The Arlington County School Board will hear a proposaltonight that would move an estimated 500 children to different elementary schools in a dramatic effort to combat school overcrowding in the county’s northwest quarter.
Under a plan by Schools Superintendent Robert Smith, students at 11 elementary schools would be moved to other schools while 19 schools would have students move in.
Smith drafted the plan after considering recommendations from a committee of parents and other concerned individuals who were appointed by the board to evaluate the issue.
Smith’s plan differs greatly from the committee’s, however, by redrawing school boundary lines throughout the county — an option the committee resoundingly rejected.
“What the superintendent has proposed is just preposterous — it’s launching a missile to kill an ant,” said Wally Hays, who represented Long Branch Elementary on the committee. Long Branch would gain 59 students and lose 30 in the superintendent’s proposed boundaries.
“If you look at the [school capacity] rates that he achieves and the ones that the committee achieves, there’s a 2.7 percent difference,” Hayes said. “But we move 20 kids, and he moves 500.”
The committee recommended the school board put a freeze on school transfers and move specialized programs like Montessori — which already draw students from outside neighborhoods — to schools that have more room for them.
“I understand [the committee’s] reasoning in choosing not to recommend major boundary shifts,” Smith said in a Jan. 14 memo explaining his plan. “However, I believe that I am obligated to provide you with recommendations that staff expects will meet all aspects of the charge.”
Todd McCracken, the committee’s representative from Tuckahoe Elementary, which has the most severe overcrowding in the county, said he is not opposed to boundary changes.
“There’s absolutely no way — I’ve looked at those numbers six ways to Sunday, and there’s simply no way you can fix overcrowding at schools without moving boundaries,” he said. “The superintendent’s plan does resolve crowding issues at every school for virtually every one of the next six years.”
The proposal is drawing passionate responses. The school board posted the following notice about tonight’s meeting on its Web site:
“As of noon on Wed, January 16, no additional requests to speak on the proposed boundary adjustments are being accepted.”
