GCPS Releases Updated Redistricting Map Early

An updated redistricting map for the Duluth and Peachtree Ridge clusters posted Friday on the Gwinnett County Public Schools website keeps Harris Elementary students there and redistributes students from Mason Elementary that were slated to be redistricted into the Harris attendance zone. Some of the Mason Elementary students would stay at Mason, some would go to Harris and others would go to Chesney and Chattahoochee elementary schools. 

The map also appears to move an area along the railroad tracks in Duluth from the Peachtree Ridge Cluster into the Duluth Cluster.

The map was posted ahead of its scheduled date of April 18. A public hearing is scheduled by the Gwinnett Board of Education on the revised map from 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 20 at GCPS headquarters in Suwanee. The school board is expected to vote on the redistricting map at its 7 p.m April 21 meeting.

The new map was developed with input collected by Boundary Committees at affected schools and public input forms that were available on the school system’s website. Of the 1,400 total forms collected, about 1,000 opposed the previous redistricting plan while 400 supported it, according to Jorge Quintana, GCPS director of media relations.

Figures were not provided with the map on the website, but Duluth Patch obtained the following Friday afternoon from Quintana. Under the updated map, 134 Mason Elementary students would move to Chesney, 106 to Harris and 40 to Chattahoochee for a total of 280 Mason Elementary students to be redistricted. This compares to 128 Harris students that would have moved to Chesney and 274 Mason students that would have relocated to Harris totaling 402 under the former proposal. See chart provided by GCPS. The chart also provides figures for the impact of the updated plan on the middle and high schools in the Duluth and Peachtree Ridge clusters.

The controversial redistricting that would be effective with the 2011-12 school year was proposed to relieve overcrowding in the Peachtree Ridge Cluster and increase enrollment in under-capacity Duluth Cluster schools.

According to a statement accompanying the map on the website: “The school system uses an inclusive process that allows GCPS to gather input from educators, parents, and community members on the proposed revisions. In addition to providing input through Boundary (Committee) input forms, citizens also have provided feedback at board meetings including the Area Board Meeting for their district. Based on the input gathered, the GCPS Planning Department has made several changes to the proposed map.  

“These proposed changes meet the district's goal of better balancing enrollment between the two clusters, while also taking into account the input that has been gathered since early March and minimizing disruption.”