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WAKE FOREST, N.C. – It was a small crowd at Heritage High School Thursday night for the second of five public hearings on Wake County's student assignment plan for next year.

Fewer than twenty parents spoke at the meeting. Some asked to remain assigned to their current school. While others pleaded with the board to be reassigned to a school closer to home.

“While there are many nodes that drive through our neighborhood to get to Heritage Middle, we are assigned to Wake Forest-Rolesville which is a traditional calendar school,” said parent Barbara Ortiz. “Everyone feels strongly the closer you are to your school, the closer the community. The more involved parents can be and more involved the children will be.”

There are still three more opportunities for people to address the board about next year's student assignment plan. There are three more public hearings:

• Wednesday, Jan. 19 at Southeast Raleigh High School
• Thursday, Jan. 20 at Garner High School
• Monday, Jan. 24 at Cary High School

All of the public hearings start at 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Wake School System and the company that accredits its high schools are in a stand-off and it could be students who are the most impacted.

Advanc-Ed, the company that accredits schools to ensure they meet national education standards, has been trying since last March to investigate allegations the school board's decisions could be hurting the quality of education offered at Wake County Schools.

However, the school board has objected to the broad scope of the investigation, saying it has nothing to do with high school standards.

Today, the Wake County School System sent another letter to Advance-Ed re-iterating those objections. The letter says in part, "Anything less than a positive response to this letter will force the board to also reconsider its continuing relationship with advanced."

“It's hard for me to believe the company we employ would not want to cooperate with us,” said Ron Margiotta, the Wake School Board Chairman.

However, in a letter just Monday afternoon, Mark Elgart, the President and CEO of Advanc-Ed told the school board it required full cooperation for Wake County High Schools to keep their accreditation.

Elgart said, "Wake County leadership continues to take action that is confrontational. I seriously doubt the school system can benefit from the accreditation process with this attitude and approach. As such, I ask the system to seriously consider withdrawing its accreditation unless it can move forward in a more collegial and collaborative manner."

The school board is now waiting for an official response to the letter they sent today.

Wake county high schools have been accredited for more than 70 years.

Many colleges, like all the public institutions in California and Florida, only admit students from accredited schools.