School year change on table in Wake

Some year-rounds may go traditional

RALEIGH -- Wake County school leaders issued the opening gambit for a 2009 bond issue for school construction by floating the possibility of switching back some of the nearly two dozen schools that were converted to a year-round calendar.

On Tuesday, the school board asked administrators to study how putting a small number of those 22 converted schools back on a traditional calendar would affect the next bond issue.

Opposition to the year-round conversions nearly sank a $970 million bond issue in 2006. At least one board member thinks switching some schools back to the traditional calendar will improve the chances of the next bond issue.

"They know that if they want the bond issue to pass they have to budge a little," said school board member Ron Margiotta, a longtime critic of the conversions.

Although only a few schools may be considered for conversion, the request is a turning point in a policy battle that has pitted the school board against the county Board of Commissioners and a parent group that has challenged the policy in a lawsuit before the N.C. Supreme Court.

The fact that the school board is willing to revisit the issue was cheered by Dawn Graff, a co-founder of Wake CARES, the parent group that filed the year-round lawsuit.

"I think it's fantastic, and they should offer families true choice instead of a calendar that doesn't work for families," Graff said. "We've maintained all along about parents having options."

Board members said they need to reconsider the conversions in light of the slowdown in growth that could see enrollment fall short of projections by 2,000 students for the second year in a row.

"We can't look at year-round schools as a failure because the numbers came in under projection," said school board member Horace Tart. "What we're trying to do is realign our plan and adjust, now that we realize what the numbers are."

The parent lawsuit filed by Wake CARES has also left year-round schools with even more empty seats because the school district needs to get parental consent to send children there.

The conversions are on the table now because the school board and county commissioners are moving closer toward developing the next bond issue.

Chuck Dulaney, assistant superintendent for growth and planning, said it could take the opening of 16 to 62 schools by 2015 to keep up with growth, depending on how many year-round schools are used. Year-round schools can hold more students than traditional-calendar schools by putting the building in constant use, thereby reducing construction costs.

Wake greatly expanded the use of year-round schools in the last bond issue when it decided to go ahead with the conversions and open all new elementary and middle schools now open on a year-round calendar.

The school board also asked Dulaney to look at the impact of opening some new schools on a traditional calendar to try to maintain the current percentage of year-round schools.

Report on reversals

Dulaney is expected to report to the board next month on which conversions could be reversed. The board wants to come up with an answer soon because it will influence the recommendations in the multiple-year student assignment plan that will be released this year.

Board members floated reversing the conversions of from one to four schools. No specific schools were named, but board members talked about looking at areas that saw large numbers of conversions, such as Knightdale and Apex.

School board member Lori Millberg said school officials might have underestimated the impact of converting several schools in the same area.

"The schools are empty," said Millberg, whose district includes Knightdale. "On paper, we may have needed the capacity."

Board members said the conversions have made it hard for middle schools to offer electives.

Graff cautioned school board members to give parents enough time if they decided to switch calendars of year-round schools.

"We live in such an unstable world, and parents just want stability any where they can get it."