Residents of the Sutherland neighborhood asked the Wake County Board of Education during public comment on Nov. 4 to avoid reassigning their community to schools south of Green Level West Road. Amy Chirikuri and Dharmesh Pariahwala explained the community's history of prior reassignments and said the current proposal would again send Sutherland students away from the nearest middle school, Mills Park Middle.

Chirikuri noted prior calendar misalignment and stressed continuity for siblings: "Students should be able to attend middle school with the kids they grew up with in elementary school." She said the reassignment would force families to navigate mixed school calendars and longer bus routes that pass their neighborhood.

Pariahwala described planned development south of Green Level West Road, citing the Veridis project (described in public comment as about 1,300 residential units, hotels, retail, and an expansion of Duke Health) and said developers' projections could add hundreds of students to Turner Creek Elementary and Salem Middle. He argued Green Level West Road is becoming a natural geographic boundary and that crossing multiple major roads without safe walking or biking routes would raise safety risks. Both speakers asked the board to keep Sutherland assigned north of Green Level West Road to maintain proximity, safety, and stable feeder patterns.