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RALEIGH – A group of 20 former Wake County Board of Education members gathered on Monday at the Murphey School in downtown Raleigh to voice their concerns about the current board.

They chose that location because it was where the movement started toward desegregation of the public schools in Wake County. Board members represented eras of the school system from 1976 onward.

"We had to represent those needs in our district, but we had to put them in the context of a plan that was a systemwide plan that met the greatest number of needs," said Wray Stephens, who served on the board from 1981 until 2001.

The former board members offered their services and experience to the current board as it moves toward a new assignment model based on community zones.

But some say it's the past policies that have brought the school system to this point. WakeCARES said "these are the very people who supported a failing policy for decades" in a statement released before the news conference.

"Unfortunately, in the past, when you deal with student assignment decisions, when you deal with taking a serious look at the academic challenges, that type of openness and responsiveness to the community just wasn't there," said Joey Stansbury, a member of WakeCARES.

Cliff Wimberley, a former board member who served through the merger of the city and county school systems, said she's concerned that the changes could lead to high concentrations of poverty in some schools.

"I'm concerned now that the present system is moving so fast that they don't realize the impact of every step in every decision that they make," she said.

Debra Goldman, the vice chair of the school board, said current policies are not addressing the needs of all the kids.

"What we need to do is we need to figure out how to do this better, how to help these kids better," she said.

Former board member Patti Head acknowledged that the county has achievement gaps that need to be bridged. But she said the board will also have to confront the reality of limited resources. She's concerned about how much a new plan would cost, in terms of money and disruption to families.

"Let's not jump into something until we all know, are on the same page, or have that information," she said.

Statement from former Wake school board members