Redistricting vital to district’s future

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, December 28, 2016

The Baldwin County Board of Education is continuing its efforts to restructure the local public elementary schools through redistricting. A second series of forums slated for next month will give local parents another opportunity to hear more about the proposed redistricting options. These forums should be of a high level of importance for local parents of elementary-aged children.

Parents should make plans to attend in order to stay abreast of the timeline for the redistricting process and to share their thoughts about the proposals.

Four forums were already held earlier this month. The next round of forums will run Jan. 24 at Midway Elementary and Blandy Hills, and Jan. 31 at Eagle Ridge and Creekside.

The aim of the redistricting is to better balance the enrollment at each of the four elementary schools so that the student populations are more closely in line with each other and cut down on overcrowding. Superintendent Dr. Noris Price has provided a timeline for the redistricting process, which is projected to be complete by the start of next school year. Already, more than 900 local education stakeholders have provided their feedback to school officials via an online survey. Those results have been posted online. Dr. Price recently indicated to school board members that she plans to make a recommendation on which redistricting option the school system should use in February. Parents and community stakeholders who have not weighed in on how they’d like to see the process go should make attending one of the upcoming forums a priority.

Attendance maps for the local public school system haven’t been updated in more than 15 years, so remapping and making these pending adjustments will likely be a big change. It’s necessary, however, and well overdue to ensure that students at each of the four elementary schools have relatively the same space to learn and develop academically so that every school succeeds. That’s why parental input is vital to the process and why parents are encouraged to attend one of the upcoming forums and ask questions.

Anyone who has a share in the local school system should consider the redistricting undertaking vital to the future of Baldwin County Schools. Education is too important a component of any community’s success to not view this process as important and impactful.