I attended the first of three redistricting meetings for the new Bethany Bend High School last night. While there were somewhere between 100 and 200 people there, I thought there would be many more. I get asked often if I have any idea where the lines are going to get drawn, let me say up front – no one does at this point.
The boundaries will be determined using the following Primary Criteria: Geographic proximity, capacity and projected enrollment; along with this Secondary Criteria:Traffic patterns, frequency of neighborhood rezonings, school feeder alignment and special programs like TAG, ESOL and Special Needs.
The purpose of this meeting was very specific, focusing solely on 4 questions that will help the Operational Planning offices consider important issues from the community when they propose the new district lines. These were the questions:
Question 1 – In terms of factors such as natural geographic barriers, homeowners associations, and shared amenities such as common areas, youth teams or events, what neighborhood areas should remain together and why.
Examples of this would be communities like Champions View that have different entrances of individual sections of the same community. Those should remain together and not split between schools. Another example would be Rhodes Plantation and Coventry that share the same community amenities.
Question 2 – What traffic concerns do you have that may impact the safe and timely transportation of students to and from schools.
Such as Hwy 400 being a physical boundary line that shouldn’t have to be crossed, or “possibly” Champions View wanting to stay in the Milton High School District so they don’t have to make a left hand turn out of the community and cross traffic in the morning.
Question 3 – Are there residential development trends in your area that may impact future school enrollment?
No. As we all know, development is at a crawl. It was brought up that there will be overcrowding when all these vacant lots are developed and vacant homes are purchased. If you know exactly when that is going to happen…..please let me know.
Question 4 – thinking about the past three years, have there been issues regarding multiple school rezonings in your area.
An example of this would be if you were redistricted from Summit Hill to Cogburn and then back to Summit Hill. The County will attempt to limit another change for your community.
The last question brings up a point that some may not be thinking about. When the High School lines get changed to accommodate the new school, lines for Elementary and Middle Schools will have to change as well. The number of students feeding into each High School currently and in the future clearly have an impact, the goal is to be forward looking in order to minimize future shifts.
The process moving forward looks like this:
Community Meeting #2 will happen on March 16th and up to 9 different maps of district options will be released based on the information gathered last night. Input will be gathered at this meeting in order to refine these maps further. Also, at this meeting they will have the projected enrollment numbers for the current schools.
Community Meeting #3 is scheduled for April 13th. The number of district options will be minimized and this will be the final opportunity to provide input to the County.
The final decision on boundary lines will be voted on by the Board and released in June, 2011. The boundry lines for all schools will go into effect in August 2012.
This is a complicated process and I think they are doing a good job attempting to gather as much information as possible from residents so they can make the best choice they can for the community. That said, not everyone is going to be happy. Katie Reeves said it best, this often matters more to the parents than the students. In the end, they will be fine. But, if you want your voice heard, I suggest you attend the remaining meetings. If you have imput, you can participate in their online forum here: http://fultonschools.org/redistricting/bethany/feedback_round1.htm
