School Attendance Boundary Redistricting Objectives, Criteria, and Process
What is school redistricting?
From time to time it is necessary to adjust school and cluster attendance boundaries. Changes may be due to the opening of a new school, a school addition or renovation, and/or the need to balance enrollment and capacity utilization.
Redistricting Objectives
- Create or adjust attendance boundaries to accommodate new classroom construction
- Optimize the use of new and existing school capacity to house students in classrooms
- Relieve school overcrowding
Criteria for school attendance boundary redistricting include the following:
- Cluster feeder patterns – Vertical alignment of instruction under clusters has long been a GCPS priority. All elementary and middle schools directly feed a high school cluster. With only two exceptions, elementary schools directly feed middle schools.
- Current and Forecasted Enrollment – Data are managed within our Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software.
- School Capacity – School utilization is based upon enrollment and state capacity.
- Proximity – The proximity of school locations to neighborhoods, considering all levels of cluster schools. Neighborhoods are not always assigned to their closest schools.
- Student transportation efficiency and logistics
- Existing identifiable boundaries such as rivers, highways, major roads, and railroads
Other factors, when possible:
- Keep neighborhoods intact
- Minimize the total disruption of students
- Avoid subsequent boundary changes for at least 5 years for individual elementary and middle schools and 10 years for high school clusters
- Consider potential for additional residential growth when drawing boundaries