Committee recommends redistricting Hollymead, Baker-Butler elementaries

A citizen advisory committee appointed by Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Pamela Moran has recommended the school system transfer 134 students via redistricting from Hollymead Elementary to Baker-Butler Elementary beginning in August.

The committee was convened in October to look at ways to solve potential overcrowding at Hollymead Elementary and Stony Point Elementary. The committee determined that no changes were necessary at Stony Point, after enrollment at the school fell to 270 students this year. The school’s capacity is 288.

County Schools Chief Operating Officer Josh Davis said the school division will continue to monitor enrollment numbers at Stony Point. Enrollment is expected to stay low over the next five years, Davis said, but the committee could be reconvened if needed.

“Enrollment dropped between last year and this year, and the projections have now come down for the next five years, so the committee thought that there was less rationale to move forward with a redistricting at this time,” he said Monday. “If we begin to see significant growth, then the committee will be reconvened in the next couple of years.”

Moran will take the committee’s recommendation to the Albemarle County School Board at its regular work session Thursday night. The board will make its final decision on the move in March.

Davis said the citizen committee presented its findings to Moran Jan. 10.

Neighborhoods affected by the redistricting are on the west side of U.S. 29 near Hollymead. They include: Dickerson North/Chris Greene, Airport Acres/Cedar Hill, Forest Spring/Dickerson South, Deerwood/Airport Road and Abingdon/Timberwood.

Rising Hollymead fifth graders with siblings at the school would be allowed to finish through their fifth-grade year at Hollymead if the committee’s recommendation is finalized by the board. Board member Diantha McKeel said the grandfathering system for families with two children at Hollymead should make transitioning easier.

“Really, I believe it takes a good bit of the stress off the families involved,” she said. “That way families won’t have to run around after students with activities at both schools.”

Davis said the division’s next job is to make the transition from one school to another as smooth as possible for students and parents.

Once the redistricting is finalized, he said, the schools will begin having open houses and welcoming events for students and parents.

“Some activities at the school level will start as early as April so that the families will be as comfortable as possible in the school environment and realize that they are moving into a top-notch learning environment for their children,” he said.

McKeel said that redistricting is never easy, but said the two schools should not have a problem making a smooth transition.

“Both of these schools are really community-based and will work really hard to work together to make that transition possible,” she said.

Davis said the cost associated with moving the students will be “negligible.” Some teaching and staff positions will be moved between the schools, he said, but no new positions will be added.

“Some teachers would move,” he said. “To name those teachers now would be premature, but there will be fewer teaching positions at Hollymead, more teaching positions at Baker-Butler.”

Davis added that busing students to a new school shouldn’t pose any transportation challenges, given the proximity of the schools to the neighborhoods they serve.

“The transportation costs will be very similar,” he said. “These neighborhoods are all about two to three miles from either school, so we’re not going to burn any more diesel fuel, and we’re not going to add a bus.”

McKeel said the redistricting between Hollymead and Baker-Butler is driven by physical room for students in each building. Currently, she said, Baker-Butler is under capacity, while Hollymead is overcrowded.

“Certainly, this is a redistricting that is being driven by facilities,” she said. “We need to make sure that we use the facilities we have that are underutilized.”