Some Hard Truths for folks thinking of moving to Cary: (Apex: equity, maintenance)

[RDSLOTS]

With the escalating cost of gasoline, you'd think WCPPS would try to make the old neighborhood schools concept work? Your children went to a school within walking distance of home, and instead of a bus picking them up, parents worked out schedules to drop-off/pick-up their children? I didn't know that a bus will pick up children who live as close as a mile away from school? I used to walk to school, a good 16 city blocks (roughly a mile), even in inclement weather.

It might play havoc with diversity issues and numbers, but with the money saved on buses -- total number of, drivers, INS, maintenance, and gasoline -- couldn't the money be spent on adding programs to even things out at a school? Reading programs, tutorials, quality after-school programs, intramural sports after-school, and the like.

Give the kids at what might be deemed 'inadequate' or whatever precipitates busing them in the first place, other things to even-out the score, so to speak. Is that not equitable? Might make children happier in that they could identify with/'own' the school, restore some of that sense of pride in the neighborhood school.

I just see win/win here with neighborhood schools, or am I really missing something? Help inform me, please.

[theresak]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

While I don't think reassignment issues will be as severe in Durham or Johnston Co in the next 5 years as it is in Wake Co, reassignment is getting pretty close to the front door of many schools in both Durham & Johnston Co. I've also heard that Orange Co (Hillsborough) will probably be experiencing the same very soon. I honestly thougth I was avoiding reassignment by moving to Durham. Now I highly doubt my oldest child gets through the elementary school assigned to us when we bought this house, much less the high school assigned to us.

It's like Reagonomics... the trickle down effect. Eventually, Franklin Co will be reassigning too. And we all saw how well Reagonomics worked, but I digress.

Bottom line is that all of the school districts in this area are growing so rapidly all of them will see reassignment in the next 12 years, IMHO. Now some districts will see more than others. But even in Chapel Hill there will be reassignments as more people move in, new schools are built, and kids are shifted. This to me is more acceptable than some of the Wake Co stories. But honestly, I think parents in the surrounding districts should be trying to learn from Wake and get involved with their school boards now!!!

If the reassignments were solely done for growth, I personally wouldn't have a problem. But that is definitely not what's happening. They are being done to balance F&R.

[VickiR]

I take exception to the sentence that blames it all on the Realtors! Gee, I wonder why!

I recently had people from NY that purchased a house based on the school. I told them REPEATEDLY that there was NO guarantee that their child would remain in that school. I explained over and over again that when you look at the school that is assigned to your street, that is for THIS YEAR ONLY. I then checked out the website that showed the street was assigned to a different school next year and showed it to them. They were ok with either school and felt that since the entire neighborhood was going to be re assigned, their son would be fine with moving, along with his future friends.

Another thing I have noticed...kids don't really care about being re assigned in elementary school as long as their friends move too. Its the parents that seem to make such a big issue out of it. Be careful of what you say as your kids will repeat it, in your words, using your tone!!!

So...please don't blame it on the Realtors. There is only so much we can do. With all my clients that tell me that school is an important issue...I direct them to wcpss.net. I can't beat them over the head and force them to understand! I AM sorry for your mess but like Mrs. Steel said...there are other options for you.

Vicki

[weluvwakeforest]

Originally Posted by toxmed

...I bought a house in our Cary neighborhood because of the excellent schools and now its a NIGHTMARE because....after a year my son gets reassigned again, from an excellent traditional schedule school less than 0.5 miles from home, to which he was walking, to another 3 miles away. He was however fortunate that he was able to grandfather in to his previous school. My daughter will however be in a different school, on a year round schedule. This means that holidays for my son will not be the same as for my daughter; she will have 2 weeks off every 9 weeks of school, while he has the traditional summer break and winter holidays. However, I am not as concerned about our kids as about the lower income kids that are being shipped from Raleigh and Garner to his school, some 45 minutes each way. These are children as young as 5 years old that will jolt their way very early in the morning to make the 7:45 am start time at the school. Oh yeah...They can wake up and smell the diesel fumes... which reflects what the absolutely demented Board of Education and the Wake County Public School system (WCPSS) think anyway.

This whole exercise is simply for the purpose of leveling the income ratios among different schools, as measured by the number of kids availing of Free or Reduced Price lunches (F&R). This is done by completely ignoring the basics of a sound elementary education, Stability, Neighborhood and Family Support, and Proximity. The reassignment proposal targeted almost 6000 elementary students this year while it has happened to almost every level of school at least once. Middle and High schools have been and will be reassigned again.

The School Board is composed of 9 members from 9 different districts; each district elects one member. Moderator cut: removed
This has been well documented in the local papers and Blogs esp. the following (newsobserver.com |WakeEd, and Cary News | Schools). Moderator cut: removed
The board is composed of dross individuals Moderator cut: removed
who have long passed the stage of school age child rearing and now sit and pass policies on All of Wake county for their thrills. However, as you may have noted, although the board members act on behalf of All of Wake county, their election to the board is not based on votes from All of Wake county, a major accountability issue. Essentially they have no accountability. Parents pleas and alternative solutions are completely ignored; they hold public hearings that make no difference, even though the majority of parents affected are against this policy.

The parents of Wake county care genuinely about the welfare of ALL kids in the county, and do not believe that such reassignment every year makes for a sound education. We believe that there are much better ways to enhance educational opportunities than just busing kids from one part of the county to the other. For more information please go to: KeepLocalSchools and check out the issues listed. Also, go to WakeCARES to see the fight for traditional v. Mandatory Year round conversions.

All I can say is that if you have this urge to move to Cary, NC because of it being one of the Best places to Live in the USA on Money magazine, think again! If stability in good schools for your kids is a priority for you, then think again about moving to Cary, NC! If having a say in where your kids can go to school is important to you, then think again about moving to Cary, NC! If accountability in school governance is important to you, then think again about moving to Cary, NC! However, if you want good weather, and a fair standard of living, and if you can afford Private Schools for all your children, then sure move down here, and buy my house in Cary, NC!

Having moved down from the N East due to my job, I feel cheated because my kids education are my first priority, and it seems that we landed in the middle of a fascist social engineering experiment that cares little about my kids or yours, and is all about numbers and statistics.

You are hereby warned...and do not believe what the realtor's may say to you about this. Just remember that Good and Stable schools are a large part of the market value of a home...Do your own research, check the local papers, then decide if you really want to move here, if your children's education is a priority in your life...
Regards

Bussing in order to balance F& R students happens all over Wake County.. its a fact of life if you live here, and I don't see it going away.. this area is becoming more and more diverse everyday. There is a fair amount of poverty in Wake County.. what is it I had somebody say to me once, yes.. I remember now.. "there really isn't a poor area in Cary??" If this (balancing F&R students) is going to be the WCPSS policy, and I'm not saying I agree.. but if this is the policy, I think it is only fair Cary and Apex receive their fair amount of F&R students..............................

[weluvwakeforest]

Originally Posted by RDSLOTS

With the escalating cost of gasoline, you'd think WCPPS would try to make the old neighborhood schools concept work? Your children went to a school within walking distance of home, and instead of a bus picking them up, parents worked out schedules to drop-off/pick-up their children? I didn't know that a bus will pick up children who live as close as a mile away from school? I used to walk to school, a good 16 city blocks (roughly a mile), even in inclement weather.

It might play havoc with diversity issues and numbers, but with the money saved on buses -- total number of, drivers, INS, maintenance, and gasoline -- couldn't the money be spent on adding programs to even things out at a school? Reading programs, tutorials, quality after-school programs, intramural sports after-school, and the like.

Give the kids at what might be deemed 'inadequate' or whatever precipitates busing them in the first place, other things to even-out the score, so to speak. Is that not equitable? Might make children happier in that they could identify with/'own' the school, restore some of that sense of pride in the neighborhood school.

I just see win/win here with neighborhood schools, or am I really missing something? Help inform me, please.

I don't think WCPPS really gives a hoot about energy costs, their policy is to try to even out the F&R children across the county...

[RDSLOTS]

With the money saved and then redirected to the schools with higher proportions of F&R children, wouldn't things even out? Seems ridiculous to try to fix it with busing. The money could be so better spent on something other than gasoline and bus maintenance.

[weluvwakeforest]

Originally Posted by RDSLOTS

With the money saved and then redirected to the schools with higher proportions of F&R children, wouldn't things even out? Seems ridiculous to try to fix it with busing. The money could be so better spent on something other than gasoline and bus maintenance.

I agree, but WCPSS is committed to diversity, so present policies are likely to continue. It isn't a new concept. My brother is 34 and his bus literally went within a few miles of either Sanderson or Millbook - yet he was bussed to another hs school for diversity issues.

[dansdrive]

Originally Posted by RDSLOTS

With the escalating cost of gasoline, you'd think WCPPS would try to make the old neighborhood schools concept work? Your children went to a school within walking distance of home, and instead of a bus picking them up, parents worked out schedules to drop-off/pick-up their children? I didn't know that a bus will pick up children who live as close as a mile away from school? I used to walk to school, a good 16 city blocks (roughly a mile), even in inclement weather.

It might play havoc with diversity issues and numbers, but with the money saved on buses -- total number of, drivers, INS, maintenance, and gasoline -- couldn't the money be spent on adding programs to even things out at a school? Reading programs, tutorials, quality after-school programs, intramural sports after-school, and the like.

Give the kids at what might be deemed 'inadequate' or whatever precipitates busing them in the first place, other things to even-out the score, so to speak. Is that not equitable? Might make children happier in that they could identify with/'own' the school, restore some of that sense of pride in the neighborhood school.

I just see win/win here with neighborhood schools, or am I really missing something? Help inform me, please.

Of coarse you are assuming budget and education are somehow connected. When budgets are submitted the BOE reviews and approves. Shortages are ALWAYS made up with TAX INCREASES. That is the same in NY as in NC.

Its like when you are shopping for groceries, if you have a gift card and can purchase everything you want, you would be crazy not to. If it comes from your own pocket you then you try to make wise choices.

[raleighjayne]

kids don't really care about being re assigned in elementary school as long as their friends move too.

Sometimes a kid's friends aren't in his own node. When we decided to leave our magnet to go back to our base, a neighbor boy was so excited because "most of my friends are getting reassigned next year". We are in Bedford, but his friends all lived in the neighborhoods on Durant Rd (Durant Trails, etc) that got moved to Fox Road this year.

I do agree that your entire node gets reassigned, not just one or two houses. Just offering another view of the 'friends' issue.

[weluvwakeforest]

Originally Posted by raleighjayne

Sometimes a kid's friends aren't in his own node. When we decided to leave our magnet to go back to our base, a neighbor boy was so excited because "most of my friends are getting reassigned next year". We are in Bedford, but his friends all lived in the neighborhoods on Durant Rd (Durant Trails, etc) that got moved to Fox Road this year.

I do agree that your entire node gets reassigned, not just one or two houses. Just offering another view of the 'friends' issue.

I feel more sorry for when high school students get reassigned - and that is going to be the next *hot spot* in Wake County... so if your kids are in middle school.. get ready....