School Bd. Takes Another Look at Redistricting Tonight

By Amber Lester Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The Williamsburg-James City County School Board will discuss redistricting in a special meeting today.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Boardroom of Building F in the County Complex. Before the special call meeting, the board will also meet at 5:30 p.m. for a closed session on personnel matters.

The board received a second version of redistricting proposals earlier this month from vendor Education Logistics, Inc. (EDULOG). The first maps, which offered three options for redistricting elementary and middle schools, were heavily criticized by parents and community members for splitting neighborhoods and in some cases, sending children to schools across the county from their homes.

Redistricting is necessary because the district plans to open two new schools – J. Blaine Blayton Elementary and Lois Hornsby Middle – in the fall to correct overcrowding in the upper part of the county. In October 2009, the board awarded the redistricting contract to EDULOG, specifying maps be drawn to meet three criteria: proximity, diversity and capacity. The board defined proximity as any school within a 30-minute bus ride (excluding James River Elementary, a magnet school). The board’s goal for diversity was to keep the ratio of free and reduced lunch at each school between 7.5 and 10 percentage points of the district average. Finally, the capacity needed to be between 85-88 percent of effective capacity.

After reviewing the first maps and gathering public input, the board asked EDULOG to draw new maps with adjustments to the criteria. The board requested James River Elementary be removed from redistricting plans because of its magnet school status. Board member Denise Koch and Joe Fuentes requested three new maps: one redistricting only schools in the upper part of the county; one using proximity as the main criteria and existing neighborhood outlines as guidance; and one raising the capacity at Rawls Byrd and Matthew Whaley to 90-95 percent and only splitting neighborhoods by major thoroughfares.

The newest redistricting maps were shown to the board and added to the division Web site on Jan. 12. The maps no longer feature “pockets” of neighborhoods zoned to different schools or neighborhoods zoned for schools across the county. WJCC cautions the maps are updated as mistakes are found and are subject to change.