The state Court of Appeals today ruled in favor of the Wake school system in its effort to assign students to year-round schools regardless of whether parents consent.

The ruling released this morning was a major victory for the school system, which has been trying to cope with enrollment growth by assigning increasing numbers of students to schools that follow a year-round calendar.

A three-judge panel concluded that the school system does not need parental permission to send children to year-round schools. The decision reversed a Superior Court judge's order that required the schools to get the consent of parents to send students to year-round schools.

"If plaintiffs disagree with mandatory assignments to year-round schools, their remedy lies with the electoral process or through communications with the legislative and executive branches of government," the court said in its ruling.

"Legally we anticipated we had a strong basis for our initial decision," said Beverley Clark, vice chairwoman of the school board.

Based on the court ruling, the school board decided today that anyone who registers at a year-round or modified-calendar school after June 1 will be required to stay there. They can request a transfer, but it doesn't have to be approved.

The board also decided to send new letters to parents of 6,439 students who hadn’t previously given consent to attend year-round and modified-calendar schools. Letters mailed last week said they would be assigned to a traditional-calendar school if they didn’t return the consent form.

The new letters will notify parents that their child will be assigned to a year-round or modified calendar school unless they return the forms saying they want their child to go to a traditional-calendar school.

No changes were made for the parents of 26,169 students who gave consent last year. They will still receive letters sent home with their children saying they can request in writing to opt out for the 2008-09 school year.

School board members stressed that parents who opt out should expect to return to their year-round school for the 2009-10 school year. The only exception are people who applied in February to leave year-round schools.

“This is a one-year assignment,” said school board member Patti Head. “They will be assigned back to a year-round school.”

The school board now is unlikely to restore the traditional calendar at the 22 schools it converted to a year-round calendar last year.

Parent Amy Leinfelder, who began homeschooling her daughter after her school was converted to a year-round calendar, said she was disappointed in today's ruling.

"I feel so badly for all those kids who will be forced to go to year-round when it doesn't work for their families," Leinfelder said.

But Russ Keller, parent of a student at Pleasant Union Elementary, said he was glad to hear about the ruling.

"It's fortunate that there was common sense that came through," he said.

It was uncertain what impact the decision will have on school officials' plans to put all new elementary and middle schools on a year-round calendar. County commissioners have asked the school board to reconsider its year-round plan.

The issue went to court in March 2007 when Wake CARES, a parent group, filed a lawsuit against the school system's use of mandatory year-round schools. The group argued that state statutes and the state Constitution guaranteed students the right to a uniform nine-month term of education.

Many parents who backed Wake CARES had hoped the lawsuit would cause Wake to abandon the year-round conversion plans.

But in today's ruling, the judges said the school district had the power to assign students to year-round schools. They also said state law requires school districts only to inform parents of calendars, not to get their consent.

Kathleen Brennan, one of the co-founders of Wake CARES, said the group is considering whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court. Because the ruling today was unanimous, the Supreme Court can decline to review the case.