Wake could change calendars at 11 year-round schools. See which are on the list.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Administrators review 11 schools; fewer likely to change; the earliest would be 2028.
- Cites slower growth, empty seats, vouchers and lower migration as reasons.
- Calendar shifts could disrupt childcare, school community and cut some staff pay.
Up to 11 Wake County year-round schools could see calendar changes that would disrupt the lives of thousands of families and school employees.
Wake County school administrators have identified 11 multi-track year-round schools that are under consideration for conversion to a single-track year-round calendar or a traditional calendar in 2028. Wake says the capacity gains from using year-round schools aren’t needed as much now that the district is expected to see less growth over the next 10 years.
“With our new forecast showing that we’re going to have slower rates of growth than were originally projected, we feel like this is a good opportunity to re-evaluate our schools — particularly multitrack and underutilized — to determine whether or not that is a good thing for those schools long term,” said Susan Pullium, senior director of student assignment.
Pullium told the school board’s facilities committee Tuesday that they’ll get community feedback on those 11 schools before making an official recommendation in April on which schools to convert. Pullium said they’ll likely recommend fewer than 11 schools, but didn’t give a specific number.
Pros and cons of year-round calendar
The majority of Wake’s schools operate on a traditional calendar. This means a late August opening, an early June closing and a long summer vacation.
Wake also operates year-round schools in which students take short periodic breaks instead of having a long summer vacation. In a single-track year-round school, all the students follow the same track or calendar.
In a multi-track year-round school, the students are split into four rotating groups, called tracks, with three in session and one on break at all times. The multi-track calendar can increase a school’s capacity by 25% or more.
A trade-off is that it costs more money to operate multi-track schools because they’re in session all 12 months. Wake also spends extra money at under-enrolled multi-track schools to try to give students the same resources across the tracks.
School officials said the need for multi-track seats is declining based on new enrollment projections that forecast only 2,633 students being added districtwide in the next decade.
Planners blamed the slowdown on growth on factors such as the expansion of the state’s private school voucher program and fewer people migrating to the U.S. since the Trump administration began to crack down on immigration.
Schools under consideration for calendar change
The 11 schools that have been mentioned for potential calendar conversion are:
- Brier Creek Elementary in Raleigh
- Carpenter Elementary in Cary
- Heritage Elementary in Wake Forest
- Heritage Middle in Wake Forest
- Holly Grove Elementary in Holly Springs
- Holly Grove Middle in Holly Springs
- Holly Springs Elementary
- Morrisville Elementary
- Pleasant Grove Elementary in Morrisville
- Rex Road Elementary in Holly Springs
- Sycamore Creek Elementary in Raleigh
All 11 schools are in areas where significant enrollment growth is not projected in the next decade. Most have large numbers of empty seats, to the point where some schools have eliminated tracks due to not having enough students.
‘Disruptive’ change for families and staff
Under the proposed timeline, an initial recommendation on which schools to convert will be presented to the facilities committee on April 14. The full school board would get a final recommendation on May 5.
Administrators want the board to make a decision on May 5 or May 19.
The earliest the calendar changes would occur would be in 2028 to give families and school employees two years to prepare.
“It changes the way families do business, Pullium said. “It changes the way staff are paid or compensated in some cases. It changes the way that a school community functions.”
One of the major changes for families would be having to change vacation and childcare plans.
Some employees will see a pay cut under a calendar change. Other school employees will get paid the same amount but will have to budget getting paid over 10 months instead of a check monthly.
“Of all the changes and levers that we use to address crowding concerns, the calendar change is the most disruptive and the most difficult for families and staff,” said Glenn Carrozza, assistant superintendent for school choice, planning and assignment.
David Raynor contributed to this story.
