After falling out with Saint Augustine's, lawmakers move bill to help Wake leadership academies
A bill approved by a North Carolina House of Representatives committee would help more than 100 Wake County students continue to attend an early college.
Wake County’s two leadership academies are in turmoil. The schools were sending their students to Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh to earn college credits, but they can no longer do that now that the university’s accreditation is in jeopardy and the school board has terminated its agreement with the university.
On Wednesday, the House’s Local Government committee passed along a bill to fix that. House Bill 900, sponsored by Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, would let the school system partner with a new university as soon as possible instead of having to go through a competitive process. It would also allow the schools to remain official “early colleges” under state law — a designation the schools would lose without the bill.
Early colleges are high schools the have special authorization under state law. They have students complete almost all of their high school credits in their first two years before attending a two or four-year college partner. Students can earn up to an associate’s degree and even stay for a fifth year of high school. That fifth year is something a handful of students take advantage of every year. Tuition is covered by the General Assembly, rather than by families.
Paré said the bill was important for students who want to stay enrolled in an early college and for students who want to attend a more centrally located university. The bill’s other primary sponsors are Wake County Democratic Reps. Ya Liu, Sarah Crawford and Maria Cervania.
But after the committee meeting, Wake school system officials continued to say that they still plan to send students to Wake Technical Community College next fall — a move that has frustrated parents of students who live far from the Morrisville campus and students who want to take different classes. Many parents and students are also flustered that the school system didn’t begin to look for a new partner in December 2022, when SAU’s accreditation was placed under review.
Paré has been getting messages from families at the school and said Wednesday there are “transportation and course alignment issues” with the Wake Tech partnership. Paré represents southern Wake County, where families have said the drive to Wake Tech is too far to make work. She filed the bill in the hopes that the change would help Wake County Schools sign a new, permanent partnership in time for the fall semester, which many families say they want.
Parents and students have written letters and called school system administrators urging the system to arrange a permanent partner now. Many have told WRAL News they have already decided to transfer schools, although they did not want to.
“This is what happens when people don’t start immediately creating contingency plans,” said Robert Gibson, who believes the commute from Garner to Morrisville during rush hour traffic will be too much for his teenage son next year.
Forming a new university partnership on such short notice is a tall order, said Seydric Williams, the area superintendent who oversees the leadership academies. But the school system has been looking at Wake Tech as a potential bridge partner since SAU’s accreditation was first revoked in December 2023 (the revocation is currently in arbitration.)
“It’s just difficult with any university or college to try to stand up a new program in a few months,” Williams said.
The school system is still looking for a permanent partner for the 2025-26 school year.
Both Williams and School Board Member Sam Hershey said Wednesday they appreciate House Bill 900 for making it easier for the system to find a new partner and keeping the early college designation for the schools.
Editor's Note: This story has been corrected with the proper spelling of Seydric Williams' name.
