round schools without "informed consent" from parents. The court ruling had given many parents hope that it would cause the school system to abandon the conversions and leave the schools on a traditional calendar.

But the school board decided to proceed with the conversions, this time with voluntary attendance. Families who answer yes on the forms will be guaranteed their seat at the year-round school. If they say no, they're guaranteed a traditional-calendar seat, but they won't know for sure which school it will be until June 19. Forms are due back May 18.

Some parents had complained that it was unfair to not identify which traditional-calendar school their children would attend before they had to return the forms, but Manning said this week that Wake is complying with his order.

School board member Lori Millberg said there's a point at which they wouldn't be able to convert a school if too many parents wanted to leave. She said that percentage hasn't been set yet.

It's a goal that that Kim Wallace would love her fellow parents at Salem Middle School in Apex to reach. She said she's been urging all her friends to say no.

"There is no way that they can physically do it if 50 percent opt out," Wallace said.

But Wallace acknowledged Friday that she hasn't been able to organize Salem Middle.

Sue O'Brien tried to organize other parents at Baucom Elementary School in Apex, but she said they're fearful that so few people will say no that the only thing that will happen is that they would have to leave the school. She said parents would rather stay at Baucom, even on a year-round calendar, than go elsewhere, especially when they don't know where they'll be sent.

"Most of the parents I talked to are just resigned to the fact they'll have to adjust," O'Brien said. "They'll take the devil they know over the one they don't know."

Cristine Clark had talked with other parents at Olive Chapel Elementary School in Apex, another area with strong opposition. But she feels uncomfortable asking people to take the risk of voting no and having to leave the school.

"They've got us," Clark said. "I can't take that risk with my daughter."

Dawn Graff, a co-founder of Wake CARES, the parent group that had sued Wake over the conversions, said Wake CARES was not behind the efforts to influence how the forms were filled out. Graff said she was not even aware of such efforts.

"It's up to parents to make their own decision," Graff said. "It's not up to Wake CARES to tell parents what to do. It's not up to Wake County to tell them what to do."

Dave Duncan, co-founder of the parent group Stop Mandatory Year-Round, said the risk is so great that he's not getting involved in any efforts to get families to say no on the forms.