RALEIGH - More than 1,000 Wake County students who faced being forced to attend year-round schools may now be able to choose otherwise.

That's the result of the Wake school board's decision Tuesday to reverse a vote the board made this month to stop seeking consent from newcomers to send their children to year-round schools.

The board took this action in response to a state Supreme Court action last week that blocked a Court of Appeals ruling that eliminated the need for parental consent to send children to year-round and modified-calendar schools. The previous ruling cannot take effect until the high court decides whether to take the case.

School board members said they'll go back to what they had planned to do before the appellate decision was released.

"We will continue with the process that was in place before," said Beverley Clark, vice chairwoman of the school board.

The board also asked its attorney, Ann Majestic, to contest the appeal in the Supreme Court.

School administrators estimated they may now need to seek parental consent for 1,200 students who are moving into areas served by year-round schools. But the board's vote contains the provision that administrators will stop seeking consent if the Supreme Court decides not to hear the case.

Although the board made that concession Tuesday, board members held firm on another change they made after the appellate decision this month.

Parents who don't respond by June 1 to a second consent form will be considered to have given their permission for their children to attend year-round schools, the board decided. This second set of consent forms was sent this month to parents of 7,700 students who hadn't previously given their permission.

Forms sent in April warned that failure to return them would be considered as not giving consent.

Board members said Tuesday that they felt the May form still met legal requirements for getting consent from parents.

"Sending out another letter would have been more confusing to parents," said school board member Lori Millberg.

Of the 7,700 forms that were sent, Millberg said 2,800 had not been returned as of last week.

The board's decision drew complaints from Kathleen Brennan, co-founder of the group Wake Cares, which sued the district over year-round schools. She said the school district should actively seek consent from those families after the June 1 deadline.

"If you consent, it seems you have to give an agreement," she said. "A non-action should not be considered that you're giving consent."

Clark, a non-practicing lawyer, said the ruling last year from Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. did not specify what was required for "informed parental consent." Manning's May 2007 ruling said the school board had to seek parental consent to assign students to year-round schools.

On May 6, a three-judge appellate panel unanimously reversed Manning's decision.

The Supreme Court's stay surprised school officials, leading to the special meeting. Citing attorney-client privilege, the board voted 5-1 to go behind closed doors to discuss the situation with Majestic. Ron Margiotta was the lone dissenter.

"It's a matter of great importance to the public," Margiotta said. "We're not obligated to go into closed session."

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