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<br />Emily Breuer instructs her fifth-grade Gloss at Aldert Root
<br />Elementary School, which Breuer attended as a child.
<br />STAFF PHOTO BY R08ERT MILLER
<br />SCHOOLS
<br />CIIF~TiNlll U i RU,.1 PAGE ) B
<br />•~•rd ~~n,ooo atudcnts by.lune.
<br />-nc• nl It~~u nc~~• ~chcxlh in
<br />ut,tut,. Itc~nson I•:Ic•n-cnla-y
<br />uu~l, opl•ncd as schcdulc•d. '1'hc
<br />rr; ('Ievt~land Niddlc Schcx-l, trill
<br />be r•Lrady until alter Latwr I)ay
<br />n Wake, 25 ne~~; conver•led ur
<br />u,valed schools opE~ned fnr•
<br />,srs as the s~•stE•m tries to
<br />~p up with a ralsidh' groa•in);
<br />lent pcspulation. 'Chic doesn't
<br />ode Cardinal Gibbons High
<br />sot, which the Roman Catholic
<br />cese of Raleigh relocated to
<br />ver accommodations.
<br />l br ~snd-new Rudy Cheek
<br />nu•nt<uy School in Cary, the
<br />ding; is alr•Lrady over its capacity
<br />t8 students. With an cnrollrnent
<br />ccled al 750, thr•ec trailers -
<br />•d °cottages" by Principal
<br />c t~~•azier -were installed
<br />r before classes began.
<br />'his is an area with a great
<br />of growth," Frazier said. "It
<br />to plan ahead."
<br />n Baleiko of Raleigh was one
<br />any parents who spent
<br />day doing last-minute regis-
<br />ons of their children. He reg-
<br />~ed his son, Mike, at Dillard
<br />ile School and his daughter,
<br />ica, at Reedy Creek.
<br />was just busy getting other
<br />:•s in order," he explained.
<br />er at Apex High School and
<br />Jerson High School at Wake-
<br />both senior classes of 2000
<br />a breakfast before driving in
<br />•avan to their respective
<br />ruses.
<br />eking horns and shouting stu-
<br />in festively adorned vehicles,
<br />v a police esccii•k. m:uic~ 1hc•
<br />until 6 a.m Monday. But Shelton
<br />said other buses were quickly
<br />fcsEtnd to replace them on the
<br />morning run.
<br />Ilut it's in the classrooms where
<br />the students will ultimately
<br />succeed, and they're in the hands
<br />of teachers such as Poteat.
<br />Poteat still works off the lessons
<br />she learned back in 1981 when
<br />stte was entrusted to
<br />kindL~rkarten teacher Donna Dow
<br />Over• the t•cars, Poteat
<br />dc~~eloped cline relationships
<br />with Dow and other Boot
<br />teachers lltat lasted long after sltc
<br />left the school. All through middle
<br />school, high school and college,
<br />Poteat regularly returned to Root
<br />to say hello.
<br />"I have a special connection to
<br />Root," Poteat said. "I don't know
<br />why anyone would want to leave."
<br />After she graduated from
<br />Broughton High School in 1994,
<br />she invited five of her former
<br />teachers to a celebratory dinner.
<br />"She would be the type who
<br />would always remember her teach-
<br />ers," said her third-grade teacher
<br />and now colleague, Linda Jones.
<br />"School was important to her."
<br />During Poteat's visit last fall on
<br />the school's annual Rootin' Tootin'
<br />Night, Dow told her she would be
<br />retiring in June.
<br />This news motivated Poteat,
<br />then going for a master's degree
<br />at UNC-Chapel Hill, to apply at
<br />Root. She received an early con-
<br />tract from Wake in January and
<br />got her master's, but didn't find
<br />out she was getting Dow's
<br />position until July 24.
<br />"When CPrincipal Chip Mack]
<br />told me, I did a cartwheel across
<br />the Floor," Poteat said. "I was so
<br />at the costs of development t'or the
<br />city."
<br />Representatives of the develop-
<br />ers of the three projects awaiting
<br />approval said they, too, could live
<br />with the moratorium.
<br />Council members Brenda Bur-
<br />nette and Cynthia Brown voted
<br />~• ''= DISTRICT
<br />'~ CONTINUED FROM PAGE l B
<br />included in the county system.
<br />Board members Monday night
<br />agreed that the boundary was not
<br />the issue. The issue, they said, ~~•as
<br />the suggestion that their southern
<br />sibWtg -Chapel Hill-Car•r•boro - is
<br />abetter school system.
<br />And board tnembers begged to
<br />differ.
<br />"I don't think we ought to sell
<br />short our county by talking about a
<br />line rather than what this is really
<br />about," board member Rick
<br />Kennedy said. "Our entire school
<br />system is at stake. What if we
<br />change this, what does this say to
<br />our teachers and students?"
<br />"Take a leap of faith," he urged
<br />the developers. "Believe in the
<br />Orange County school system."
<br />Several months ago, the devel-
<br />~.i I,,u,:u,~.,..u uJ ,i :,l„~. ,,,~..,,~., l,,,u,
<br />for the corridor by Uurhant city-
<br />countyplanners. But it's not likely
<br />those studies will be completed by
<br />the moratorium's end.
<br />The county commissioners
<br />approved the original moratorium
<br />proposal by a 5-0 vote July 12. But
<br />they had little risk with their vote,
<br />opers came to the school board
<br />requesting a shift of the boundary to
<br />allow all of the children in the sub-
<br />division to attend the same school
<br />system.
<br />Afterextensive research, howev-
<br />er, they came back Monday night,
<br />contending that the current bound-
<br />ary is in fact wrong.
<br />The petition ar};ues that a school
<br />district line approved in a public
<br />vote in 1951 was never recorded by
<br />the county. That's the boundary the
<br />developers now want to restore.
<br />To prevail, the petitioners need
<br />support from a majority of the
<br />affected property-owners and
<br />approval from, first, the Orange
<br />County school board, and then, the
<br />Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school
<br />board.
<br />Mike Parker, attorney for Orange
<br />County schools, advised board
<br />members that the current bound-
<br />ary would prevail if challenged in
<br />.1,,.,,. ,.,, ,~,~ .. .. ............. .
<br />"We have to t;et Lo a point where
<br />we're planning intelligently and cre-
<br />atively ... landl not at a pace that
<br />outstrips the available infrastruc-
<br />ture," he said.
<br />Dan Kane wn he ruched
<br />of 956.2412 0- dkane@nondo.com
<br />court. "My opinion is that the school
<br />boundary is where it is," Parker
<br />said.
<br />Board members lined up ri f;ht
<br />behind that statement.
<br />"!f it ain't broken, don't fix it,"
<br />board member Bob Bateman said.
<br />'~1s far as we're concerned, it airi l
<br />broke."
<br />Changing; the line, board member
<br />Brenda Stephens said, "would
<br />indeed be a slap in the face to the
<br />people in this district."
<br />With that, the developers, who
<br />described themselves as "baffled,"
<br />walked out of the meeting, admit-
<br />tingthat the petition had no chance
<br />of passing.
<br />And the school board members
<br />moved on to their next topic: scores
<br />on the end-of-year tests, the best
<br />ever posted by the county school
<br />system, they proudly noted.
<br />Sumathi Reddy can he reached
<br />at 932-2004 or sreddtr@nando.com
<br />
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