Despite concerns of parents, the Park Hill Board of Education is set to vote on its redistricting plan at the Thursday, Dec. 13 board meeting.
Early this month, the redistricting committee selected scenarios from the plans already presented, with a few changes. These recommendations were presented at a meeting held Dec. 6, with the public permitted to voice their opinions. The online portal allowing parents to post comments and concerns about the scenarios — parkhilllistens.com — closed in early December.
Submitted photo
The Park Hill School District redistricting committee selected the scenario B1 for the elementary schools (below) and scenario B1/B2 for the middle school and high schools boundaries (above)
The committee chose the B1 scenario for elementary boundaries and the B1/B2 scenario for middle- and high-school boundaries. The scenarios are available on the district website at parkhill.k12.mo.us.
Several parent groups have sprung up on Facebook, along with an online petition urging the district to take more time with the process. Parents also contacted state representatives about the redistricting process, including the newly-elected Tony Luetkmeyer and Kevin Corlew, who resigned from office last week.
Parents have expressed concerns about socio-economic balance across the district, travel times, separation of communities and more. They are also critical of the district’s avenues for public comment, stating the district deliberately limited the window for such feedback. The redistricting process came up for discussion at a recent Riverside board of aldermen meeting, with the mayor and a few aldermen attending the Dec. 6 meeting.
The seemingly rushed timeline of the redistricting process has been a main point of contention. District officials state the plan must be in place soon to allow time for staffing decisions at Walden Middle School and Hopewell Elementary School. Both schools are currently under construction and both are expected to open in time for the 2019-2020 school year.
Complaints sparked the district’s inclusion of two additional scenarios last month after patrons expressed displeasure with the four options introduced in October.
Committee members have outlined criteria to allow some students to be grandfathered in at their current schools. Students in fourth, ninth, 10th and 11th grades can stay at their current schools, but must have their own transportation. The exceptions would not apply to siblings in other grades and families must make their decisions before March 1, 2019.