Public Meetings on December 10 and 11
to Consider Possible Redistricting Solutions from Community Advisory
Subcommittees
(ALBEMARLE
COUNTY, Virginia) – Albemarle County Public Schools families will have the
opportunity to review and comment upon options for the possible redistricting
and reconfigurations of some elementary schools in the northern and western
portions of the county at two public meetings next month. The meetings will be
held on Monday, December 10, at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School and Tuesday,
December 11, at Meriwether Lewis Elementary School. Both meetings will begin at
6:30 p.m.
The
division’s redistricting advisory committee includes two subcommittees totaling
22 parents and community advisors. One subcommittee is considering changes to
attendance zones in the northern feeder pattern, where Agnor-Hurt is more than
100 students overcapacity. Students may be relocated to Broadus Wood, Greer
and/or Woodbrook elementary schools beginning next August. At the December 10
public meeting, school division staff and the subcommittee will present several
options for how Agnor-Hurt’s overcapacity should be resolved, and the
subcommittee will receive public feedback.
At
the December 11 public meeting, the western feeder pattern subcommittee will
discuss short-term options for Meriwether Lewis, which include taking no action
or recommending that a limited number of students be relocated to either Crozet
or Murray elementary schools. The subcommittee also will present its analysis
of planning options for the next several years to address projected enrollment
growth among several elementary schools in the region. This will include the
impact on feeder patterns for middle and high schools. The public will be able
to review and comment on these options and on the longer-range planning
analysis.
None
of the schools in the western feeder pattern are at the overcapacity level that
exists at Agnor-Hurt. Given the county’s projected growth patterns in that
area, however, the subcommittee’s recommendations are an opportunity for the
school division to anticipate and prepare for the impact of growth over the
long term.
To
ensure that all families who could be impacted by redistricting next year have
the opportunity to review all options and offer comment, an online survey will
be sent to them during the week of the public meetings.
Following
the public meetings, the subcommittees will analyze, vote upon, and forward
their recommendations to the Superintendent, who in turn will recommend
solutions to the School Board in January. The Board will decide upon the
proposals that will be presented at a public hearing later in the winter.
“The
parents and community members of our two subcommittees are highly connected to
the families at the schools they represent. They are making extraordinary
contributions to the decision-making process,” said Josh Davis, the division’s
Chief Operating Officer and the primary facilitator for the two subcommittees.
“Members began with a clean sheet of paper, meaning all ideas and options were
on the table. They continue to be exhaustive in their research and are asking
insightful questions,” he added.
“Subcommittee
members are open-minded in their deliberations with their focus on solutions
that serve the best interests of our students and families. That is first on
the priority list for all of our volunteers,” Davis said.
Concurrent
with the December 10 and 11 public meetings and in addition to the surveys that
will be sent to individual families, any member of the public will be able to
review and comment on subcommittee recommendations. These will be posted on the
school division’s website beginning December 10. This survey and information
about subcommittee members, meeting dates, and minutes can be accessed at www.k12albemarle.org/redistricting
by clicking on the “Current Projects” link in the left-navigation of the page.
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