We are very appreciative of the North Carolina Supreme Court granting a stay of the appellate court ruling. We are cautiously optimistic and are grateful that parents will for a time continue to have a say in their child’s school calendar in the Wake County Public School System.

Recently, an editorial in the News & Observer encouraged the WCPSS Board of Education to reach out to and work with parents affected by the hardships of a forced year round calendar. We echo that sentiment, and continue to hope that the WCPSS will be responsive to parents on this issue.

Again, we thank all of those who support WakeCARES, and encourage you to join our email list, and donate to our organization as we continue to advocate for parent’s rights in the Wake County Public School System.

Update: media links on the story:

News and Observer: Court blocks year-round school ruling
WRAL: Supreme Court halts Wake year-round plans
NBC17: State Supreme Court Blocks Ruling On Year-Round Schools

While we are disappointed that the ruling was not entirely in our favor, we are currently reviewing our options, and considering requesting a discretionary review by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

We sincerely appreciate the support and donations we have received. You have helped to make our voices heard, and you can continue, as we will, to advocate for parent’s rights in the Wake County Public School System by supporting at large elections of school board members.

To here to read the ruling.

http://www.wcpss.net/news/2008_april22_parent-contacts/

During the April 22 2008 Board of Education (BoE) meeting, the board approved traditional options for families NOT wanting to have their children attend their assigned Year-Round (YR) school. Click the following to see the WCPSS YR Assignment Plan.

Families will be notified in 2 different ways.

1. If you received a consent form for the 2007-08 school year, and chose to stay with your YR base, you will NOT be receiving a consent form this year. Instead, a letter will be attached to your “assignment strip” notifying you that should you NOT wish for your child to attend a YR school, you must inform your school or Growth Management of Wake County Public School System (WCPSS.) An attachment will reveal what the traditional option is for each school. Click the following to see the Parental Consent Notification Attachment A from WCPSS.
2. If you are assigned to a YR school for the first time (for the 2008-09 school year) you will receive a consent form, requiring you to give consent for your child to attend a school on this calendar, or to deny consent, allowing your child to have a traditional calendar at the option selected for your base school. Click the following link to see the form: Parent Consent Notification Attachment B from WCPSS.

Letters may be sent home 4/24/08.

Details regarding how much time parents will have to choose, if “seats” or tracks will be held pending acceptance of options, have not been released.

Proposed traditional options in some cases are different from the “traditional application options” offered in February.

Sadly, again, the WCPSS is doing it’s best to discourage families from leaving the YR schools by admittedly making the options “less attractive” in terms of distance, etc.

Please see Recommendations for Traditional Options for YR and Modified Calendar Schools document for revised traditional school assignment recommendations. For questions unanswered by the link or by our post, call WCPSS Growth Management at 919-850-1921.

This clearly manipulative move is another example of why our Board needs to change and why “at-large elections” are crucial to parent’s rights in Wake County.

Contact your BoE members, County Commissioners and municipal leaders to share your outrage. Email contact information is located in the “Links” section of this website. In addition, contact the newspapers and submit letters to the editor. Click below to submit a letter to the Editor of the News & Observer.

http://www.newsobserver.com/484/story/433256.html

As an added outrage, the WCPSS BoE is asking the county commissioners for $50million dollars and BoE Member, Lori Millberg was quoted in the paper today saying that she feels the citizens of Wake Co. are ready to “ante-up” increased taxes for school funding.

For other news and opinions regarding the Wake County Public School System and it’s policies, visit the links portion of our website.

The WCPSS will issue letters asking parents for consent to have their children attend year-round schools. The administration will make their recommendations for traditional calendar schools for those who require a seat to the BoE at their April 22 meeting. Then, the consent letters are to be sent by mail. While many are struggling with the forced conversions of schools to the year round calendar, there are still many other families who applied for year-round calendar seats this spring that were denied. The decision made by the Wake County Board of Education not to evaluate the need for each calendar will again make their responsibility to manage class sizes and school enrollments very difficult and will continue to waste valuable taxpayer dollars. No opinion from the NC Court of Appeals has been released as of yet. Families in Wake County are guaranteed the right to a traditional calendar seat.

At WakeCARES, we appreciate your support and will continue to advocate for All children in Wake County. Please contact us with any questions or comments.

Thanks to the support of many citizens, families, businesses and elected officials who share our beliefs, WakeCARES is continuing with its efforts to maintain choice and to advocate for accountability and responsiveness within the Wake County Public School System. One positive outcome of these efforts has been the legal ruling against mandatory year-round assignments and currently, all families in Wake County have the right to a traditional calendar seat. The Wake County Public School System has appealed this ruling and would like to take this right away from families. The appeal has been heard in the Appellate Court and we are awaiting the outcome. The next possible response date is Tuesday, April 1, 2008.WakeCARES would like to thank you for your ongoing support in advocating for education in Wake County. This support has played an integral part in our success and is greatly appreciated.
Currently we are in the process of updating our website. Please check back often for updates and new information.

In an effort to have a greater voice in the decisions of the Wake County Board of Education, please contact your state elected officials and support “at large” elections. Request legislation that would require all of the Wake County Board of Education members to be elected countywide on staggered terms during even years in November.

Click here to read Judge Manning’s Ruling on MYR regarding the school system mandating a year-round calendar; this schedule is not uniform and requires informed parental consent.