The Crozet/Brownsville Redistricting Advisory Committee has developed four redistricting scenarios to reduce overcrowding at Brownsville Elementary School. Each option will be presented to residents of the Brownsville and Crozet Elementary School communities for comment during public meetings next Thursday, November 4, and the following Tuesday, November 9.
The four scenarios propose redistricting between 226 and 272 Brownsville students to a newly-expanded Crozet Elementary School. All four proposals impact the Grayrock and Waylands Grant/Bargamin Park neighborhoods as well as the Western Ridge/Foothill Crossing/Wickham Pond area.
One option (Scenario 2) moves 226 students and also impacts Rt. 240 from Jarmans Gap to Oak Drive. Another option (Scenario 2.1) reassigns 253 students and includes Rt. 240 from Jarmans Gap to Rt. 250. A third option (Scenario 3) moves 245 students and involves Rt. 240 from Jarmans Gap to Oak Drive and Rt. 250 from east of Clover Lawn to Mechums River. A final option (Scenario 4.1) redistricts 272 students and includes Rt. 240 from Jarmans Gap to Rt. 250 and Rt. 250 from east of Clover Lawn to Mechums River.
Residents are being asked for their initial opinions on these proposals in an online survey open now through Wednesday, November 10, at https://survey.k12insight.com/r/T3Dls7.
Members of the community can address the advisory committee at the public meetings, which will be held virtually over the Zoom platform from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on November 4 and 9. Those wishing to address the committee can register through the links on the Crozet/Brownsville Redistricting web page. For both meetings, public comment sign-up will close at noon on the day of the meeting.
The meetings can be accessed on the division’s public meeting streaming page at http://streaming.k12albemarle.org/ACPS/publicmeeting.htm. Both meetings will also be recorded and will be posted to the Crozet/Brownsville Redistricting web page.
Long a growth area in the school division, student enrollments in the western feeder pattern have continued to expand, resulting, for example, in Brownsville having to utilize eight mobile classrooms to meet the learning needs of its 749 students. An addition to Crozet Elementary, which now has 326 students, would almost double Crozet’s enrollment capacity in time for next school year.
The guiding principles for the redistricting committee suggest the new attendance areas will serve the district for at least three and as many as seven years. They call for the committee to incorporate mostly contiguous attendance areas, while considering walking areas and the length of transportation routes. They also call for the committee to keep entire neighborhoods at the same school whenever possible and to maximize demographic balance where feasible.
Following the public meetings, the advisory committee is scheduled to meet on November 16 to review the comments and suggestions offered by residents. The committee will then recommend its solution to the overcrowding at Brownsville to Dr. Matthew Haas, the school division’s Superintendent. Subsequently, Dr. Haas will present a recommendation to the school board. The board will hold a public hearing in January and is expected to decide on a redistricting plan by February of the new year.
The transition process to support Brownsville students and families who will be attending Crozet next August will begin immediately following the school board’s decision.
CONTACT: Helen Dunn, Legislative and Public Affairs Officer
PHONE: 434-975-9452