CARY - Western Wake County families scrambled to change school choice paperwork after the county voted to put four year-round schools on a traditional calendar.

The county school board voted unanimously to convert Leesville Road Elementary School, Leesville Road Middle School and Mills Park Elementary School to a traditional calendar. The board also agreed to open Mills Park Middle School on a traditional calendar instead of the planned year-round schedule.

The conversions could result in hundreds of students changing schools to stay on a year-round calendar. Administrators said converting those schools would result in the loss of $28 million worth of seating capacity. Year-round schools can hold more students than traditional-calendar schools.

Families already facing changes to their base school assignments in 2010-11 faced difficult decisions. School option paperwork was circulated in February, with many parents turning it in based on the understanding that Mills Park Middle School would open on the year-round schedule.

For families already on the year-round schedule or with students of varying ages, deciding what to do may become choosing the lesser of two evils, and many worry that the schools may flip-flop again in the future.

Mixed opinion

"I'm not very happy," said Karon Sorensen of Morrisville, whose three children have been attending year-round Carpenter Elementary. The family's base school changes to the new year-round school, Alston Ridge, for 2010-11, while her oldest child will start at the traditional calendar Mills Park Middle.

"So we face children on two schedules," she said. "If both are switched to traditional, I'm fine, but this doesn't make any sense."

Kelly Labori has a rising fifth grader, rising kindergartner and a newborn. She foresees plenty of changes ahead. While she could grandfather in her fifth grader to her current school, traditional Cedar Fork Elementary, her rising kindergartner would not be eligible to attend. The Labori family's new base is year-round Alston Ridge, a change they had made peace with.

But with a now-traditional middle school looming, Labori faces several years of children on opposing schedules.

"This is not the best decision for our family," said Labori, who lives in Morrisville. "With our kids so spread out in age, there will be a lot of years of being on different tracks. Our kids adapt well, but I feel for the families whose kids don't. I guess we'll just ride this [change] out and see what happens."

Eva Ingling wanted her two children to stay on the traditional calendar and welcomed the new options. So when her base school Mills Park Middle was set to open on a year-round schedule, she filled out paperwork to keep her rising seventh grader in West Cary Middle School, which runs on a traditional calendar.

But now that Mills Park is scheduled to open as a traditional-calendar school, she'll have to change her choice.

"The whole thing has been very confusing," Ingling said. "... With another traditional middle school in our base area, I don't know what will happen.

"I'm happy Mills Park will be traditional, but I wish it could have been resolved sooner."

New board members had campaigned on converting some year-round schools to a traditional calendar as part of a pledge to end mandatory year-round schools.

Parents surveyed

A majority of parents who responded to a recent district-wide survey at Leesville Road Middle had said they'd prefer the traditional calendar. A majority of the parents who responded whose children will be rising sixth-graders when Mills Park Middle opens this summer also said they prefer the traditional calendar.

Board Chairman Ron Margiotta and member Deborah Prickett suggested converting Leesville Road and Mills Park elementary schools as well to have the whole campus on the same calendar.

A majority of parents who responded at Wakefield Elementary and Salem Middle also said they'd prefer the traditional calendar. But board member Kevin Hill, whose district includes Wakefield, didn't back the move.

Margiotta, whose district includes Salem Middle, said those families could easily go to Mills Park.

Staff writer Keung Hui contributed to this report.