New attendance lines on board’s agenda

Thu, 01/05/2006 - 5:21pm
By: John Thompson

The Coweta County School System’s overhaul of the school attendance lines could be approved as early as next Tuesday’s board meeting.

For the last month, parents have been sending e-mails to parent committees voicing opinions about the new attendance zone.

School spokesperson Dean Jackson said just over 1,400 students will move to new schools next fall because of several reasons.

First, the county is opening two new schools — Bobby Welch Elementary School and Lee Middle School — in the eastern part of the county. In addition to populating the new schools, the system is trying to relieve overcrowding in schools in east Coweta.

“The high-growth area is almost a triangle from Canongate Elementary to Newnan Crossing and Eastside Elementary in Senoia,” Jackson said.

Several schools, such as Jefferson Parkway, are under capacity, so Jackson said many of the children will be funneled to the under-utilized schools.

The final reason for the redistricting efforts is a Department of Justice order that requires the county to address any schools that are racially-identifiable.

“We’ve got one school, Ruth Hill Elementary, that falls into that category and two more that are close,” Jackson said.

In years past, redistricting has been one of the more contentious issues facing the school system. But this year, the efforts have gone fairly smoothly.

“I think the biggest reason is that we have had parent committees at each school with the process. The committees are going over the email comments we’ve received and will present a final proposal Tuesday night,” he added.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the school system’s administrative building on Jackson Street in Newnan.

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