Cary parents got a chance to sound off at Board of Education members last night over the proposed school reassignment plan, but not in a way many of them would have preferred.

Due to the high number of people who signed up to speak at the hearing at Green Hope High School, school district officials split the hearing into two groups.

“They want to divide and conquer us,” said parent Allison Backhouse, who stood and opposed the split when board chair Rosa Gill introduced the idea to the packed auditorium.

The first 36 speakers were sent to the school’s media center with board members Ron Margiotta, Carol Parker, Patti Head and Kevin Hill while the second half remained in the auditorium with members Gill, Eleanor Goettee, Horace Tart, Anne McLaurin and Lori Millberg.

With each speaker given three minutes to present his or her argument, Parker and Gill said there was no possible way to get through all 73 speakers in the allotted two hours.

“This is something that is commonly done during reassignment hearings,” Parker said of the split.

Parents and supporters, some wearing yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the words “So Close We Can Walk,” crowded into the media center, some sitting on bookshelves, others lining the walls.

Once the hearings got under way, many parents spoke passionately, not just asking board members to keep their children at their current schools, but giving statistical backing to their pleas.

Parents from Davis Drive Elementary argued that 60 percent of the school’s student body meets a variety of diversity standards, from ethnic background to ESL or special needs status, and that moving children simply to fulfill diversity standards was needless.

Others also opposed the busing of students from across the county.

“Why are children spending two to three hours a day on a bus? These children deserve better than that,” said parent Karen Carter.

“We are here for the children — each child,” Carter said as a friend held up a poster board with a large photo of Carter’s son.

Parent Eleanor Thorne, whose seventh-grade daughter Savannah isn’t affected by this year’s reassignment, challenged board members to stop “node pushing” and “do something great.

“Do something with your life and board position you’ve been given. You’ve been given the power and opportunity,” Thorne said. “Be the team of nine who did something great.”

A third and final public hearing will be held Thursday, Jan. 24, from 7-9 p.m. at Middle Creek High. Parents can sign up to speak at that hearing by visiting www.wcpss.net/assignment-proposal/ or calling 850-1600.

The board of education will vote on the 2008-09 student assignment plan on Feb. 5.