Hundreds turn out for Henrico redistricting meetings

By: | Times-Dispatch
Published: March 16, 2009

Redistricting a hot topic Committee whose meetings have drawn hundreds will issue its final plans in April

Three community input sessions last week did not draw the huge crowds that similar meetings did in January, but Henrico County residents still are fired up about the largest school-redistricting project in county history.

Next month, a 70-member volunteer committee and an outside consultant will present recommendations to the School Board to redraw boundary lines. Two sets of proposals and feeder patterns were presented to the public to accommodate a new middle school and high school that are opening in 2010.

A little more than 1,000 people attended the input sessions last week at schools across the county. That's less than half the January attendance, but those who did attend were passionate about their causes. Some wore T-shirts announcing their neighborhood and schools of choice.

They questioned the boundaries and explained why their neighborhoods should go to a particular school, hoping to persuade committee members to reconsider where the lines are drawn for the presentation to the board.

Community members were encouraged to submit comments online this month, rather than on handwritten sheets, and school officials said they were pleased with the volume of responses.

Residents around the Mills Godwin High School area have been among the most vocal about wanting to stay at the school, known for high test scores and academic rigor.

Laura Wadsworth, who lives in the Kingsley subdivision off Gayton Road, said neighbors were pleased that maps showed the neighborhood back at Godwin, after having been changed to Douglas Freeman High School in earlier scenarios.

But residents were concerned with two proposals showing the school at 109 percent or 114 percent over capacity in 2010.

"Of course something's got to give," she said. "Someone's going to have to move back out."

But the enrollment projections at the meetings did not reflect the phasing plan recently adopted by the School Board. Under that plan, rising fourth-, fifthand eighth-graders would have the option of staying at their old schools if boundaries changed, and rising juniors and seniors would remain at current schools. The new high school on Staples Mill Road would open with grades 9 and 10 only.

Membership numbers will be adjusted and posted on the schools' redistricting Web site, school officials said.

Residents of six subdivisions off Pemberton Road said they weren't resting, even though the latest plans have them where they want to be.

"We were pleased to be restored to our existing high school," said Laura Hennig, a resident of Oldhouse Run. Under the latest proposal, students from that neighborhood would be attending Godwin. "But we're planning to stay active and involved."

Parents have expressed concern about their children attending certain schools at every grade level, but the biggest outcry has been from those who want to avoid J.R. Tucker High School, which under both working proposals still would be well below capacity. Henrico plans to add an International Baccalaureate program at Tucker in 2010.

Many neighborhoods still are submitting petitions to the committee and bombarding School Board members with e-mails.

Nothing is final, said Patrick Kinlaw, assistant superintendent of administrative services for Henrico schools. "When all the information is compiled, we'll take it back to the committee and take another look at it."

New proposals will be presented to the School Board on April 23.

Public hearings will be held May 13 and 14. The board is scheduled to vote on the redistricting plan at its May 28 meeting.

Contact Lisa Crutchfield at (804) 649-6362 or lcrutchfield@timesdispatch.com.