Group of parents feel 'forced out,' plan to rally against 'disruptive' WCPSS reassignment plan

APEX, N.C. (WTVD) -- Some Apex parents are planning to rally Tuesday outside of Wake County Public School System Headquarters ahead of a public hearing on the proposed student assignment plan.

The proposal is for the 2025-2026 school year.

Parents said the plan that's on the table is going to affect them in a huge way.

"They don't want to take our word and our experience into consideration. It seems very much an algorithm," parent Kaitlyn Treder said.

Some parents have started a petition in opposition and more than 200 people are backing it.

Under the proposal, some kids at Olive Chapel Elementary School would be sent to another campus a couple miles away and calendars would no longer align with the middle school.

"It's a hardship for my family and it's also disruptive to my community because all these bonds that I have made with all of the families in my neighborhood, I'm going to be forced out of it into a community that doesn't make sense for where we are geographically," parent Bailey Butler said.

"My hope is that they (the board) listen," said parent Meg Gandolph. "Wake County is huge, right? I don't expect them to know this area super well, but it doesn't feel like whoever was over this particular area really came and did the research, at least not in our area."

The district said on its website that assignment plans are done each year due to population growth.

Wake County's population is growing more than twice as fast as the rest of the state.

New schools are going up and some students might be sent to different schools to address overcrowding.

ABC11 reached out to the Chair Chris Heagarty about the proposed changes. We have not yet heard back.

The board is scheduled to vote on the plan Nov. 26.