Schools

NPU F Approves APS Redistricting Statement

Letter will be sent to local officials including Atlanta Public Schools board of education

Neighborhood Planning Unit F unanimously approved a letter Monday night that addresses the current effort to redraw school attendance zones in Atlanta Public Schools.

This is the first planning unit in the city to weigh in on the redistricting effort since the process began in November 2010.

The planning group represents Virginia-Highland, Morningside Lenox Park, Lindridge Martin Manor and Piedmont Heights neighborhoods. Virginia-Highland, Morningside and Piedmont Heights residents are zoned for Inman Middle School and Grady High School. Lindridge Martin Manor residents are zoned for the North Atlanta High School cluster.

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In the latest proposal released by a third party demographer, a small portion of Morningside is rezoned to the North Atlanta cluster for middle and high school. Most of Lindridge Martin Manor would be redistricted to a proposed new Elementary school along with a portion of Morningside.

The Neighborhood Planning Unit F education committee drafted the letter approved Monday night.

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City-wide neighborhood planning units are charged with advising the city of Atlanta on the general state of neighborhoods in each group including zoning and planning issues.

The following proposal was approved by Neighborhood Planning Unit F on Monday, Feb. 20. It will now be sent to the Atlanta Public Schools superintendent, board of education, city of Atlanta mayor and city council.

Guiding Principles for APS Redistricting in NPU-F

NPU-F supports the following principles for any proposed or future zoning of its member-neighborhood schools:

  1. Full and Inclusive Community Input. APS’ redistricting affects not only families with current school-aged children, but all citizens, taxpayers, businesses and neighbors who are also APS stakeholders. In order to develop the most informed redistricting plan possible, NPU-F requests that APS use all avenues available for community engagement to ensure that a wide spectrum of community input in received. APS’ outreach efforts must ensure that all families who are non-English-speaking, who cannot read and who do not have at-home access to technology have the same access to redistricting materials and information as all other populations.
  2. 10-Year Durability/Sustainability. APS’ final redistricting plan should be durable and sustainable over the next 10 years to eliminate the need for further redistricting within that timeframe.
  3. Fully Supported. APS’ final redistricting plan should provide all necessary and required support, including financial, staffing, curriculum, space and other resourcing, from the district (a) to make the plan fully functional in every school and (b) to provide and equitable education for all APS students.
  4. Intact Neighborhood Boundaries. APS should not split neighborhoods in creating school zones. NPU-F’s recognized neighborhood boundary lines currently help form some of the member-elementary school boundaries. APS should honor these boundaries in its final redistricting plan. NPU-F rejects any plan which allows for split boundaries for any NPU-F neighborhood.
  5. K-12 Feeder Cluster with Vertically-Aligned Curriculum. Students that are part of the same cohesive community should remain together in a defined cluster feeder pattern from grades K through 12 with vertically-aligned curriculum at all grade levels. All NPU-F member-schools should remain in their currently assigned K-12 cluster feeder pattern which provides for vertically-aligned curriculum that will foster and sustain the future academic growth for each and every currently enrolled student.
  6. SRT3 & SRT4 Precedent Respected for Primary Campuses. Traditionally, APS has addressed elementary school overcrowding differently in SRT3 and SRT4. APS has considered the specific needs of the school, any curriculum impact (i.e. retention of IB-certification) and the wishes of the communities impacted. With respect to overcrowding at Morningside ES (SRT3/Common Core Curriculum), APS redistricted and created Springdale Park ES rather than establish a split primary campus for Morningside ES. With respect to overcrowding at Brandon ES, Smith ES and Jackson ES (SRT4 schools/IB Curriculum), APS implemented a split primary campus for K-2/3-5. NPU-F requests that APS honor the respective precedents it has established for SRT3 and SRT4 in the final redistricting plan because both models have worked exceptionally well in their respective communities. NPU-F, thus, requests: (a) with respect to Morningside ES (SRT3) and Springdale Park ES (SRT3), APS reject a split primary campus model; and (b) with respect to Garden Hills ES (SRT4), APS allow a split primary campus to meet the unique needs of the Lindridge-Martin Manor neighborhood and Garden Hills ES.
  7. Create Sufficient Pre-K Programs. Research clearly links quality preschool education to long-term academic success for all children. The earlier schooling starts for children in lower socio-economic households, the more successful these students are in integrating into an academic K-12 track. As part of the final redistricting, NPU-F requests APS to strategically place Pre-K programs in schools and communities which would benefit from early educational intervention. NPU-F identifies the proposed Garden Hills ES K-2 site for an ESOL Pre-K program to serve the needs of the Hispanic students in NPU-F in both SRT3 and SRT4 schools.
  8. Expanded Educational Support for Adult Community. The ABOE and Atlanta City Council are working on joint initiatives to support education in Atlanta. NPU-F requests that our elected officials work in concert to develop innovative adult outreach programs to serve the unaddressed needs of Atlanta citizens. In particular, NPU-F recommends that these bodies consider an adult and community outreach program to provide adult educational services and support for English as a Second Language (ESOL) families to help them contribute more fully to our community as taxpayers and also to participate more fully as parents involved and engaged in their child(ren)’s education and development.

Visit the VaHi Patch APS Redistricting Page for statements from neighborhood associations.


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