Parents Formally Weigh in on Proposed School Boundary Changes

The Arlington School Board formally heard comments Wednesday night on a proposed plan to shuffle 900 students in North Arlington to accommodate a new elementary school.

About 25 people spoke at the first of two public hearings on the matter, the latest steps in a months-long process that has already seen more than 40 community meetings of various sizes.

Superintendent Pat Murphy's March recommendation of how to best alter attendance zones seems to have quieted some of the discontent evidenced over the past few months at large town halls — but not all of it.

"This process has been difficult because it's been flawed. The school board set parameters that favor a particular group of people … the choice school crowd. It's egregious," said Julie Cameron, whose child would move from Taylor to Jamestown under all three plans that have been considered recently.

Murphy's plan affects students at seven North Arlington schools and carves out a new attendence zone for an elementary school that will be built on the Williamsburg campus.

Adrienne Honigstock, a Donaldson Run resident whose daughter would continue to attend Taylor under Murphy's recommendation, said she first got involved in the process in January when a neighbor called her attention to it. Two other plans that were considered would have had her daughter bused to Jamestown.

"Never in my wildest dreams or nightmares … did I think they would take kids within a half-mile of a school and move them move them more than a mile away," she said. Honigstock was one of several parents who said they bought their home based on where their child would attend school. She supports Murphy's recommendation.

Parents of Glebe Elementary School students continue to be the most vocal. Past criticisms that the school system pitted neighborhoods against each other were repeated, as were pleas to build a new addition at Glebe.

Murphy's recommendation does nothing to alleviate short- or long-term capacity problems at that school, said Paul Volpe, who has two children at Glebe.

"I understand the need to get things moving with the new school, but we also have two years now where we can explore options that affect Glebe," he said. " … We have a once-in-a-decade opportunity here to address overcrowding."

Past requests to take so-called choice schools into consideration in this process or to reevaluate the potential use of the old Reed school were also made.

Elected officials so far have left the bulk of the school boundary work to Murphy and his staff.

"As school board members, you can influence the process. It's important not to get involved too early," board member James Lander told Patch. "You hear passionate pleas and concerns form parents. But as school board members, we have to make decisions that have countywide impact."

Building an addition at Glebe was considered in the process that birthed the current plan to deal with overcrowding. Lander said it would be at least four years before the board had that discussion again, but at that time students would be in the new school in Williamsburg and construction would be under way for another new elementary school in South Arlington.

"Then, we can have another discussion about the best options," he said.  

The school board will hold an April 11 work session on the boundary change issue and a second public hearing on April 23.

Read more:

• 900 Students Move in Arlington Superintendent's School Boundary Recommendation
• School Boundary Changes: Arlington Superintendent Gets Feedback
• School Boundary Changes: Latest Recommendations Released
• Proposed School Boundary Changes Get Heated Reaction from North Arlington