MORRISVILLE - The Wake County school board voted Tuesday to continue capping enrollment at Cedar Fork Elementary School in Morrisville to relieve overcrowding.

The vote means that families that will move or have moved into the school's attendance area after May 1, 2008, will be required to use a different school. The cap was first put in place for this school year.

New students who live east of N.C. 55 will attend Reedy Creek Elementary School. Those who live west of N.C. 55 will go to Weatherstone Elementary School.

But the school system will not continue the cap it also placed this school year on Forest Pines Drive Elementary School in North Raleigh.

Parents of students at Cedar Fork Elementary School in Morrisville applauded the decision.

"The news was quite comforting," said PTA president Daphne Stam, who has two children at the school. "The cap controls class sizes and is good for stability overall. "

Principal Kathleen Marynak said the school's official capacity is 747 students, but close to 870 are currently registered to begin school on August 25.

"When our facility is full, it becomes more difficult to run, not only because of class sizes but also because of specials [like media and music] and support services like the cafeteria," said Marynak. "We have six cottages [mobile classrooms], and our technology classroom is already held in the media center. If we exceed capacity, combination classes like second and third grades combined become a certainty."

Parent Shuyun Mu, who has a second-grader at Cedar Fork, has seen the strain overcrowding can put on a school's services.

"I think it is reasonable to cap Cedar Fork. Crowding can cause lots of inconvenience for both the school and the parents," she said. "The crowding can put an extra burden on the teachers and affect the teaching quality. But I also understand the benefits of neighborhood schools. I agree with allowing as many students as possible at Cedar Fork while keeping the cap in place at the same time."

Board policy states that new students can enroll at Cedar Fork, space permitting, at three times throughout the year: after the first 20 days, after the first semester or at the end of the school year.

Cedar Fork's cap has the potential to affect enrollment at the new Alston Ridge Elementary School, a year-round school in Cedar Fork's cachement area that is currently under-enrolled. Alston Ridge has approximately 450 students enrolled but continues to grow as new housing developments are built.