Schools

Public Can Comment on New Redistricting Plan

Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris issues statement indicating disappointment in revised proposal.

There will be several opportunities for parents, teachers, students, and community members to comment on a revised school redistricting proposal for the Duluth and Peachtree Ridge clusters before the Gwinnett County Board of Education votes on it April 21. Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris, who said she would be unable to appear before the BOE at an upcoming public hearing, work session and meeting to comment on the new plan, issued a statement indicating the city is disappointed that areas near Gwinnett Place Mall are still going to be redistricted back into the Duluth Cluster.

A public hearing is scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, at the GCPS Instructional Support Center. Speakers can sign up right before the meeting, according to Sloan Roach, Executive Director of Communication and Media Relations for Gwinnett County Public Schools. The ICS is located at 437 Old Peachtree Road in Suwanee. 

School system staff is scheduled to present an update on the redistricting proposal to school board members during their 3 p.m. work session Thursday, April 21, prior to the regular business meeting that evening. “This is an information item, and no vote will be taken at that time,” Roach said. The deadline to get on the agenda to speak at the Thursday evening meeting was noon Monday. However, speakers may sign up Thursday evening to comment during a 30-minute open forum that begins at 6:30 p.m. prior to the board meeting and ends when the meeting starts at 7 p.m., she said.

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GCPL unveiled a revised redistricting map last Friday (April 15) that addresses some of the Duluth Cluster concerns. The original map that had been posted March 7 had drawn considerable opposition from Duluth city officials, parents, teachers, and students. Revisions were based on public input forms submitted to the GCPL Planning Department and previous comments. Additional revisions may be made to the plan after the April 20 public hearing. The BOE can also make last-minute changes just before voting. The revised map is posted on the GCPS website.

The map indicates areas along the railroad tracks (Buford Highway) and Davenport Road in Duluth would be moved from the Peachtree Ridge Cluster into the Duluth Cluster.

Find out what's happening in Duluthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Harris, asked by Duluth Patch to comment on the new plan, issued the following statement: “The Mayor and City Council are appreciative that the new proposed map has reunited some neighborhoods within the Duluth Cluster and has designated the Buford Highway Corridor businesses as part of the Duluth Cluster. However, we are still concerned and surprised that areas near the Gwinnett Place Mall would be transported to the Duluth Cluster to help balance the discrepancies between these two clusters. Although these small changes have addressed some of our concerns, it still appears that the schools in the Duluth Cluster will continue to be the “stepchild” schools and receive those neighborhoods that will indeed need extensive interventions.” Harris said she would not be able to appear at the school board meetings this week due to conflicts.

Harris had read a lengthy statement opposing the original redistricting plan and inclusion of apartments near Gwinnett Place Mall, which she described as the highest-crime area in the city, in the Duluth Cluster at the BOE’s March 17 meeting.

The redistricting was proposed by GCPS to relieve overcrowding in the Peachtree Ridge Cluster and increase enrollment in under-capacity schools in the Duluth Cluster beginning with the 2011-12 school year.

The new plan does not redistrict students at Harris Elementary School in the Duluth Cluster as originally proposed to make room for students from Mason Elementary School in the Peachtree Ridge Cluster. It redistributes the students from Mason that were slated to be redistricted into the Harris attendance zone. Some of the Mason students would remain there, some would go to Harris and others would attend Chesney and Chattahoochee elementary schools. 

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. The proposed changes also affect middle and high schools in the Duluth and Peachtree Ridge clusters.

 


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