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Old 08-15-2007, 05:36 PM
 
Location: Northern NY
6 posts, read 21,251 times
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We are thinking of relocating our family to the Raleigh area, but we don't wish for our children to be redistricted. How far out of Raleigh do we need to go out in order to avoid this situation. We have already heard that Chapel Hill does not do this but we would prefer to relocate to the Cary Area or the lake neighbourhoods to the north. Any information on how good or bad the school districts are who don't redistrict would be helpful as well. Thanks.
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Old 08-15-2007, 06:27 PM
 
353 posts, read 994,155 times
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All of the cities in Wake (Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Fuquay, etc etc etc...) are subject to redistricting.

Depending on who you talk to, some people have been in 3 different schools in 3 years, others have never been reassigned.

Typically, again, depending who you talk to, the inside-the-beltline area is more stable (established housing/no new developments, but can cost a LOT of money) and outside-the-beltline (where there is more new residences) can be pretty chaotic in terms of reassignment.

From my point of view NO ONE is safe in Wake as long as their "reassignment for economic diversity policy" is the trump card to the education system.

That's why we're leaving Wake.
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Old 08-15-2007, 06:27 PM
 
Location: Cary, NC
8,269 posts, read 25,066,563 times
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All of the schools in Cary and Raleigh can be considered for eventual redistricting, not that they necessarily always WILL be. They are part of Wake County schools and Clayton/Chapel Hill/Durham are not. We were in Wake schools between 2 kids for 7 years and were never redistricted. If we were still in them, chances were that we still would not have been. Look for underenrolled schools on the school website, they have the best chance not to be redistricted, but that's not always a 100%, just more of a trend.
If you want a guarantee, then don't move to the Wake School system, look in one of the other districts.
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Old 08-15-2007, 09:28 PM
 
Location: Beautiful and sanitary DC
2,494 posts, read 3,513,016 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RaleighCEPark View Post
From my point of view NO ONE is safe in Wake as long as their "reassignment for economic diversity policy" is the trump card to the education system.
No, the redistricting is necessary because Wake County opens nearly a dozen new schools every year, to accommodate 7,000 additional students and thousands more moving around or graduating. That's like adding an entire Chatham County or Franklin County school district every single year! Even if every child was automatically assigned to the nearest school, thousands of students would move to rebalance those new schools.

If you can get into magnet schools, or if you live in the central part of the county (not really much "older," since not many Raleigh neighborhoods predate 1970), your children are not likely to be moved. I followed the same cohort ("class") of students in three Wake magnet schools from grades one to eleven, with remarkable stability given how mobile the area's population is. Your children are also less likely to be reassigned in districts with more stable populations.

Besides, complaining about "busing" is so 1970s.
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Old 08-16-2007, 06:45 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
12,475 posts, read 32,189,719 times
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The areas with the most growth are usually the ones that get re districted due to the new schools opening and once the new school opens, kids are needed to fill it!

After 4 kids in Wake County Schools for the last 20 years, we were only moved once and that was when my daughter started middle school. We were happy with that decision. Instead of attending West Millbrook Middle, about 3 miles away, she went to Carroll Middle, about 6 miles away.

I find that if you live very close to the school, re districting isn't going to happen as frequently. As always, its the people that are unhappy that do all the complaining and those of us that have been mostly happy with Wake County Public School System don't have as much to say.

If the school system is that big of a concern, I'd suggest putting your child into private school. You have much more say so in some things versus public school.

Vicki
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Old 08-16-2007, 08:36 AM
 
906 posts, read 2,378,554 times
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My children haven't been redistricted, but the street next to ours was this year. It is really a crap shoot when you move to Wake County. You could get redistricted to a school on either a traditional or year round calendar or your school could get converted to year round. Like somebody above said, areas inside the beltline in Raleigh are the most immune to reassignment as well as conversion to the year round calendar.

Do your research before you move down here. I have a friend from NY who is moving back up there as soon as her house sells because of our school system. She said that the material things that come with our low cost of living aren't worth enduring the school system.

The diversity policy is the absolute number one thing driving reassignment decisions with everything else coming a distant second, third, etc. It is good intentioned, but its not working. The goal is to have no schools with more than 40% of its students receiving Free or Reduced Lunch, but we have 20 schools that are over 50%--7 of those are over 60%. They will deny you acceptance to a magnet or a year round school if you do not fit the right demographic and if you are low income they think nothing of busing you 13 miles from home to go to school.

Like I said, please do your research before you come. Do not take what the school officials say at face value--always dig a little deeper. They constantly tout that we have a successful diversity policy and they may mention that we have some schools out of compliance but they will never detail for you just how many are out of compliance.

Sorry for the long post, its just a topic that I am very passionate about. I am not completely unhappy in our school system, but I do think some of its core practices are flawed. I have a blog where you can read more about these issues: www.voiceforequity.blogspot.com

Jennifer
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Old 08-17-2007, 07:37 AM
 
Location: Northern NY
6 posts, read 21,251 times
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Thanks for all of the great posts. Unfortunately this has knocked Raleigh way down on the list of places that we are considering moving to... Can anyone speak to the cost of private schools in the area?
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Old 08-17-2007, 08:06 AM
 
353 posts, read 994,155 times
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Having looked into it, parochial (religious) schools run anywhere from $4,500 (per student, if the family is a member of the parish "in good standing" (which means, you put money in the envelope every Sunday, and/or do a lot of volunteer work)) to $6,500 if you're not a parish-member, and not Christian/Catholic.

Private schools (non-religious) are over $10,000 per student

This is after a LOT of searching. I own that I may have missed something in my research, and if I have, maybe someone else can point you to it.

Clearly, parochial/private is a VERY tough choice. With a lot of sacrafice, we could do it, but have chosen not to. We simply feel that leaving Wake county is the better choice.

Good luck!
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Old 08-17-2007, 08:50 AM
 
3,031 posts, read 9,075,270 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nny_escapees View Post
Thanks for all of the great posts. Unfortunately this has knocked Raleigh way down on the list of places that we are considering moving to... Can anyone speak to the cost of private schools in the area?
Not all of the Triangle area is Wake County and therefore subject to the redistricting issue.
Johnston, Orange, and Durham counties are a few others.
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Old 08-17-2007, 10:17 AM
 
906 posts, read 2,378,554 times
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Yes, definitely consider counties other than Wake. I've heard that Johnston county schools have improved greatly since we moved here in 98. I don't have any first hand knowledge though.

Charter schools are another option, but there are lots of applicants and long waiting lists for the good ones.
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