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RALEIGH -- The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and Wake Education Partnership hired Michael Alves from Massachusetts to come up with a new student assignment plan that could go against a plan school board members are developing. Alves is known for developing "controlled choice" assignment options around the country.

"The bottom line is we can't afford to get it wrong,” said Harvey Schmitt, CEO of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber and Wake Partnership are contracting Alves to develop a plan that would promote diversity through academic achievement instead of income. They say Wake's schools are important to the community's reputation and ability to recruit new business. They worry the zone system the school board is considering would lead to more high poverty schools in areas like southeast Raleigh.

"Any place in which you would find schools that would be under-performing and therefore deteriorate property values and limit people's interest in that space regardless of where it is in the county,” Schmitt said.

The school board voted earlier this year to end busing for diversity in favor of neighborhood schools. Board member John Tedesco is heading up the new assignment plan. He says they are considering academic achievement, but he doesn't want to abandon their goal of community based zones.

"There are some who are calling for academics to be the replacement of racial or income quotas to trigger reassignment. At the end of the day, I don't think you can just shuffle the kids,” Tedesco said.

Alves' preliminary plans call for fewer zones than the board is considering. That provides for more parent choice. Tedesco says he welcomes all input as the board continues developing their plan. Both agree Wake County needs the change.

"The community conversation that we're having, although tension filled at times, is really what we need to be doing to be able to get to a new system of assignment,” Schmitt said.

The Chamber of Commerce will not say how much they're spending to hire Alves. He'll deliver his plan to the board in late November.