What’s next?
Forsyth County’s school board will continue its discussion of new school attendance lines during a work session at 4 p.m. Nov. 10. The board is slated to vote on final new lines during its regular meeting Nov. 17. Both meetings are open to the public and will be held at 1120 Dahlonega Hwy.
The Forsyth County Board of Education continued its discussion of new school attendance lines during a called meeting Thursday.
Board members spent several hours going over feedback they had received from parents and students concerning the second draft of the suggested changes.
The feedback was received online via the school system’s Web site for several weeks, and during two public forums on Oct. 25 and 27.
"We’ll look at every one [of these suggestions]," said board member Nancy Roche. "That’s what we said we said we’d do, and that’s what we’ll do."
New school lines are needed to fill Kelly Mill Elementary School, scheduled to open for the 2012-13 school year.
The board is also seeking to even out high school populations. North and West Forsyth high schools are over capacity, while Forsyth Central is under.
Officials also hope to better streamline feeder patterns from elementary to middle to high schools.
Most of the public’s suggestions asked for neighborhoods to remain at current schools instead of being moved to the far edge of new districts.
"Everybody’s like ‘it’s right on the line,’" said board member Darla Light. "But somebody’s got to be on the line."
Ultimately, the board asked staff to look at a few changes to the draft based on the public’s suggestions. Among them:
• Shifting some students who live around Sawnee Elementary to Otwell Middle from North Forsyth Middle
• Moving Greenwood Estates and Green Valley students into Kelly Mill from Cumming Elementary
• Sending students from an area north of Kelly Mill Road and east of Bethelview Road to Kelly Mill Elementary, Vickery Creek Middle and West Forsyth High.
They also asked staff to look at moving some students in two northeastern parts of the county from Coal Mountain and Chestatee elementary schools and North Middle to Chestatee Elementary and Little Mill Middle.
Doing so, it was discussed, would give Chestatee Elementary a single feeder pattern to Little Mill.
No final decisions were made and the board will continue its discussion of the new lines during a meeting Nov. 10.
They are slated to approve final new lines on Nov. 17.