Wake County Public School System has released the first draft of its 2027-28 student assignment plan, and it could touch as many as 50 schools across the district. The proposal is built around filling the brand-new Morrisville High School, relieving overcrowding at two elementary schools, and shuffling thousands of students between campuses from Cary to Rolesville — though the district has not yet said exactly how many children will be affected.
The plan, as reported by the News & Observer, would move students out of overcrowded Cedar Fork and Northwoods elementary schools and into Morrisville and Pleasant Grove elementary schools, both of which have available seats. Wake County has posted the full draft online at wcpss.net/2027enrollmentproposal, along with an address lookup tool so families can check whether their household is affected, according to the same report. The district has also published a YouTube video walking through the proposal alongside its online documentation.
Filling a New $230 Million Campus
The centerpiece of the plan is Morrisville High School, a new campus on Little Drive that is scheduled to open with freshmen and sophomores in 2027 and eventually grow to 1,800 students across all grade levels. The 300,000-square-foot facility sits on 45 acres and was developed through a partnership between Wake Tech and the Town of Morrisville, which purchased the land from Wake Tech and is investing nearly $19 million in adjacent park and athletic facilities.
To fill the new building, the draft plan pulls in students from Cary, Green Hope, Leesville Road and Panther Creek high schools. It also moves students from Athens Drive High to Cary High and shifts students from Green Level High to Panther Creek High as part of the broader realignment, per the News & Observer’s reporting. Students reassigned to Morrisville High will have to move under the district’s stability rules, though those with older high school siblings already enrolled elsewhere, or those in specialized programs, are exempt from the requirement.
Elementary and Middle School Ripple Effects
The overcrowding at Cedar Fork and Northwoods elementary schools has already forced the district to cap enrollment at both buildings, automatically routing newly enrolled neighborhood students to overflow schools until new boundaries take effect, according to Wake County Public Schools. Beyond that fix, the draft plan proposes moving some Mills Park Elementary students to Cary Elementary, while some students at Highcroft and White Oak elementary schools would shift into Mills Park Elementary. Other moves would send some Rolesville Elementary students to Forest Pines Elementary, some Willow Springs Elementary students to South Lakes Elementary, and some Yates Mill Elementary students to Swift Creek Elementary…