Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012

Wake school changes reduce magnet requests

Applications down by 28%

Wake County saw a sharp drop in the number of magnet school applications this year, as a new assignment plan changes the way students attend the historically popular program.

Although school officials said it's hard to compare, data released Jan. 13 indicate magnet school applications dropped by at least 28 percent from the previous year. School officials said parents might have been discouraged by changes that showed some schools had few openings.

"There was so much attention about the plan," said James Overman, head of the school system's task force that developed the new student assignment plan. "It's so new that some parents may have decided, 'We'll sit this out for now.' "

Magnet schools are a major part of the choice-based assignment plan going into effect for the 2012-13 school year. Under the choice plan, families will rank from among multiple schools which one they want to attend. The application process began Tuesday at assignment.wcpss.net.

In addition, the plan allowed families to apply in December to magnet schools, which offer specialized programs to attract students. Many magnet schools are inside the Raleigh Beltline to fill and integrate those schools.

Democratic school board member Jim Martin said the board should have gotten the magnet numbers sooner because the application window closed Dec. 19. On Tuesday, the board allowed the assignment plan to move forward without the delay that some groups had requested.

"The plan says the magnet program will continue unchanged," Martin said. "I'm having trouble with reconciling that statement."

Feeder patterns

An element of the new assignment plan is the inclusion of feeder patterns, a guaranteed elementary through high school pathway for each student.

Every magnet elementary student is assumed, for planning purposes, to be going to a specific magnet middle school and high school. Families can try to opt out of the feeder pattern, but only if the school they want to attend has the space.

Democratic school board members have argued that the feeder patterns are discouraging some people from applying to magnet schools. Some families want to improve their chances of attending neighborhood non-magnet high schools as opposed to being in magnet feeders to a place like Southeast Raleigh High.

Pre-assignments

As part of the feeder patterns, Wake pre-assigned 1,808 rising magnet sixth- and ninth-graders. In the past, those students would have had to apply to stay in the magnet program.

For the first time, when parents applied this year, they were told how many openings were projected at each magnet school. The inclusion of the pre-assigned magnet students meant some schools reported as few as five openings per grade level.

"The transparency was pretty stark for many parents that they didn't have a real shot for getting into magnet schools," Superintendent Tony Tata told the board this month.

Wake placed 1,755 of 4,296 applicants in one of their magnet choices. Wake placed 2,766 students on waiting lists for their first choices.

Overman said more magnet spots will open up after the completion of the choice-selection round that runs through Feb. 24. At least some of the pre-assigned rising sixth- and ninth-graders and some of those who got magnet seats will apply to go elsewhere this fall.

'The work isn't done'

Last year, Wake had 8,476 magnet applicants. Even including all 1,808 pre-assigned students, this year's total reaches only 6,104 applicants.

Despite the drop, Overman said he's pleased by the fact that only three or four of Wake's 33 magnet schools aren't expected to have a waiting list.

Martin and fellow Democratic board member Christine Kushner said they will press for more information on how magnet schools are being affected by the assignment plan. Board members have said they'll monitor the plan and make changes they feel are necessary.

"We realize the work isn't done," Martin said.