Why parents are irked that Wake high school is switching to online classes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wake County shifts Crossroads FLEX to fully remote after zoning enforcement.
- Parents and students protest sudden December notice and demand in-person return.
- Crossroads reports strong outcomes; district explores relocation or limited options.
Students in one of the Wake County school system’s top high schools return from winter break on Monday to an uncertain environment of virtual-only instruction.
Crossroads FLEX has operated on a hybrid in-person and virtual model since 2016, but zoning issues means it must switch to online-only courses, school officials say.
Many parents and students are angry at the change — which was announced just two days before winter break — and want the school district to restore in-person classes as soon as possible.
“We are trying to be focused on figuring out how to manage the problem, because we don’t have any concrete information,” Jodi Bulmer, president of the Crossroads FLEX PTSA, said in an interview with The News & Observer. “I don’t know what’s more important right now in Wake County.”
Sara Clark, a Wake school spokesperson, didn’t have an update Friday on whether Crossroads FLEX will be able to return to in-person classes this school year.
If things don’t change, students could finish out the rest of the school year online before moving to a new campus in Garner next school year.
“The root of our frustration and anger is that we don’t want in-person learning,” said Kurt Hilton, a Crossroads parent. “We expect in-person learning.”
School attracts athletes, performers
Crossroads FLEX opened in 2016 on Dillard Drive in Cary in office space next to the Wake County school system’s main headquarters. Its 149 students take between 6 and 10 hours a week of in-person classes with the rest of their schoolwork being done online or on their own time.
The flexible schedule has appealed to students such as athletes and performers. And despite the challenging schedule, Crossroads FLEX has a 100% graduation rate and its 40 seniors each year land more than $2 million in scholarships, according to the school.
Crossroads FLEX was ranked as has as the No. 3 school in the Wake County school system by U.S. News & World Report.
“These children are all very dedicated, very self-driven,” Crossroads parent Rachael Sylvester said in an interview.
Sylvester says her daughter has in-person classes two days a week starting at 7:30 a.m. before going to ballet practice that lasts until 9:15 p.m. If families had wanted all-virtual instruction, Sylvester said they could have picked a virtual-only school.
HIlton’s son gets up at 5 a.m. for CrossFit before going to class and then doing as much as five hours a day of swimming practice.. Hilton said Wake isn’t showing the students the respect they deserve.
“The powers that be have not treated them like the adults that they are,” Hilton said. “No other kids are putting this amount of work and effort into a professional mode of living on a daily basis.”
School operating without zoning approval
The root of the problem is that Wake had been using the office building for classes even though the district acknowledges it’s zoned for business and not educational use.
Parents didn’t learn about the issue until December. They were told on Dec. 3 that the school would relocate to Garner next school year and on Dec. 16 that they’d switch to remote learning after winter break.
“Staff have met with the Town of Cary and the Wake County Fire Marshal multiple times and they are aware of the current model of the school, which does not align with Business Occupancy guidance, per the N.C. Building Code,” according to a FAQ that Wake sent to families.
Wake had been planning until October to seek a zoning change and modify the building for educational use, according to the FAQ. But Wake said the changes would have been too expensive so they decided to instead relocate the school next school year.
The Town of Cary would let them continue to use the building for the rest of this school year only if capacity was limited to 49 people at a time, according to the school district. Crossroads shares the building with SCORE Academy, an alternative school program.
“They should have reasonably known they’d be called out on this and let parents know sooner,” Jill McElya, a Crossroads parent said in an interview. “They never told us this was a possibility to move when they knew, or should have known.”
But in its FAQ, Wake says it didn’t tell parents sooner because it hadn’t known until recently that it would have to relocate as soon as next school year.
Parents want in-person option ASAP
Wake has said the short-term move to remote instruction is being done in the best interests of the students. But parents aren’t buying it.
“It’s just a lie that they’re looking at our kids best interest because they’re sending them back to COVID, all-virtual school at the drop of a hat,” said Sylvester, the parent.
McElya is among the parents who told The N&O that their children haven’t been told how the switch to remote instruction will happen.
“It’s Friday, and we don’t know anything about how our kids are supposed to go back to school on Monday,” McElya said.
Wake hasn’t totally thrown out the possibility of returning to in-person classes this school year. In its FAQ, Wake said it’s willing to work with parents to pursue options for in-person learning this school year.
Crossroads parents have ideas. Some say that Wake could use spaces in under-enrolled schools or lease space somewhere in the county.
“There are plenty of options. They could figure it out,” Sylvester said.
This story was originally published January 5, 2026 at 7:00 AM.
