Best approach: Redistricting is an opportunity for schools

The Daily Reflector

January 7, 2010

Expect the coming weeks to provide a more thorough picture of how Pitt County Schools intends to proceed with its latest round of redistricting . Since approving a timeline for the effort in November, the public school system will next develop scenarios for approaching the sensitive and complex process.

As this unfolds, all involved would do well to remember the lessons of the redistricting effort in 2005, a contentious and unfortunate mess that continues to affect schools. Avoiding a similar fate will require civility and responsibility from all those who wish to participate in the process.

When students begin the 2011-2012 school year, they should expect to do so following noticeable changes in the district lines that determine student assignment. The school system intends to have in place new maps that are expected to affect the elementary schools in the J.H. Rose High School attendance district and some in the South Central High School area as well.

This is a process born of necessity, scheduled to coincide with completing phase one of the long-term facilities plan. That will include the construction of a new elementary school on Briarcliffe Road and changes to Eastern Elementary, D.H. Conley High School and Farmville Central High School.

This will also be the first significant attempt to redraw attendance lines since the contentious 2005 redistricting divided the community. It was the Board of Education's attempt to achieve greater racial balance in the schools that landed it before the federal Office of Civil Rights, and now subject to a federal court mediation agreement requiring that this process involve two parents' groups in the negotiations.

In that case, some board members approached the redistricting hearings with their minds made up and ignored the concerns of parents who feared the plan would harm the school system. Perhaps those officials felt they did not need to build consensus on this sensitive and emotional issue, but their failure to do so exacerbated a rift between the school system and the public.

Schools suffer without the community's active and involved support, so looking for common ground and demonstrating responsiveness will be key for officials. Likewise, all those participating should proceed with civility and respect, understanding this is a difficult process that is unlikely to win unanimous agreement.

The looming redistricting process represents an opportunity to build stronger ties between public schools and the community. Education in Pitt County will be served if all involved approach it accordingly.

Section: Opinion
Record Number: 9981919
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