Click through to read the entire release regarding possible upcoming changes in the Public School Feeder patterns and how you can get and stay informed.
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School Facilities Planning in the Western Feeder Pattern
On a drive through western Albemarle County today the number of new homes being constructed will catch your attention. New homes typically result in new students for Albemarle County Public Schools. In the next five years, our school division estimates the number of elementary students enrolled across Albemarle County will increase by 115 children. The Albemarle County School Board is taking steps to prepare schools to house these new students.
At its December 14, 2006 meeting, the School Board approved the school division’s five-year Capital Improvements Program (CIP). The CIP spans five years and can be adjusted yearly to reflect changing needs. The school division’s Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee, which includes citizen representatives, analyzes a variety of information related to school facilities and enrollment trends to create recommendations for the superintendent.
In the latest CIP review cycle, the Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee completed its work in September 2006 and presented its recommendations to the superintendent, who forwarded the recommendations to the School Board without changes. The School Board reviewed the recommendations and last week made a few adjustments to the CIP to prepare for the current and future growth throughout the 740-square-mile school division while staying within budget limitations. The School Board revised the superintendent’s project timeline and descriptions for some projects in the five-year CIP. One such revision impacts part of the Western Feeder Pattern in alleviating overcrowding at Crozet.
Examples of possible adjustments include:
*Using the existing enrollment capacity at Brownsville and perhaps Meriwether Lewis Elementary Schools to reduce overcrowding at Crozet next school year. This change would involve some current Crozet students transferring to Brownsville or Meriwether Lewis next school year. It would not involve current Brownsville, Meriwether Lewis or Murray Elementary School students being transferred to other schools in fall 2007.
*Moving the Brownsville addition forward. The project’s design will begin in the 2007-08 school year to add 190 seats at Brownsville for anticipated enrollment. It will be complete in fall 2009.
*Delaying the start of the Crozet addition until 2012. By using capacity that exists at other elementary schools now, the Crozet addition can be moved farther down the timeline. However, construction to create separate car and bus staging areas, and new parking, will begin design in fall 2008 and be completed in fall 2010.
At its January 11, 2007 meeting, the School Board will receive a report for a timeline and process for developing recommendations to redistrict current Crozet students. The school division’s goal will be to notify in spring the families whose students would be transferring.
School Board Policy FB (Facilities Planning) will guide the process for developing recommendations. The policy calls for school division staff to develop options and present the options to parents and citizens for formal input before a recommendation is presented to the School Board. Informational meetings and on-line opportunities for public input will be provided. The public input will be reviewed by the School Board. To read Policy FB, visit the school division website at www.k12albemarle.org and click on the “School Board” link which will take you to the on-line policy manual.
We will continue to provide updates like this as the planning process takes place to keep you informed and ensure that our parents and school staff have the opportunity to participate in the public input process.
