The Prince William County School Board voted 7-1 to accept the new boundary plans for the 12th high school, including several amendments.
Following concerns from parents in the north Woodbridge neighborhoods of River Falls, Coventry Glen, and other surrounding communities, School Board Chairman Milt Johns offered an amendment to the boundary plan for the new high school that would reincorporate those neighborhoods into the attendance area for the new school.
Johns' amendment proposal includes the communities of River Falls, Coventry Glen, Bacon Race, Reid Prospect and Cannon Bluff in the new high school boundary plan; directs the Superintendent to enhance the specialty programs at Osbourn Park High School to improve and enhance student enrollment and allow a liberal transfer policy for any students from Trentdale East who wish to remain at Hylton High School.
The boundary plan amendment also permits eleventh graders the choice of their current high school or the 12th high school, while students in grade twelve will remain at their current 2015-2016 high school.
The new school will open to students in the 2016-2017 school year.
Occoquan District School Board Representative Lillie Jessie seconded Johns’ motion. Brentsville School Board representative Gil Trenum also added a friendly amendment that all students enrolled in special programs could remain at that school as is the usual procedures.
The new boundary plan was intended to meet the requirement of the Department of Justice, which mandated that PWCS plan an attendance area for the 12th high school. Johns said he felt that the Department of Justice would allow some modifications to the proposed plan as long as it met certain criteria.
"From my point, I felt like we were getting maybe a different sense from the Department of Justice about the plan and that there were no absolutes, I guess," Johns said. "I think that there was quite a bit of negotiation with Justice Department, but I believe that these moves will stay with the spirt and intent of the guidance that they gave us. It complies with current law, and I think it also meets their concerns."
Betty Covington, School Board member from the Potomac District agreed with adopting Johns’ amendment.
“An alternative plan will show parents that this board does listen and tries to accommodate as much as possible. Hopefully it will make the majority of the folks happy,” she said.
Coles representative Dr. Michael Otaigbe also agreed with the new proposal, but reminded parents that Osbourn Park is one of the top schools in the nation.
"Both schools are in my district and I love it that they are both in our district. I just hope we know what we are giving up when we fight to be in the new school," Otaigbe said. "I’m sure the superintendent will do his best to make sure we have the best staff at the new high school, but sometimes it is best to deal with what you already know."
Otaigbe explained that “the quality of the teachers is what makes or breaks the school. Parents will tell you that they love the teachers [at OP.].”
Superintendent, Dr. Steven Walts said PWCS planned to bolster OP by adding a new exciting program such as an enhanced robotics program.
Neabsco School Board Representative Lisa Bell, the lone dissenting vote against the proposal, disagreed that this was a good plan, saying she supported supporting the Trentdale neighborhood in her district, which the new plan splits between the new school and OP.
She said many of the Trentdale parents may be working two or three jobs and thus do not have opportunity to speak up at a School Board meeting. She said the board members should speak for all citizens.
“You’ve just taken a community who invested in their school and you’ve slithered them away. You’ve split their community,” she said.
She also criticized the proposed liberal transfer policy and the precedence she believes it would set.
“[In this proposal], we just moved a 195 students from OP. What is the capacity of OP going to be now? What’s the demographics going to be there? Are we going to be over capacity again when we open the 12th high school?," Bell said. "There is so much that can be learned from this boundary process. How we’ve included people. How we haven’t included people. Now we have almost an open transfer policy, because that is what we created. We set a precedence”
School division staff assured the School Board members that the Trentdale parents were notified via email and robo dialing.
Trenum asked if the students at Trentdale could just stay at Hylton, if that is what they wanted. He said that Hylton would need the students while the new high school would be reaching its capacity.
However, Walts said he suspects that the D.O.J. would say that is moving in the wrong direction. Also, Trentdale parents had not expressed that they were unhappy with the new boundaries.
“I’m going to ask a plain question,” said Covington. “Does that mean the 195 students going back are mainly Caucasian, and are the Trentdale section that’s staying is mainly minority?”
Jessie said she looked into the demographics, and learned that River Falls and Coventry Glen are not primarily Caucasian neighborhoods.
“I think we mistakenly decided that huge homes mean only Caucasian people live in them,” Jessie said.
Others disagreed with Bell's assessment of the boundary plan, believing the a liberal transfer policy for Trentdale students who want to remain at Hylton would be a sufficient compromise, especially since they would also have access to the specialty transfer school bus. They also surmised that although the new school would gain 195 students, they would also lose students electing to remain at Hylton or OP, especially considering the liberal transfer policy that would even allow ninth and tenth graders to stay if they could find their own transportation or ride the specialty bus.
Covington said it is important that they vote on a plan tonight.
“I am pleased that we are going to vote on this and resolve this tonight because it is very important time-line wise. I know that it sounds like it is a long time before the school opens, but knowing from past history, having to hire a principal, get staff in order, get that whole building in order, it takes a period of time," Covington said.
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