Wake high school will remain capped. Now 20 schools have enrollment limits in 2020.
A popular western Wake County high school will remain under enrollment limits for another school year.
The Wake County school board voted Tuesday to continue the enrollment cap at Panther Creek High School in Cary through the 2020-21 school year. Earlier this month, the board voted to put enrollment caps on 19 other schools for this fall while delaying a decision on Panther Creek.
Panther Creek has been under an enrollment cap since the 2016-17 school year, forcing some students who have since moved to the district to attend more distant schools that have more space. Even with the cap, Panther Creek still has 2,544 students this year.
Some board members asked if opening Green Level High meant they could lift Panther Creek’s cap. But administrators said Tuesday the cap is still needed, citing factors such as feedback from board members and the principal and projected growth in the area.
Enrollment caps are a way for the school system to try to shift the burden of dealing with crowded schools onto newcomers, instead of reassigning existing students out of schools. When a capped school reaches an enrollment limit, families who aren’t living in the attendance area by a certain date are transported to another more distant school that has space.
New enrollment caps will be put on five elementary schools: Abbotts Creek, Alston Ridge, Beaverdam, Lead Mine and White Oak. The cap at White Oak only covers kindergarten and first grade.
Wake continued the caps at 12 elementary schools: Cedar Fork, Combs, Highcroft, Holly Grove, Hortons Creek, Mills Park, Oakview, Olive Chapel, Rogers Lane, Scotts Ridge, Sycamore Creek and Weatherstone.
The cap was also extended at Mills Park Middle School and Heritage High School.
Enrollment caps are being discontinued this fall at six elementary schools: Baileywick, Fuquay-Varina, Harris Creek, Vance, Willow Springs and Yates Mill.
