No Child Left Behind may require Wake to let kids leave 10 schools

A record 10 Wake County elementary schools may have to allow parents to transfer their children to different schools under a federal program that allows students to leave schools that do not meet testing standards.

Based on preliminary data, school administrators think Brentwood, Durant Road, Fuller, Green, Harris Creek, Millbrook, Powell, Wendell, Wilburn and York elementary schools didn't meet requirements for the federal No Child Left Behind law for at least two years in a row.

Administrators will present to the school board today a list of schools that families at those 10 schools can apply to if the results stay the same. Wake will find out July 25 from the state which Title I schools fell short. At that point, letters will be sent to families asking if they want to apply to two choices chosen by the district.

"It's getting harder finding choices," said Willi Webb, Wake's director of Title I services.

Under No Child Left Behind, schools nationwide are required to demonstrate that they are closing achievement gaps among different groups. The law requires schools to group students based on race, family income, English proficiency and other factors. If any group doesn't measure up on state reading and math tests, the entire school is considered deficient.

Most schools only face bad publicity for not passing. But any school that receives federal Title I funding must give parents the option of transferring their children if the school falls short two years in a row. Title I helps with low-income students.

After falling short for three straight years, schools must provide paid tutoring services to students. If the school still falls short after several more years, the teachers and principal could be removed.

It's uncertain how many Wake families will take the transfers. Statewide, 4,053 students took transfers this past school year. That was 4.7 percent of the students who were eligible.

This past school year in Wake, Webb said 21 students transferred out of Hodge Road Elementary School in Knightdale and three students left Powell Elementary School in Raleigh.

Webb said Hodge Road met federal standards and won't have to allow new students to leave. She said those families who left Hodge before can stay at their current school if they provide their own transportation.

Kim McKnight said there's no way she would transfer her two children out of York Elementary School in North Raleigh.

"York is a special little school," McKnight said. "It has a wonderful family atmosphere. I really don't think I'd leave."

Webb said most of the 10 schools fell short due to not getting enough students with disabilities to pass state end-of-grade math tests. The state made the math tests harder in 2006, significantly lowering passing rates.

This would be the first time more than two Wake schools have been sanctioned in the same year. Webb said it's expected that a similar increase will occur statewide in Title I schools falling short of No Child Left Behind. This past school year, 298 Title I schools had to provide transfer options.

School districts will get the data for all schools Aug. 17, but the state Board of Education will not get it until Sept. 6. In the previous year, 65 of 137 Wake schools, or 47.4 percent, met federal standards.