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Folks in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (N.C.) district says that even if their plans for a massive bond issue in November are successful, they still might not have enough money to add space for the growth they’re anticipating. So they are beginning to talk about (ssshhh!) year-round schools. That would enable the district to effectively increase the capacity of their facilities and lessen the need for additional classrooms.

A lot of times, school systems raise the issue of multitrack year-round schedules, but before a serious debate begins, all those invested in the status quo and emotionally attached to summers of leisure storm the gates of the school district in opposition.

Soon, the shell-shocked board says something like, “well, we don’t really want year-round schools either, but we had to at least ask.” Then the board has more leverage to ask for a bond issue for school construction.

But things may be different in North Carolina, where Charlotte can point to Wake County as a precedent. The Wake County system is converting 22 elementary schools this summer to year-round schedules. Many parents protested, went to court to prevent their children from being forced to attend year-round schools, won their case, but the school board remained committed to the conversion. The district isn’t forcing any students to attend a year-round school, but it also says that it can’t guarantee that the non-year-round school to which a student is assigned will be one the student or families want. So the overwhelming majority of families are keeping their children in the schools that are converting to year-round calendars.