Wake to give reassignment details in October

RALEIGH -- Wake County parents could know by Halloween where their children may be going to school for the next three school years.

Wake school administrators laid out the timetable today for releasing a multi-year student reassignment plan, a departure from the past practice of doing one-year plans. In addition to giving families advance warning for the first time, administrators also want to move up when they present the plan.

"This is an attempt to be more family friendly, to provide parents more information," said Superintendent Del Burns.

The plan would cover the 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years. But Chuck Dulaney, assistant superintendent for growth and planning, said nothing would preclude the board from making additional moves if circumstances change.

Dulaney said his department will present a draft plan for public comment in late October. They'll hold public meetings in November to get feedback before presenting a revised plan to the school board in mid-December. A final vote would be scheduled for January.

This timeline is more aggressive than in prior years.

Typically the feedback meetings are held in October and November before a plan is developed. The draft plan has usually been released in December with the revised document going to the school board in January for a vote in February or March.

Wake annually reassigns thousands of students to fill new schools, ease crowding at existing schools and promote student diversity. The school board reassigned 6,464 elementary school students for this fall.

Currently, Dulaney said planning groups composed of school administrators, teachers and parents in the areas that will mostly be affected are going over the data and developing scenarios.

Dulaney said they're considering delaying the opening of some new elementary schools by a year because of a slowdown in growth among young students. He said it would allow them to house middle school students for a year until their permanent buildings opened.

Dulaney said they're also considering how they can do a better job of keeping elementary students together at the same middle school. keung.hui@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4534