Families Together in the Wake County Public School System

To the Members of the Wake County School Board who voted for separating siblings who would otherwise attend the same school, and against religious considerations for appealing school reassignment:

The Wake County Public School System Character Education program (http://www.ncpublicschools.org/nccep/wake_county/overview.html) seeks to educate students on the values of respect, responsibility, caring or kindness, trustworthiness or integrity, fairness/justice, citizenship/civic value, courage, perseverance, self-discipline, and good judgment.

In this day, when many families are stressed or even split due to failings of moral integrity, illegal drug use, a lack of responsibility or apathy by a parent or child, or overwhelming focus on material gains, the values included in the character education curriculum are crucial.

By supporting families and their right to support and strengthen each other in values, religious beliefs, and with positive peer influence, these character traits will be best learned.

To achieve this goal, all families with siblings who choose to attend Wake County Public Schools must be given consideration to allow siblings of similar age to attend the same elementary, middle, or high schools, and all family members attending year-round schools attend on the same schedule track so that the families vacation time will be shared.

This focus on family togetherness will increase the opportunities of students to associate with their family members, decrease the burden on families choosing to support their sons and daughters in extra-curricular activities, encourage increased participation of parents in their sons and daughters academic studies, and improve the character, morale, and performance of the students of Wake County Public Schools.

I encourage the Wake County School Board to exercise the traits of respect, caring, fairness, and good judgment by allowing families to help their sons and daughters build these traits through freedom of association of family and religious ties.