For illustrative purposes, the Indy mapped a set of hypothetical “community assignment zones” based on school board member John Tedesco’s formula. He calls for one or two high schools per zone, with designated “feeder” schools (middle and elementary) for each zone. We came up with 14 zones. Five zones contain a pair of high schools. The other nine zones have one high school each.

We laid our map over one supplied by the Wake County school system showing the location of low-income students in the county (defined as students eligible for the federal free and reduced lunch program). The darker the shade of red, the more low-income students live in a given sending area. (The county calls them “nodes.”)

We have not listed the alternative high schools or Wake Early College, which are small and would draw students from multiple zones. Where there’s an asterisk*, it indicates that we’ve included a school that is scheduled to open in 2010-11. We did not include schools planned to open beyond that date.

1. Fuquay-Varina HS (Fuquay-Varina middle school, four elementary: Ballantine, Fuquay-Varina, Lincoln Hts., Willow Springs).

2. Holly Springs HS (Holly Ridge MS, Holly Grove MS*; four elementary: Akins, Holly Grove, Holly Ridge, Holly Springs).

3. Apex HS (Apex MS, Salem MS; five elementary: Apex, Baucom, Laurel Park, Olive Chapel, Salem).

4. Panther Creek HS-Green Hope HS (Davis Drive MS, W. Cary MS, Mills Park MS*; 10 elementary: Alston Ridge*, Carpenter, Cedar Fork, Davis Drive, Green Hope, Highcroft Drive, Mills Park, Morrisville, Turner Creek, Weatherstone).

5. Cary HS (E. Cary MS, Reedy Creek MS; six elementary: Adams, Briarcliff, Cary, Farmington Woods, Kingswood, Northwoods).

6. Middle Creek HS (Lufkin MS, W. Lake MS; seven elementary: Banks Rd., Middle Creek, Oak Grove, Penny Rd., Vance, W. Lake).

7. Garner HS (E. Garner MS, N. Garner MS; seven elementary: Aversboro, Creech Rd., E. Garner, Rand Rd., Smith, Timber Drive, Vandora Springs).

8. Knightdale HS (E. Wake MS; four elementary: Forestville Rd., Hodge Rd., Knightdale, Lockhart).

9. East Wake HS (Wendell MS, Zebulon MS; five elementary: Carver, Lake Myra, Wakelon, Wendell, Zebulon).

10. Wake Forest-Rolesville HS-Heritage HS* (Heritage MS, Wake Forest-Rolesville MS; eight elementary: Forest Pines, Harris Creek, Heritage, Jones Dairy, N. Forest Pines, Rolesville, Sanford Creek, Wake Forest).

11. Leesville Road HS-Sanderson HS (Carroll MS, Leesville Rd. MS, W. Millbrook MS; 10 elementary: Brier Creek, Brooks, Green, Hilburn, Jeffreys Grove, Leesville, Lynn Rd., Stough, Sycamore Creek, York).

12. Wakefield HS-Millbrook HS (Durant Rd. MS, E. Millbrook MS, Wakefield MS; 10 elementary: Baileywick, Brassfield, Brentwood, Fox Rd., Lead Mine Rd., Pleasant Union, River Bend, Wakefield, Wilburn, Wildwood Forest).

13. Athens Drive HS-Broughton HS (Daniels MS, Dillard MS, Martin MS, part of Centennial Campus Middle School; 10 elementary: Combs, Dillard, Lacy, Olds, Partnership, Root, Swift Creek, Underwood, Wiley, Yates Mill).

14. Enloe HS-Southeast Regional HS (Carnage MS, Ligon MS, Moore Square MS, part of Centennial Campus Middle School; nine elementary: Barwell, Bugg, Conn, Fuller, Hunter, Joyner, Poe, Powell, Washington).