Friday, January 30, 2004
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Friday, January 30, 2004 |
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Redistricting plans to be unveiled next week A group of Coweta County school parents will present recommendations on elementary school redistricting plans for the new Grantville Elementary School at a public hearing next Tuesday at the Central Educational Center. A proposed district map affecting parts of Moreland Elementary, Eastside Elementary, Poplar Road Elementary will be presented for public discussion at 7 p.m. in the CEC conference room. The committee has proposed a final version of the map that, if adopted by the school board, would be effective for the 2004-05 school year, in time for Grantville’s planned opening in August of 2004. Maps of the recommended changes are available at the affected elementary schools, and will be on display at the Feb. 3 public hearing. The Parent’s Redistricting Committee is composed of two parents each from Moreland, Eastside, Poplar Road, Newnan Crossing and Jefferson Parkway Elementary Schools. The committee was convened by Superintendent Peggy Connell last October to plan for the opening of Grantville Elementary School and the redrawing of district lines required by the opening of the new school. Connell also asked the committee to try to find a way to make room for new students at the fast-growing Newnan Crossing and Eastside Elementary Schools. The committee is asked to take into consideration all legal and policy factors that the board must consider when adopting new district lines. On Monday, the parent committee voted to adopt a final proposal that created a new Grantville Elementary School district from the southern and eastern portions of Moreland Elementary School, moved small portions of Eastside and Poplar Road School districts into Moreland’s district, and a small portion of Eastside School's district into Willis Road. With a recommendation from Connell, however, the committee voted to leave Newnan Crossing and Jefferson Parkway’s as they are during this redistricting cycle. No other elementary schools, and no middle or high school district lines, are being affected in this year's redistricting. “I want to commend this group for your hard work since October,” Connell told the redistricting committee Monday. “Redistricting is probably the most difficult issue we have to deal with in the school system, and this committee has brought a lot of dedication to your work. You’ve done a great job with this proposal, and you have helped us in the school system with planning for our future growth.” Newnan Crossing Parent Tricia Palmer chaired the 10-person committee, along with co-chair Jay Moore of Poplar Road Elementary School. After the public hearing next week, the committee plans to make a formal recommendation of the map and related recommendations to the Board of Education at its Feb. 10 business meeting. The board must make final decisions involving redistricting. This year's committee is identical to the one formed in 2001 to plan for the opening of Willis Road Elementary School. Typically, the Coweta County Board of Education decides to redistrict schools only when a new school opens, or when schools have become extremely overcrowded. The Board and the Superintendent decided to form parental advisory committees on redistricting in 2001 to better involve parents in the process of drawing new school lines.
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