Our daughter and her family live off river road and their kids go to Churchill.  Suggesting that trip doesn't require vehicular transportation is a bit of a stretch.  As soon as the District offers bus service from anywhere in the district to any school in the District there will be TRUE school choice.  Until then it will be "hey, you kids with folks who can arrange the transportation....pick any school.  Oh, the rest of you....go to the school of your attendance area."  

You label North as a "failed" school.  If that's the case, do you think it's fair for the wealthier kids to "escape" to South, leaving the working class kids behind.......  I certainly don't. 

 I'd like to see statistics showing the median income of the families sending their kids to high schools out of the North attendance area, but residing in that zone, compared with the median incomes of families of the kids who remain in North.  I'm guessing such info would be really depressing.