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My family is considering a move to the Cary area and I am really confused with the school situation. It seems that Cary residents may go to Apex schools, Holly Springs residents to Cary schools, Morrisville residents to Cary schools. Can anyone one explain to me why this is? Also, is there a city school tax or a county school tax? If it is only a county school tax, then it would make sense, but a city school tax not so much. Why would someone from, for instance, Apex pay a city school tax when my Cary child is using their school. I hope this question makes sense.
It is a county wide school system.... Wake County Public Schools. It's very common for kids to go to school several towns away. When we lived in South Raleigh, our neighborhood was disrtircted to schools in Apex...... 30 minutes away. So no, you don't pay city or town school taxes, but you do pay county school taxes.
Yes like the PP said, there is no "Cary schools" or "Apex schools". ALL the schools are run by the Wake County system. Most kids do go to school close to home, but there are certain neighborhoods where the kids get bussed 10-12 miles to a different school. They are also getting ready to do a HUGE reassignment next spring so if you buy a house now, your school assignment may change next spring.
Thanks for the info. It makes sense to me now. Here in NJ, we pay city school taxes and only go to the schools in the city in which we live. My biggest fear is that, while my children are only 4 and 1 at this time, that by the time they get into elementary school together, they will be in a different school than each other. Does that happen? Also, I suppose it is too early to tell then based on the future redistricting, but I was wondering if any certain elementary schools have better reputations than others, and can we buy a house within that district? I have been on various websites, but sometimes it is best to hear from parents.
There is no sense at all in buying a house for a school.... they redistrict thousands of students every year. Yes, although it isn't very common, it's also not uncommon for children from the same household to go to two different schools... if we don't move back to NY soon, and have to stay another year, my oldest two will go to two different highschools.... one at Apex High, and one at Panther Creek high, over 10 miles away in Morrisville
How is that economical to bus kids far from their local school? Is it just to get a mixture of student in the schools , so there is affluent kids going to less
expensive areas.
As mentioned above, the school system is county-wide. (There are only a small few places in NC where the city has a separate school system from the county....and even then it's still actually run by the county, just with a separate district.)
One big thing that a lot of northerners are surprised to learn when they move down here is that counties: A) have their own government, separate from the cities and B) the services that county governments have authority over are more than what cities have.
Here's a brief idea:
Counties: Schools (the biggie), libraries, sheriff, health departments, EMT/Ambulance, Social Services, courthouses, jails, landfill, board of elections.
Cities: garbage/recylcling collection, police, fire, streets (unless it's a state road of course), street lights, sidewalks, zoning, water/sewer.
There are probably others I forgot, but if you ask I could find out.
How is that economical to bus kids far from their local school? Is it just to get a mixture of student in the schools , so there is affluent kids going to less
expensive areas.
Pretty much yes, that is the idea behind it. It's usually the poor kids who get bussed to the more affluent areas, but it can be the other way around... that was what happened in Wake Forrest and it had many people furious.
So If we move to Apex or Holly springs then chances are they will go to a better school since they are farther out from Raleigh and stay away from Wake forest to dodge that issue you mentioned
Apex and Holly Springs are a part of Wake County Public School System.
The entire county is growing so much and so many children are entering the system, that redistricting will be a way of life for the foreseeable future. Lines are constantly being redrawn and there is more than one variable taken into consideration. Proximity to a certain school is only one variable.
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