Dear Neighbors-

Wake County's newly proposed draft school assignment plan divides Conn Elementary's traditional base among three schools.

Starting from Lions Park on Bennett Street, all of the Belvidere Park and Woodcrest addresses I have spot-checked are now zoned to Joyner Elementary. This includes houses along Plainview Avenue that adjoin Conn's property, sitting right at the school's rear-entrance crosswalk. In addition, the Mordecai and Pilot Mills neighborhoods, also long a part of Conn's base, are now zoned to Underwood Elementary.

These assignments ignore walk zones and neighborhood boundaries (both cited as zoning priorities), add unnecessary transportation costs, and undermine the strong and growing neighborhood commitment to Conn.

This issue is of obvious importance to families with young children. It also has implications for continuity and connections across our neighborhoods and affects whether they are seen as appealing places to live.

The county is seeking feedback on the proposed changes. Now is the time to unite around our neighborhood school. Whether you are a parent or just interested in our community, please share your thoughts on maintaining Conn's base with the school board through this link: http://www.wcpss.net/news/2012_sept21_address_lookup/ You can also use this link to check assignments by street address.

A Google group has been set up to facilitate discussion of this issue. Please join through this link to stay informed: https://groups.google.com/d/forum/connbase

Thank you!
Kelly Turner
Tonsler Drive