J
#1
Neighborhood Schools: A Low-Cost
Solution or a Return to Segregation?
Aleigha Page, Staff Writer
The Wake County School Board
is currently contemplating a plan
to redistrict schools and send stu
dents to “neighborhood schools.”
Neighborhood schools, also
referred to as community schools,
establish schools in the neighbor
hoods where students live. On the
surface, this appears to be a lovely,
community bonding idea. Unfor
tunately, the real world is much
larger and stretches far beyond the
bubble and comfort of well-bonded
neighborhoods.
Neighborhoods are gener
ally composed of similar people,
incomes, lifestyles, and religions.
“Neighborhood schools are a
concept that came out of a cam
paign of Richard Nixon in 1970,
when he wanted to split the South,”
noted Rev. Dr. William Barber
at a January 19th school board
meeting. After the progress of the
civil rights movement, it appears
Wake County is taking a step back
in time. Dividing the county into
neighborhood schools will create a
lack of diversity and be a step back
toward segregation.
The current status quo of Wake
County is to have students bused
to their school from home in order
to have racially and economically
diverse schools. But some bus
rides are more than an hour, and
opponents of the busing system
claim that students spend unnec
essary amounts of time on the bus.
Additionally, a law in North
Carolina states that a school
should not have over 40% of stu
dents on free and reduced lunch.
With the propositions of neigh
borhood schools, many schools
might surpass this limit, and a
high percentage of low income
students could be harmful for the
well-being of students and schools
in these neighborhoods.
Karen, a current Meredith Col
lege student and a former student
of Green Hope High School, does
not believe busing in students
creates a healthier school at
mosphere. She argued that “the
students bussed in are not able to
participate in sports unless some
one is willing to pick them up from
school.” This leaves many students
unable to join their classmates in
STAFF
' hcraldConicrfdith.edii
Editor
Cmirtney Angers
angei’si'of" nimtiith.edu
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Staff Writers
Kri.shna Chagarhinuidi
.Jillian Curtis
Krill Ktheridge
Kristin Gallagher
■Meghan Grad>'
Caillin Griflin
Galley .Jones
.\leigha Page
■Anna Turner
Meiigjie /.hang
llic Ikruid is piihlishal
li> the College thnm.ghout liie
aeademic \var. Thi' paper is
I'lmded In the I'ollege and throuRh
indt'iK'iiilent aih’erti.sing.
All adv('i1isi‘mon1s should tx' w-nt
to hiTaldie nierulillu'eliL
'the policy of this paper
require.s that submissions be
made bj p.m. the Tluirsday
before publication, allow
ing time for consultation
betw een staff and eimtrilni-
tors; that articles not exceed
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editor not exceed 200 words;
and that contributors sign
all submissions and proiidc
necessarx contact informa
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come submissions meeting ,
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/’iiW/s/tcd by llmtim /Vess
The opinions exiiressed ill the
editorial eoliimns do not neees-
sarily retlect those of the College
administration, faculty, or .student
liodv.
extracurricular activities and iso
lates them. Karen reported that for
one student the join the basketball
team the basketball coach had to
drive one of the bussed students
home each day.
In contrast, Kenneth, a current
NC State student and former stu
dent of Wakefield High, is a strong
advocate of bussing students. He
had an hour long bus ride to and
from school, and he used the rides
to study for exams or do home
work. He argues that “if people
took advantage of the time on the
bus, they could have entire after
noons to do whatever they please.”
The debate as to what will be
occurring in the schools is no
where near over. Stay tuned in to
the community as to what changes
will occur. Keep in mind that a
decision made today has the ability
to have effects for many years to
come.
Walkin’ in a
Winter Wonderland
One Month Late!
Caitlin Griffin, Staff Writer
Wake County may not have had
a White Christmas this year, but
residents of all ages got a special
surprise on Friday, January 29
when an uncharacteristic winter
storm dumped up to eight inches of
snow and ice all over the Triangle.
Although local meteorologists Greg
Fishel and Mike Maze could not
stress enough how unusual it was
to foresee a storm system one full
week in advance, many Triangle
residents laughed it off as just an
other faulty forecast. However, the
doubters ate their words mighty
quickly when the first off-and-on
snow flurries began falling in the
area around 7 p.m. on Friday night
and didn’t fully stop until early
Sunday morping.
Over the weekend, many Mer
edith College students were seen
celebrating across the street at the
Brickhouse and gossiping about
whether they would actually have ,
to turn in that paper or take that
test the following week. Thankfully,
the snow faiiy graciously granted
many Raleigh college students’
wish for an official snow day on
Monday! Students spent the rare
free day sledding, building snow
men, and snapping memorable
photos for the yearbook. Perhaps
it was the largely-advertised N.C.
State Snowball Fight that inspired
the Avenging Angels to hold their
A Meredith Snow Day, photo by Caitlin Griffin
own powder puff snowball fight on
the old soccer field. Overall, week
end snow accumulations varied
between four and eight inches at
any given place around the Tri
angle. The unfortunate downside
to all of the fluffy fun was the high
number of messy traffic accidents
throughout the weekend. Since
many roads remained icy, students
with 8 am classes were relieved to
hear that Meredith would operate
on a delayed schedule the fol
lowing day. The college officially
re-opened on Tuesday morning
at 9:30 am. Wake County Public
Schools definitely got the long end
of the stick this time with three
official snow days (Monday, Tues
day, and Wednesday) and a one-
hour delay on Thursday morning...
but at least college students don’t
have to make up missed classes
over spring break!