RALEIGH - Wake County school leaders are giving up on their fight to send children to year-round schools without parents' permission -- at least in the next school year.

School officials had been hoping for a ruling from the state Court of Appeals that would reverse a Superior Court decision last year requiring parental consent before students could be assigned to year-round schools. But the case was not among the opinions issued Tuesday.

School administrators said they can't wait any longer.

"We held off so we could see if we would have a decision today," said Chuck Dulaney, assistant superintendent for growth and planning.

Dulaney will present to the school board next week a plan on where to send students for the 2008-09 school year whose parents refuse to give consent to year-round schools and modified-calendar schools. He'll also ask for permission to send the consent forms.

Dulaney said he'll recommend that the school board continue with the consent process even if a favorable court ruling comes out next month.

Year-round schools begin the new school year in early July. School planners want to let parents know where their children will go to school by May 15.

Rosa Gill, chairwoman of the school board, agreed that the board can't wait any longer. "We've always intended to comply with the court order," she said.

Gill said the hope is that fewer students opt out this time. About 2,700 students opted out last year.

School leaders still hope for a favorable ruling. But they're not expecting to implement any changes until 2009.

Wake has increased the use of year-round schools because they can hold more students than traditional schools by putting the buildings in constant use.

Wake CARES, a parent group, filed a lawsuit in March 2007 arguing that mandatory year-round schools violate state statutes and the state constitution.

The school system's plans were thrown into doubt in May when Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. ruled that the district needed parental consent for year-round schools.

The school district complied by sending consent forms in May to 30,500 parents. Most accepted, but enough said no that crowding ensued in several traditional-calendar schools and many seats were left empty in year-round schools.

Dawn Graff, a co-founder of Wake CARES, said school leaders should not have waited so long to send out the consent forms this year.

"It was irresponsible for them to have waited so long," Graff said. "They knew about this since last May. They arrogantly thought they'd win."