Wake put student enrollment caps on these 18 schools in 2026. See the list
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- Staff recommend 18 schools be capped for 2026–27, down from 22.
- Staff recommend lifting caps at five schools after reassignment and added capacity.
- Staff recommend adding a cap at Zebulon Elementary due to growth and space limits.
Wake County reduced the number of schools under enrollment limits in 2026 as the school district deals with a drop in student enrollment.
The Wake County school board approved on Jan. 20 removing enrollment caps from five schools and adding a cap at one school. This would put 18 Wake schools under enrollment caps for the 2026-27 school year, down from the 22 schools capped this school year.
The recommendations were initially made to the school board’s facilities committee.
Enrollment 2,000 students below projection
Enrollment caps are one of the ways North Carolina’s largest school system tries to keep up with growth and relieve school overcrowding.
But Wake is well below its projected total of 162,420 students for this school year.
Wake is reporting it has 160,413 students this year. The state is using a slightly higher figure of 160,500 students for state funding purposes.
But regardless of which number is used, Wake’s enrollment is down. Statewide, 105 of the 115 school districts have fewer students than a year ago.
Five schools losing enrollment caps
Enrollment caps are a way to shift the burden of reducing school overcrowding onto newcomers instead of existing families.
When a capped school reaches an enrollment limit, families who weren’t living in the attendance area by a certain date may be assigned to an overflow school that has space.
This school year, 589 students have been capped out and sent to overflow schools.
But student assignment staff recommended dropping the enrollment caps on these five schools:
- Alston Ridge Elementary School in Cary
- Holly Grove Elementary School in Holly Springs
- Parkside Elementary School in Morrisville
- Scotts Ridge Elementary School in Apex
- Heritage High School in Wake Forest
Staff say caps are no longer needed at those five schools because they have sufficient capacity now to handle projected enrollment growth. This comes after reassignment changes moved some students out and/or new schools were opened in their area.
Some of those schools have been capped for a decade or more as Wake dealt with growth in the southern and western parts of the county. Those were among the areas that got several of the new schools in recent years.
Seven students are capped out of those five schools this year. They’ll be given the opportunity to leave the overflow school to go to their capped school.
School that will now be capped
Student assignment staff recommended adding an enrollment cap to Zebulon Elementary School.
Staff are citing factors such as how Zebulon Elementary is at 118.9% of capacity. Some classrooms use co-teaching, in which two teachers share a classroom.
The district has been using co-teaching in some elementary schools as a way to comply with the state’s K-3 class size limits. Wake says it’s lost 9,000 K-3 seats due to the state limits.
Wake says Zebulon Elementary’s attendance area is projected to see continued enrollment growth through 2034. Several new schools are planned for eastern Wake due to the area’s growth, such as Marshburn Road Elementary in the Lizard Lick area.
Administrators want to use Wakelon Elementary School in Zebulon as the overflow school even though it’s also at 118% of capacity. But student assignment staff say Wakelon is scheduled to receive 14 classroom trailer units next year while Zebulon can’t accommodate additional trailers.
Iuly 1 will be the date that the cap goes into effect at Zebulon Elementary and is removed at those five schools.
List of capped schools
In addition to placing a new cap at Zebulon Elementary, the caps remain in place at these schools:
- Abbotts Creek Elementary School in Raleigh
- Apex Friendship Elementary School
- Beaverdam Elementary School in Raleigh
- Cedar Fork Elementary School in Morrisville
- Holly Ridge Elementary School in Holly Springs
- Hortons Creek Elementary School in Cary
- Northwoods Elementary School in Cary
- Oakview Elementary School in Holly Springs
- Olive Chapel Elementary School in Apex
- River Bend Elementary School in Raleigh
- Rogers Lane Elementary School in Raleigh
- Weatherstone Elementary School in Cary
- White Oak Elementary School in Cary
- Apex Friendship Middle School
- Mills Park Middle School in Cary
- Apex Friendship High School
- Panther Creek High School in Cary
This story was originally published December 15, 2025 at 12:29 PM.
