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Wake County Public School System

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Coordinates: 35°45′14.51″N 78°44′13.67″W / 35.7540306°N 78.7371306°W / 35.7540306; -78.7371306
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Wake County Public School System
The main office of Wake County Public School System
Address
5625 Dillard Drive
Cary
, North Carolina, 27518
United States
Coordinates35°45′14.51″N 78°44′13.67″W / 35.7540306°N 78.7371306°W / 35.7540306; -78.7371306
District information
Established1976; 48 years ago (1976)
SuperintendentDr. Robert P. Taylor[1]
Budget$2.2 billion (2023-24)[2]
NCES District ID3704720[2]
Students and staff
Enrollment159,778[2]
Staff10,663 (on an FTE basis)[2]
Other information
Websitewww.wcpss.net
Green Hope High School
Millbrook High School
Jesse O. Sanderson High School

The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) is a public school district located in Wake County, North Carolina. With 159,995 students in average daily membership and 198 schools as of the 2023–24 school year,[3] it is the largest public school district in North Carolina and 14th-largest in the United States as of 2016.[4]

History

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The current school system is the result of a 1976 merger between the previous (historically largely white) Wake County school system and the former (historically largely minority) Raleigh City schools. The merger was proposed initially by business leaders in the early 1970s out of concerns that continued "white flight" from Raleigh's inner-city schools would negatively impact the county's overall economy. Political and educational leaders also hoped that merging the two systems would ease court-mandated desegregation. The proposal proved initially unpopular with residents, however, who rejected it by a 3–1 margin in a nonbinding referendum in 1973. School and business leaders instead convinced the North Carolina General Assembly to force the merger.[5]

The district since has become notable for its integration efforts. Schools in the system are integrated based on the income levels reported by families on applications for federally subsidized school lunches, with the goal of having a maximum ratio of 40% low-income students at any one school. Consequently, thousands of suburban students are bused to magnet schools in poorer areas—and likewise, low-income students to suburban schools—to help maintain this income balance. Magnet schools are characterized as being public schools that specialize in a particular area, such as science or the arts, to encourage desegregation by drawing students from multiple neighbourhood and districts to the same school.[6] Professor Gerald Grant of Syracuse University used Wake County as a metaphor of hope in his 2009 book Hope and Despair in the American City: Why There Are No Bad Schools in Raleigh.[7] Grant says, "The research is very clear that having the right mix of kids socioeconomically, as Wake County does, has enormous benefits for poor kids without hurting rich kids."[7] According to U.S. News & World Report, in 2005, 63.8% of low-income students in Wake County passed the state's end of high school exams, which was significantly higher than surrounding counties that do not have similar integration policies.[8]

The county's residents are divided in their support for the system's integration program due, partially, to some of the means of achieving that integration, such as long bus rides for many students and a lack of neighborhood schools. Despite improved integration, test results among poorer students continue to lag; for the 2007–2008 school year, only 18% of the district's schools met the adequate yearly progress goals of the No Child Left Behind Act,[9] with only 71 percent passing state standardised tests.[10] Due to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling restricting the use of race in assigning students, Wake has been cited as a model for how other school systems can still maintain diversity in enrollment.[11]

In the effort to maintain economic diversity and keep up with rapid growth in its student population, Wake routinely reassigns thousands of students each year to different schools.[12] Many parents object to this annual shuffle. For the 2008–09 school year, for example, the school district has stated that it will reassign some 6,464 students in order to affect a new system-wide policy designed to help schools in the same geographic area achieve similar economic demographics. This wave of changes will require the reassignment of many low-income students to schools that have greater proportion of higher-income students.[13] In February 2009, the school board approved a plan that would move 24,654 students to different schools over the next three years).[14] The newly elected board gained a 5:4 Republican majority and was successful in overturning the integration policy that had been operating in Wake County for years.[15]

Currently, 198 public schools are in the system, consisting of 119 elementary (K-5), 38 middle (6–8), 31 high (9–12), and 10 special/optional schools. With numerous new schools opening each year, the school board names new schools for a geographic feature (such as Holly Ridge) or for road where they are located (such as Athens Drive and Leesville Road) or for the geographic area they serve (such as Holly Springs High, Apex High, and Garner High). The board, however, has recently tried to avoid naming schools after nearby subdivisions because such names may lead some residents to believe that the school is the "neighborhood" school. Unlike earlier times, schools are no longer named after people, which has proven to be controversial in the past. Schools named prior to the current naming policy, however, retain their existing nongeographic names.[16]

Year-round calendar

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WCPSS implemented year-round education through its magnet-school program (application by choice) in 1992. The first four magnet schools were Morrisville Elementary (opened in 1991); Durant Road Elementary, and West Lake Elementary and Middle schools (opened in 1992.)[17] By 1999, The Wake County School System saw 11,000 of its 93,000 (12%) students enrolled in one of the district's 10 year round schools.[18] That year there were 3000 applications for 1000 available seats. The Wake County Public School System made headlines in 2006 and 2007 for converting 19 elementary schools and three middle schools to a mandatory year-round calendar. It put more than a third of the elementary schools on the year-round calendar starting in July 2007. The decision was unpopular with some families who argued that the calendar switch should've been voluntary.[19] The switch to a year-round calendar in many schools has led to some unanticipated needs. For example, PTA chapters at some of the affected schools have considered the purchase of sun shades for playgrounds to provide shelter for students during North Carolina's hot and humid summers.[20]

A group of parents sued[21] to block the school system from converting the schools.[22] In May 2007, Judge Howard Manning ruled that the school system may offer a year-round calendar, but that it must obtain informed consent from a student's parents before assigning the students to a year-round school. Around 9% of the affected students did not consent and were assigned to a traditional calendar school.[23] As a result, many year-round schools have empty seats and many traditional-calendar schools remain overcrowded.[24] In May 2008, the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned the lower court decision, ruling that Wake does not need parental permission for students to attend year-round schools, but the State Supreme Court School agreed to hear the case and stayed the appellate decision until it makes a ruling.[25] District leaders sought consent for the 2008–09 school year but did not plan to do so the following year (2009–10).[26]

In October 2008, the school board voted to convert Baucom Elementary in Apex and Green Hope Elementary in Cary back to the traditional calendar, citing a less-than-expected increase in enrollment. Salem Elementary in Apex was also considered for conversion back to a traditional calendar, but that move was voted against by the board. Also at that same meeting, the board voted to convert Leesville Road Middle in North Raleigh to a year-round calendar.[27]

In May 2009, the state Supreme Court ruled that parental consent is not needed to send students to year-round schools.[28] As a result, the school board decided to no longer seek consent.[29] But the election of new school board members in October 2009, who said they opposed mandatory year-round schools, caused the district to go back to asking parents for permission.[30]

Controversies

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Diversity controversy

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National controversy arose in 2010 over the 5–4 decision of the Wake County School Board in March to switch from the socioeconomic diversification policy it had followed for a decade to a system that focused on neighborhood schools.[31] The prior plan, under which the public schools of the county were to "have no more than 40 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch" was set aside for concerns over long student bus rides, but immediately raised comments among the public and the NAACP that the outcome of the shift would be to "resegregate" schools.[31] The decision led to protests spearheaded by the state NAACP chapter, with arrests in June and July,[32][33] and to the resignation of the superintendent of Wake County schools.[34] The NAACP lodged a civil rights complaint with the office of the United States Department of Education, which began an investigation into the matter.[34][35] The complaint also prompted one national accreditation agency, AdvancED, to evaluate the schools to see if the decision would impact the school's accreditation standing.[36][37]

In January 2011, The Washington Post featured a story on the controversy,[34] following which it and the Associated Press were provided a letter by United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in which he wrote that it was "troubling to see North Carolina's Wake County school board take steps to reverse a long-standing policy to promote racial diversity in its schools" and "urge[d] school boards across America to fully consider the consequences before taking such action".[35][38] The situation was also lampooned on The Colbert Report.[39] According to The Washington Post, the decision has been backed by prominent members of the Tea Party movement.[34]

Some strides have been made towards compromise in Wake County between proponents and critics of the old integration plan. Michael Alves, an education consultant with 30 years of experience designing and implementing choice-based student assignment plans in districts across the United States, has developed an integration by achievement plan for Wake County. Integration by achievement will assign students to schools based on their previous achievements on standardised state test scores. Schools will have 70% of its students' scores at or above the proficient level while the remaining 30% scores below the proficient level.[15] The plan stipulates that once a child is placed in a school, he or she cannot be reassigned during their time in that school. The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, the area's largest business membership organisation, has suggested this plan to the Wake County school board.[40]

LGBT flashcards controversy

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In May 2022, a teacher in a preschool classroom at Ballentine Elementary School (part of the Wake County Public School System) in Fuquay-Varina was revealed to have shown her students LGBT-themed flashcards to teach them the colors of the rainbow, with one of the flashcards depicting a pregnant man. The flashcards were removed from the school. A Wake County spokesperson stated, "An initial review determined that flash cards were not tied to the district's Pre-K curriculum, did not complement, enrich, or extend the curriculum, and were used without the principal's review, knowledge, and/or approval." The teacher later resigned.[41][42]

List of schools

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Main article: List of Wake County Schools

As of the 2023–2024 school year, WCPSS has a total of 198 schools in its district. A list of all 198 schools and information associated with them can be found in the main article linked above.[43][44]

Demographics

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As of the 2018–2019 school year, the Wake County student body is split 51.2% male with a total of 82,424 students and 48.8% female representing a total of 78,535 students.[45]

Total American Indian Asian Black Hispanic Pacific Islander Two or more White
160,959 398 15,001 36,545 29,031 194 6,122 73,668
100% 0.02% 9.3% 22.7% 18.0% 0.1% 3.8% 45.8%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Office of the Superintendent". wcpss.net. Wake County Public School System. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Wake County Schools". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences.
  3. ^ "District facts". WCPSS.net. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  4. ^ "Table 215.30. Enrollment, poverty, and federal funds for the 120 largest school districts, by enrollment size in 2016: Selected years, 2015-16 and fiscal year 2018". Digest of Education Statistics 2018. U.S. Department of Education: Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2007. Retrieved October 20, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "National Center on School Choice - Resources - Types of School Choice". vanderbilt.edu. Archived from the original on June 7, 2010. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Gerald Grant on Wake County School Success". The Independent Weekly. May 21, 2009. Archived from the original on January 16, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  8. ^ "Taking a new course in class". U.S. News & World Report. July 7, 2007. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  9. ^ "Scores on state tests decline". The News & Observer. November 6, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008. [dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Scores soften Wake's boast". The News & Observer. November 12, 2008. Archived from the original on May 26, 2009. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
  11. ^ "To Get Diversity, Some Schools May Look to Socioeconomic Class Rather Than Race". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  12. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine[dead link‍]
  14. ^ Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine[dead link‍]
  15. ^ a b Winerip, Michael (February 27, 2011). "Raleigh, N.C., Schools Struggle to Agree on Integration Plan". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  16. ^ WCPSS: Board Policy - Naming of Schools (2570) Archived 2007-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Barrett, Robertson (January 17, 1992). "School seeking students". McClatchy News. The News & Observer.
  18. ^ Hui, Keung (June 21, 1999). "Always the season for learning". The News & Observer.
  19. ^ "Wake Cares letter to School Board et al". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 9, 2007.
  20. ^ "Schools want sun shelters for hot kids". News and Observer. July 12, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2007.[dead link‍]
  21. ^ "Wake Cares Inc, vs. Wake County School Board et al". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 9, 2007.
  22. ^ T. Keung Hui (March 14, 2007). "Parent Group Sues Wake Schools". The News & Observer. Retrieved November 14, 2008.[dead link‍]
  23. ^ "Board Assigns 2,600 Students to Traditional Calendar Schools". Archived from the original on April 13, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
  24. ^ T. Keung Hui (February 7, 2008). "Year-round school shuffle possible". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
  25. ^ T. Keung Hui and Kinea White Epps (August 28, 2008). "Wake's all-year lawsuit lives on". The News & Observer. Retrieved November 14, 2008.[dead link‍]
  26. ^ T. Keung Hui and Kinea White Epps (May 7, 2008). "Wake schools regain control over year-round plan". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
  27. ^ Hui, T. Keung (October 7, 2008). "2 Wake schools to end year-round schedule". News and Observer.[permanent dead link‍]
  28. ^ http://www.newsobserver.com/news/wake/story/1510271.html[permanent dead link‍]
  29. ^ "Wake won't seek consent for year-round schools - Local & State - News & Observer". Archived from the original on May 7, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  30. ^ "Wake school board changes year-round policy". May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on May 9, 2009. Retrieved January 18, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  31. ^ a b Khadaroo, Stacy Teicher (March 24, 2010). "Busing to end in Wake County, N.C. Goodbye, school diversity?". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on January 26, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  32. ^ "School board protest ends with arrests". CNN. July 21, 2010. Archived from the original on July 25, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  33. ^ Bowens, Dan; Adam Owens; Anne Johnson; Kelly Gardner; Minnie Bridgers (July 20, 2010). "Tensions rise at Wake school board meeting; 19 arrested". WRAL-TV. Archived from the original on January 19, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  34. ^ a b c d McCrummen, Stephanie (January 12, 2011). "Republican school board in N.C. backed by tea party abolishes integration policy". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  35. ^ a b The Associated Press (January 14, 2011). "US Schools Chief Criticizes NC Board Over Busing". NPR. Archived from the original on January 20, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  36. ^ Barron, Laura (September 23, 2010). "Agency Threatens to Pull Wake Schools Accreditation". NBC17. Archived from the original on January 19, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  37. ^ NBC17 Staff (January 11, 2011). "Wake Co. High Schools At Risk Of Losing Accreditation". NBC17. Archived from the original on January 15, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  38. ^ Duncan, Arne (January 13, 2011). "Maintaining racial diversity in schools". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  39. ^ Chou, Renee; Kelly Hinchcliffe (January 19, 2011). "Comedian mocks Wake schools' assignment controversy". WRAL-TV. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  40. ^ "About the Chamber - Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, Raleigh, North Carolina". raleighchamber.org. Archived from the original on April 25, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  41. ^ "LGBTQ-themed flash cards removed from Wake classroom". WRAL-TV. May 28, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  42. ^ "Wake County teacher resigns after using LGBTQ-themed flash cards in preschool classroom". WRAL-TV. May 31, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  43. ^ "District Facts". Wake County Public School System. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  44. ^ "2023-24 District Facts Report by Year". Google Sheets. Wake County Public School System. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  45. ^ "District facts". 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
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