I attended the second of three redistricting meetings for the new Bethany Bend High School last night.
Edenwilde doesn’t want Milton. Lakeside at Ansley does but it would be a disaster for Litchfield. White Columns and Triple Crown can’t imagine going to Bethany Bend High School but don’t want Elkins Point to feed into Milton High School. Roswell and their mayor reject changing the lines regardless of overcrowding. Crooked Creek knows it can’t have Milton but doesn’t want the highway 9 riff-raff. And doctor John reveled that Stephanie is having his baby but he has no intention of leaving Rachel and her trust fund….wait, I think that last one is daytime TV.
Ok, I’m trying to lighten the mood a little and I don’t speak for everyone; it’s obviously an important issue for parents in the area.
The “My Kid’s School Doesn’t Suck” Syndrome
I made this syndrome up, as a Realtor, because I have never met anyone who has said “don’t send your kids to my school, its horrible”. When people ask me “what is the best school in the area” I usually give them a 30-thousand foot view. I tell them which schools my kids go to, mention sports programs and reputations, and then I tell them to check the school scores themselves because it’s a deeply personal opinion despite empirical data. And every parent has their own factors for choosing one school over another. You might not choose to send your 9th grader to the best scoring school if they’re going to have a class of 700….or you might. Did you know:
- All the high schools in our area made the top schools list in Atlanta Magazine
- Alpharetta HS, Milton HS, Roswell HS and Northview HS were ranked in the most recent Newsweek Top 500 High Schools
Nobody likes change unless it doesn’t affect them.
I don’t think the concern is about school scores, if that were true then people would be moving in droves from Roswell and Milton to Walton High School as it ranks number 1 in the state consistently. Or to South Forsyth High School which offers IB courses and ranks higher nationally than Milton. It might be sports programs. Maybe class offerings. It could be property values although some North Fulton market data suggest otherwise. Possibly the feeling of community that exists; but the perception seems to be “no matter which school you put my children in; I don’t want them to be there”.
So, I’m curious and hope to hear from you. Does Plan A do enough to relieve overcrowding? Will Plan B have the largest negative impact to Roswell? Is Plan C the best option for controling traffic and growth? Which plan suits your community or personal wants and needs best? If you haven’t seen the maps already, here are the three options for the proposed high school lines. There certainly isn’t a “one size fits all” solution but I’m curious what you think might be the best overall option.
The best solution would be to let parents choose the right school for their children like the state does with Hope scholarships. But if I have to accept arbitrary lines drawn by bureaucrats I’d pick Plan A.
Plan A does not do what the whole purpose of this redistricting is so suppose to do – Build a new high school to reduce overcrowding at Milton and Roswel. On 2014, Roswell is over by 183 classrooms and Milton by 96 classrooms.
I like Plan C the best out of the 3 choices. I wish there was a choice to keep all of West Roswell together.
When you say plan B has the largest impact on Roswell are you talking the Roswell High School or the City. Plan B in my option is an even wash for all the North Fulton schools, you win some you lose some, but everyone pretty balanced size wise. Plan A and Plan C have a huge negative effect on the East Roswell Area, but if you listen to all the press you would not even know there was an East Roswell to be impacted. By putting that area at that kind of a disadvantage just b/c you can not dare have you child not go the the same school you did 20 years (when most of the schools in the area were not even build) ago is a huge disservice to all the students. Everything is fluid and if you are really thinking of the children you would want each and everyone to have the best public education possible and know that they (the schools) have the support of of not only the neighborhoods that fill them but the community has a whole.
Lisa, I thought plan B had the largest impact on the number of students that would be moved out of Roswell HS into Milton. My impression is that most people in Roswell don’t want to be moved out of that school district. That said, I couldn’t agree more with your thought that at the end of the day it’s about the kids, thier education and the community support of the schools. There are so many reasons why parents do or don’t want thier kids to stay or be moved from thier schools. You would think that quality education would be top of the reasons why they want to stay or go.