When the Howard County Board of Education approved a 2012-13 elementary school redistricting plan last month, it did so on the condition that staff look into the possibility of allowing rising fifth-graders who will be affected by the change to remain at their original school.
Joel Gallihue, manager of school planning, told the board at its meeting Thursday, Dec. 8, that was not a good idea.
"(This plan) would generate additional reassignment workload, we're concerned about trailing siblings, and it appears to be inequitable," Gallihue said. "The staff recommends not to let (affected) fifth-graders remain at their school."
Board member Brian Meshkin disagreed.
"I don't see any impact … other than the illusion of inequitability," Meshkin said..
Meshkin moved to allow those rising fifth-graders affected by the redistricting to stay at their original school, but his motion was defeated, 4-3. Board members Cindy Vaillancourt and Allen Dyer joined Meshkin in voting for the reprieve.
The redistricting plan will shift 1,289 students among 11 schools in the southeastern region of the county at the start of the next school year. About 200 of them are rising fifth-graders — students who will now attend a new school for one year before heading to middle school.
If the plan had been implemented, it would have required parents to provide their own transportation to and from school, and would have prohibited the extension of the same redistricting reprieve to younger siblings at the same school.
Board vice-chairperson Frank Aquino urged members who were considering approving the phased redistricting to not think of it as a one-time exception, but as a direct change to board policy — or at least a first step to a change in policy.
"This is not the type of thing you'll be able to do just once," he said. "I think it sets in motion a precedent for future redistricting. We're going to have a middle school (redistricting) next, and you're going to have the same arguments made for rising eighth-graders … if you consider, that's one-third of a middle school's population, the swings are going to be greater."
Furthermore, Aquino said, the immediate impact would be on the school buildings — buildings that need redistricting to help relieve overcrowding. Beyond the impact on students, Gallihue said, there would be an impact on teachers as well, as any change in the plan would require additional staff in schools where students stayed on.
"There's a concern with staff in making projections, teacher allocations, contractual deadlines — and we're developing the operating budget," Gallihue said, noting that changes in the plan during this "critical time" would require significant effort.
Other members of the board cited the double-edged sword of redistricting as reason to vote against the reprieve. Board chairperson Sandra French noted that at least the redistricted fifth-graders would be together — with their redistricted peers, if not all of their original classmates.
"It's more important for the fifth-graders to go to sixth grade as a cohort, rather than an outsider who stayed behind," she said.
Board member Janet Siddiqui said the reprieve was something that deserved consideration, but, like French, decided it was important that the redistricted students remain together.
"There's a benefit in the movement of the group, as a whole," she said. "I think the stability would be best offered for students in continuing to move on as a group in terms of redistricting."