Wake County vs. Johnston County Schools (buying, costs, lawsuits)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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The big difference to us in how the schools are being handled is that Johnston County actually did preplanning (with bonds a few years ago) to handle newcomers, which is why two new high schools were opened in the last year, and why West Johnston was opened 6 or 7 years ago, where Wake County has been notoriously underplanning, backpeddling, and scrambling to accomodate their growth. Yes, as areas grow there will always be some redistricting but as far as I know Johnston County has no plans to start bussing kids all over the county to hit some imaginary magic economic number. We have neighborhood schools, and the ones on the western side of the county compete with anything in Wake County as far as test scores go.
While I am not appointing myself defender of Wake Co schools, having lived here for decades I have followed the goings on as Wake had also planned decades ago and continued to do so as best they could. They were planning for growth when Johnston Co wasn't a destination...it was mostly farmland, trailers, and some old subdivisions. Some of the outer reaches of Wake Co were the same. They are not neophytes and I believe they have done their best. What they couldn't plan for was the massive growth that hit us at rates higher than anyone could project. Once we started appearing on those Top Places to Move lists, etc., it was very, very difficult to project.
While I am not appointing myself defender of Wake Co schools, having lived here for decades I have followed the goings on as Wake had also planned decades ago and continued to do so as best they could. They were planning for growth when Johnston Co wasn't a destination...it was mostly farmland, trailers, and some old subdivisions. Some of the outer reaches of Wake Co were the same. They are not neophytes and I believe they have done their best. What they couldn't plan for was the massive growth that hit us at rates higher than anyone could project. Once we started appearing on those Top Places to Move lists, etc., it was very, very difficult to project.
I just looked at the census data and percentage-wise there is not that big of a difference in the growth rate between the two counties from 2000 to 2010, 43.5% for Wake vs. 38.5% for Johnston. On an absolute basis though there is no comparison, 273K for Wake vs 47K for Johnston. Almost twice as many people moved into Wake as live in Johnston.
The only schools I would suggest in JoCo would be the Clayton area. Either in Clayton near US 70 and 42 / Flowers Plantation / Riverwood areas or the Cleveland Schools at 40 / 42. Do not know much about the recently opened Cleveland High School except it is getting crowded. These schools have a larger population of transplants and therefore seem to be better. The rest of JoCo appears to be spiraling into structured chaos. I know there has been more than 30-40 teachers who left the county since June 2010. One was JoCo teacher of the year in 2009 I believe that was the year?
Though I do not know much if anything about Wake besides the current controversy on neighborhood schooling...
As you have said and know from your experieces, schools are location specific and when comparing Wake and Johnston it is location specific.
Just a quick point about Wake's 'new' plan. They have said it will be rolled out starting with K classes...so if all your kids are already enrolled, they should continue roughly as indicated by the old plan. (there will always be small changes to any plan).
Oh, now if we are talking about the current board...all bets are off...no way do I defend them in any way shape or form. I am disgusted with them and in particular the ego-centric players - Margiotta and Tedesco. they and their backers have torn apart our system. It's a bloody mess!!!
Just a quick point about Wake's 'new' plan. They have said it will be rolled out starting with K classes...so if all your kids are already enrolled, they should continue roughly as indicated by the old plan. (there will always be small changes to any plan).
Thanks Sue, good to know. Now do you mean the "old Plan", or the "Old, Old Plan"? I am honestly confused....
Assignment in Wake County is still up in the air. They voted to do away with all of the 'diversity busing' but they haven't settled on a new assignment plan yet. The one they are working on right now is a bit of a mess (imho). Nobody has a base school--you have to participate in the selection process where you have a choice of about 5 elem schools, 4 middle and 3 high schools. You rank the schools you want in order and then they have 'priority rounds' to select who gets into each school. They are based primarily on proximity but there is no guarantee that you will get the school you want and you could end up at a different school from your neighbors. Magnet schools are still available and are in a separate selection process.
If (and this is a big if) this plan is implemented for next year, the selection process will begin in Dec or Jan of this school year. By the time you move here in the summer, you will have to take whichever school has seats available. I don't know if they are going to save seats for growth during the school year or what--they haven't said yet. But I think that newcomers are definitely at a disadvantage in this 'controlled choice model'.
I don't mean to alarm you, just wanted to let you know what is happening with school assignment right now in Wake County. We have school board elections coming up on October 11 (I am running for District 3 in North Raleigh/Rural Wake Forest ), and I think the Superintendent and some of the current board members want to get this choice model passed and put in place before new board members get seated in December. I think there are too many unresolved issues with this plan and we need to take the time to do it right.
My .02 for what it's worth.
Who in their right mind could support such a system for assigning schools? Is the budget for bus fuel unlimited in Wake County? Whatever happened to going to the closest school nearest your home?
We are considering relocating to the Raleigh area (among several NC cities) in 2012 and are looking at schools as a major part of our decision.
Who in their right mind could support such a system for assigning schools? Is the budget for bus fuel unlimited in Wake County? Whatever happened to going to the closest school nearest your home? We are considering relocating to the Raleigh area (among several NC cities) in 2012 and are looking at schools as a major part of our decision.
You have a lot of reading to do to catch up - there's a lot of info in this forum about the Wake County schools and how they got to this point.
One friendly tip to aid your relocation: Suggesting the people in your chosen destination are not "in their right mind(s)" is not a good way to make new friends.
You have a lot of reading to do to catch up - there's a lot of info in this forum about the Wake County schools and how they got to this point.
One friendly tip to aid your relocation: Suggesting the people in your chosen destination are not "in their right mind(s)" is not a good way to make new friends.
I've followed this issue for years and have read many posts here and elsewhere concerning Wake County schools. My point is when schools are overcrowded due to population growth and bond issues fail to pass to build new schools....why would a school system spend millions on transporting kids (and the lawsuits it endured) when the same money could be spent to permanently add on to existing schools?
While I appreciate your friendly tip, the busing debate has been a matter of local controversy for many years. This discussion it about comparison between Wake County vs Johnston County systems. Busing kids for issues of overcrowding is simply a waste of the students time and the taxpayers money. Busing kids for reasons of political correctness IS crazy. I grew up during the 1970's and was a product of "desegregation". My first hand experience as a student is it solves nothing.
My solution? Offer $$$ bonuses (money wasted on busing) to teachers who take on the challenge of working in poorly performing schools. The time students waste on busing does not improve their education regardless of a schools overall grade.
While you may disagree with my generalization of the powers who made such decisions for Wake County, we probably do agree that schools are very important to a community and the students who attend them.
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), and I think the Superintendent and some of the current board members want to get this choice model passed and put in place before new board members get seated in December. I think there are too many unresolved issues with this plan and we need to take the time to do it right. 
