Court action puts snag in Wake County's year-round school plans

The North Carolina Supreme Court has blocked the Wake County (N.C.) school district, at least temporarily, from assigning children to year-round schools over parents' objections. The Supreme Court has issued a stay that puts a hold on a Court of Appeals ruling that gave the district the right to assign children to year-round and modified-calendar schools without parental consent. Because of the Supreme Court's intervention, school administrators will likely have to contact families that don't return consent forms, which are due June 1, to see whether they want their children to attend a year-round school. This is an about-face for school leaders: They had previously decided that a failure to return the forms would be the same as giving consent for year-round assignments.
Click here to read The Raleigh News & Observer article.

EARLIER: A appellate court decision in North Carolina means that beginning in the 2009-10 school year, the Wake County district will resume sending children to year-round schools even if their parents object. The appellate court overturned a ruling that had required the district to get permission from parents to send children to year-round and modified-calendar schools. After the ruling, the board decided that Wake residents will still be able to opt out of year-round and modified-calendar schools for the 2008-09 year.To read The Raleigh News & Observer article, click here.

FROM APRIL 2008: Wake County, N.C., school leaders are giving up on their fight to send children to year-round schools without parents' permission -- at least in the next school year. School officials had been hoping for a ruling from the state Court of Appeals that would reverse a lower court decision last year requiring parental consent before students could be assigned to year-round schools. But the court has not ruled, and school administrators said they can't wait any longer.
Click here to read The Raleigh News & Observer article.