Three decades of continuous growth in the Wake County school system will be coming to an end, planners say, and it will lead to hard discussions about the future of the district.
Wake schools grew by only 42 students this school year — not the 1,898 newcomers projected. School and county planners said Tuesday that this year’s enrollment slowdown is part of a new trend that will lead to the district only growing by 3,800 students over the next decade — 20,000 students fewer than they projected a year ago.
The new projections have Wake’s enrollment shrinking starting in 2025. The last time Wake’s enrollment shrank was in 1982.
