At the Thursday, July 6 meeting, School Board members spent more than an hour on a calendar item. The board went back and fourth on which elementary schools to include in the next attendance boundary process.
In April 2007, board members will vote on attendance boundaries for Arcola, Sycolin Creek in Leesburg, ES-4 in Hamilton, ES-17 in Loudoun Valley II Estates, Creighton’s Corner in Ashburn elementary schools, MS-5 in the Dulles area and HS-3 in western Loudoun.
School Board member John A. Andrews (Potomac) made a motion to remove Seldens Landing, Newton-Lee and Ashburn elementary schools, the northernmost elementary schools, from the next attendance boundary process. J. Warren Geurin (Sterling) seconded the motion.
Andrews said he didn’t understand the logic of possibly shifting a school that most likely will be impacted by school attendance boundaries the following year due to new schools being built in that area, specifically.
"I don’t understand shifting them and one year later shifting them again," Andrews said. "It would be good to remove one layer."
"I’m tired of having a neighborhood over churned when they shouldn’t be," School Board member Bob Ohneiser (Broad Run) added.
The motion passed 5-3-1, with Mark Nuzzaco (Catoctin), Thomas Reed (At Large) and Priscilla Godfrey (Blue Ridge) opposing and Sarah Smith (Leesburg) absent.
Godfrey referred to the last boundary process when explaining to her decision.
"It’s not a good idea to come out of the gate with half the gate behind you," Godfrey said. "I would rather err on the side of caution."
SUPERINTENDENT Edgar B. Hatrick explained the reasoning behind including neighborhoods that might not be affected by the new elementary schools’ attendance boundaries in the process of input meetings and public hearings.
"Any time we have to come back on the 11th hour and announce something no one is expecting, we don’t look competent," he said.
In May, School Board members voted on attendance boundaries for Stone Hill Middle School, which will open fall 2007. The boundary process was a grueling one. The School Board spent hours in meetings, heated public hearings and sifted through hundreds of e-mails from residents for and against the several suggested proposals.
Beginning in October 2006, School Board members will hold several public hearings throughout Loudoun County on school attendance boundaries.