Arlington Schools Superintendent Robert G. Smith proposed a new plan to combat overcrowding in some elementary schools Wednesday after his original plan to shuffle more than 600 children throughout the county was met with hostility by the community and some members of the School Board.
Smith this week released a less drastic proposal that would not completely relieve projected crowding at all of the schools in the northwest portion of the county, but that “recognizes the values expressed by individual board members and members of the public related to walk zones, neighborhoods, Pre-ks” and other measures, he said in the draft.
In public comment sessions held to discuss Smith’s original proposal, dozens of parents angrily rejected school boundary changes that they said would divide neighborhoods, split up siblings and force children who now walk to school to ride buses to schools farther away from home.
Under that plan, 19 of the county’s 23 schools would have been affected by the boundary changes, with 11 schools losing a total of more than 600 children.
Smith’s new plan includes fewer boundary changes, with four schools losing a total of 132 children by the 2009 school year. No children would be moved from walk zones to bus zones, and 32 children would move from bus zones to walk zones.
The proposal also recommends moving Montessori programs at Glebe, McKinley and Ashlawn to Key, Long Branch, and possibly Barcroft, and moving Nottingham’s Interlude program to Oakridge.
By December, Smith would report to the school board about additional options, which could include changes in admissions policies or locations for Arlington Traditional School and Drew’s Montessori program, and adding classes at Langston, Reed or the Wilson Building.
As the plan stands, Ashlawn, Glebe, McKinley, Jamestown and Tuckahoe still would experience some overcrowding for one or more of the next six years.
Board Chairman Ed Fendly, who last month called Smith’s original proposal “a terrible plan,” expressed support Thursday for the superintendent’s new recommendations.
“I think that the superintendent is trying to take into account what he has heard loud and clear from the community and from some School Board members,” he said. “I think this is a good proposal for us to work off of.”
The board will take the plan up at its Monday work session, Fendley said. It is scheduled to hold a public comment session Feb. 12 and issue a decision Feb. 14.
School shift
The Arlington superintendent’s new plan:
» Children affected by boundary changes: 132
» Schools that lose children to boundary changes: 4
» Schools that lose Montessori or Interlude programs: 4
» Children who move from walk zones to bus zones: 0
» Children who move from bus zones to walk zones: 32
