We, the Hillside Community, strongly oppose the Fulton County Redistricting Map presented to the public on Wednesday, December 11th, 2014. We feel the proposed redistricting map clearly violates several of the criteria established by the Fulton County Board of Education. To satisfy our concerns, we've included sound resolutions that achieve the common goal of providing a nurturing learning environment for all students in their community.

RESOLUTION in OPPOSITION of North Fulton Elementary Redistricting Maps

WHEREAS, Fulton County Schools has a clear policy and procedure for rezoning school attendance boundaries (Policy AD – School Attendance Zones) that establishes primary and secondary criteria to consider; and

WHEREAS, the map presented in Round 3 of the 2014 North Fulton Redistricting violates all the primary criteria of Policy AD (Geographic Proximity, Instructional Capacity, and Projected Enrollment) and the secondary criteria of Traffic Patterns, and Neighborhood Groupings for Hillside Elementary and the primary criteria of Instruction Capacity and secondary criteria of School Feeder Alignment for all of North Fulton; and

WHEREAS, the primary criteria of Geographic Proximity is violated in that students are being transported to their fourth or fifth closest school (see table below) and all other students in North Fulton attend their first, second or third closest school, and having students attend the closest possible school encourages family involvement which leads to better educational outcomes for children; and

Mileage from Old Holcomb Bridge & Holcomb Bridge Intersection (source: Mapquest.com)

Mimosa: 0.94

New Hwy 9: 1.61

Northwood: 2.18

Jackson, Esther: 2.38

Hillside: 2.71

Roswell North: 2.87

Hembree Springs: 3.02

River Eves: 3.24

WHEREAS, the primary criteria of Instructional Capacity is violated, in general along the Holcomb Bridge Corridor as in the projected 2018-2019 school year there are fifteen (15) available classrooms west of Georgia 400 and only one (1) east of Georgia 400 and specifically in the Centennial cluster in that in 2018-2019 Northwood Elementary has a need of five (5) classrooms, Barnwell Elementary has a need of one (1) classroom and Esther Jackson Elementary and Hillside Elementary have three (3) and four (4) available classrooms, respectively; and

WHEREAS, the primary criteria of Projected Enrollment is violated in the Centennial Cluster in that Northwood Elementary enrollment between 2014-2015 to 2018-2019 increases, creating a classroom need, and enrollment at Hillside Elementary drops, creating availability; and

WHEREAS, the secondary criteria of Traffic Patterns which states, “Consideration should be give n (sic) to accessibility of the school from all portions of the attendance zone, including factors such as travel time, traffic flow in the area, safe operation of school buses, and other safety considerations.” is violated in students from west of Georgia 400 being transported across an intersection that the City of Roswell’s Holcomb Bridge Road at 400 Corridor Study (roswellgov.com) reports is, “Because of its dual role of serving both local and regional traffic, (Holcomb Bridge Road) faces heavy congestion and safety issues along most of its segments, especially in the segments in the vicinity of the HBR/SR400 interchange. These issues also create a formidable barrier to pedestrian and bicycle movement which are key to connecting the community at a human scale.”; and

WHEREAS, the secondary criteria of School Feeder Alignment is not applied on the Round 3 map by increasing the number of elementary school to middle school split feeds from ten (10) to fourteen (14); and

WHEREAS, the secondary criteria of Neighborhood Groupings was not considered in that all adjacent neighborhoods west of 400 and north of Holcomb Bridge Road are divided among three different schools; and

WHEREAS, Fulton County Schools’ charter allows schools and communities flexibility and the opportunity to create innovative and new programs; and

WHEREAS, the new Highway 9 Elementary School will not open for its attendance zone until the 2016-2017 school year;

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT

RESOLVED, that the Hillside Elementary PTA is in opposition of the Round 3 redistricting map and requests that the Superintendent and School Board reject any future map based upon the maps presented in Round 3; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Hillside Elementary PTA charges the Superintendent and School Board to table the current elementary redistricting, direct the Operations Department to begin the process over, and develop a new elementary map that adheres to the criteria as specified in Policy AD – School Attendance Zones; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Hillside Elementary PTA recognizes the opportunities available within the charter system, but realizes that for the greatest impact and choice for Fulton County students, available elementary classrooms must be balanced not only between Learning Communities, but also between high school clusters; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Hillside Elementary PTA asks that in the new elementary redistricting rounds that the Operations Department ensures that all communities are engaged and involved in the process by working with the schools and the Bilingual Community Liaisons; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Hillside Elementary PTA desires the highest and best educational outcomes for all children and will continue to work with Fulton Schools in support of students and families.

If you agree with our proposal, we ask that you please sign the petition.