RALEIGH -- A move to a neighborhood-based school system has the potential to reshape Raleigh in coming years.
Scenarios of how a shift to neighborhood schools might affect Raleigh include rising house prices in neighborhoods surrounding highly ranked schools. The city government may decide to offer incentives to developers to help neighborhoods retain economic diversity. How much Raleigh could change, and at what speed, are questions that won't be answered quickly -- the new school board won't meet for the first time until Dec. 1.
"I have had people ask me, should I sell?" said Anne Sherron, a Raleigh real-estate agent. "Nobody should be making a quick decision just because of a school board vote."
Most of the 380,000 people who live in Raleigh didn't have a say in the Oct. 6 election that gave a new focus to the county school system. The nine-person school board will have four new members selected by voters living in suburban communities that surround the city. Many of those voters went to the polls dissatisfied with the current board's controversial but nationally recognized policy of shifting students to different schools based on families' income levels.
Opponents of the policy won outright in three districts. A planned November runoff between John Tedesco and Cathy Truitt, both opponents of the present system, will be held, with Tedesco the likely victor after Truitt conceded Monday. The four new members and current board member Ron Margiotta now form a majority that opposes several current policies, including mandatory year-round schools and forced busing for socioeconomic diversity.
Neighborhoods in Raleigh near high-ranking schools could eventually see rising housing prices, while neighborhoods near public schools with poor ratings may see the opposite.
"Those that have a reputation for being desirable tend to drive up some of the land prices over time," said Mitchell Silver, Raleigh's planning director. "Those neighborhoods become exclusive."
That happened in parts of Charlotte, where courts stopped school reassignments based on race in the late 1990s, then moved to a neighborhood-based system, said John Chesser, a researcher with UNC-Charlotte's Urban Institute.
"There is a large correlation between the perception of schools and where there's real-estate growth and value," he said. In the inner-city areas, "we have schools that have much higher levels of poverty."
But what will happen in Raleigh is far from certain, with many other factors at stake, Chesser cautioned.
The housing mix
Some in Raleigh's political sphere are initiating conversations on how to ensure thatcity neighborhoods obtain a mixture of incomes and races, in case a move to neighborhood schools disrupts that.
"As long as our housing patterns are segregated, that does not help us achieve," said James West, a longtime City Council member who represents inner-city neighborhoods of Southeast Raleigh. "Municipalities can play a key role in housing and helping to achieve a diversity policy." That could mean encouraging developers to provide housing for all income levels throughout the city, he said.
Mayor Charles Meeker is worried about the fate of magnet schools, which are largely in poorer areas of the city but attract students from all over the county because of their specialized programs.
"I hope they'll maintain the magnet schools and the changes made in busing will make sure that there are no schools that are bad schools," Meeker said.
A switch to a neighborhood approach in the school system could bring much-desired stability to families living in the outlying areas of Raleigh where parents weren't sure what schools their children would go to when they bought their homes, said Jill Flink, a Raleigh-based real-estate agent with York Simpson Under wood.
"It's been a problem for us," said Flink, about the current system. She would tell clients, "You're going to have to love your house, because your schools aren't fixed."
Smedes York, a former Raleigh mayor, isn't convinced that big changes are in store for Raleigh because of the new school board.
"You don't blame the voters for anything," York said. "I don't think it's going to change that much, that fast."
Wake's school system and the high marks it consistently earns is a major selling point for Raleigh, said Harvey Schmitt, president of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. The current Wake system was attractive because the magnet system gave families choices in what schools their children attended, no matter what part of the county they lived in. But as long as Wake has a strong school system, businesses will still look at the area favorably, he said.
"Having a strong school system throughout the county means that their employees , wherever they choose to live, they have access to a good public school system," Schmitt said.
Real-estate agent Sherron said the uncertainty of how the new school board will restructure the Wake schools came into play when a client of hers decided not to move his family and his start-up technology company to Raleigh from Austin, Texas. He made his decision right after the election earlier this month. Sherron said she favors the current system of busing for socioeconomic diversity over the neighborhood model.
"He e-mailed me and said 'I've put my decision on hold indefinitely until I see whether Raleigh is going to end up like Charlotte,'" Sherron said.
To the south of Raleigh, Garner mayor Ronnie Williams thinks the move to neighborhood schools will raise Garner's profile, and housing prices. Williams has been critical of the assignments of students from low-income Raleigh neighborhoods to Garner-area schools.
"Hopefully, change that will come will work toward improving those schools and ultimately improve the image and reputation of Garner," he said.
Neighborhood schools can lead to tight-knit communities, with families and residents forming closer bonds with schools close to where they live, he said.
Neighborhood needs
On a more functional level, a move to neighborhood schools in Raleigh may emphasize the need for better transit systems, as well as larger sidewalks, bicycle trails and bicycle lanes to offer more ways for children, parents and teachers to get to schools in their neighborhoods, Silver said.
Meeker, who spoke out before the election in support of the current system, said he wants to reach out to the new school board members to open dialogue between thecity and school board, two groups that have little official business with each other. Meeker's wife, Anne McLaurin, is remaining on the school board.
The mayor said he doesn't think an overnight upheaval of the county school system will occur.
"They'll realize that it's a lot different governing than criticizing," Meeker said.
