[StonyPointEagle] Update on Redistricting Policy Discussions

[Price, Ronnie (Ron)]

Ronnie J. Price, Sr. 

This message is not an official communication of the Albemarle County
School Board. It is a private, e-mail-only newsletter written by Brian
Wheeler, At-Large Member of the Albemarle County School Board. 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Want to share some public comments on this message?  See the weblog
version here: 
http://schoolmatters.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/02/update_on_redis.html]

 

Those of you closely following the Albemarle County redistricting policy
discussion may have wondered what happened after our January 12, 2006
meeting when the School Board last discussed Policy FB, the
redistricting policy.  In November-December, the School Board was
anxious to approve a new redistricting policy and it appeared a new
policy was going to be fast-tracked to include specific enrollment
triggers to guide future redistricting decisions.

 

My suggestion then was that we take our time and schedule a joint
meeting with the School Board's Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) to
review how we could improve the redistricting process.  There was no
support for that idea, so I drafted a compromise version of Policy FB
for the board's consideration (see: 

http://www.wheeleronboard.com/docs/20060108-PolicyFBDraft-Wheeler.pdf ).
That proposal was received by the School Board for the January 12, 2006
meeting.  At that meeting, the School Board decided not to take action
on any Policy FB proposals (mine or the version from staff).  Instead,
Board members voiced support for having a retreat to evaluate the
overall role of the LRPC.  Some members suggested the citizen LRPC
should be eliminated, particularly in light of the fact some magisterial
districts had few to zero applicants for open positions on the
committee.  There was some support for having the work of the committee
done entirely by staff and the School Board.

 

This retreat on facilities planning and redistricting is scheduled for
this Wednesday, February 8, 2006.  The School Board's materials for this
meeting include redistricting policies used by the following other
school divisions: Chesterfield; Loudoun; Fairfax; Stafford; and
Portsmouth.  Staff hope we will leave this retreat with direction as to
whether the LRPC should retain its current role, have a modified role,
or be eliminated entirely.

 

I believe we need a Long Range Planning Committee equipped with an
improved redistricting policy.  There are elements of the approach taken
by Chesterfield County that I believe could improve future
redistrictings in Albemarle.

 

Brian Wheeler

 

______________________________________________
If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, just send me a message
and I will immediately unsubscribe you.  To view the archive of past
SchoolMatters messages, visit: 
http://listserv.bnsi.net/pipermail/schoolmatters/
<http://listserv.bnsi.net/pipermail/schoolmatters/> 

 

If someone forwarded you this message, you may visit this web page to
subscribe: http://listserv.bnsi.net/mailman/listinfo/schoolmatters
<http://listserv.bnsi.net/mailman/listinfo/schoolmatters> 

 

Brian Wheeler
bwheeler at albemarlematters.com <mailto:bwheeler at albemarlematters.com> 
http://www.wheeleronboard.com <http://www.wheeleronboard.com/> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://listserv.bnsi.net/pipermail/stonypointeagle/attachments/20060205/c58bb6e6/attachment.htm
-------------- next part --------------
An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed...
Name: ATT829666.txt
Url: http://listserv.bnsi.net/pipermail/stonypointeagle/attachments/20060205/c58bb6e6/ATT829666.txt