New school boundaries in Fayette County to be voted on June 3
The only change the board made to the recommended new boundaries from the School Rezoning Committee, was to include Olde Bridge with the Palomar neighborhood association, which would send students of Olde Bridge to Rosa Parks Elementary School, according to the school system.
The board also wants to phase out the student continuation plan in the future. The student continuation plan sends elementary aged students to alternate schools if their neighborhood’s assigned school is too full, according to FCPS.
Regarding the ongoing search for a new superintendent, the board says the transition from the former national search firm that was fired by the board to McNamara Search Inc., is now complete.
There isn’t a specific timeline for the board to receive a recommended slate of candidates from the Screening Committee and McNamara Search Inc. The board still hopes to name a new superintendent by July, but will take the necessary time to find the right person for the job, according to the board.
Below is the letter send out Friday evening by the school district:
As we look forward to a long holiday weekend, I wanted to send you a quick note to update you on the work your Fayette County Board of Education team has been doing on in the areas of school rezoning and the search for a new school superintendent.
The board will vote on the new school attendance boundaries on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. We will hold a final public input session beginning at 5:30 p.m. and vote on the proposal during the school board planning meeting following all public comments.
We set the timeline for making a final decision following a three hour work session this afternoon that touched on maps, grandfathering, early entry and the student continuation plan. Our decision follows more than a year of work by a committee of dedicated community members, which included a very open and transparent process with tremendous public involvement.
Today’s board meeting began with a review of changes to the school attendance boundaries requested by the following neighborhoods: Hunting Hills, Squire Oaks, Seven Parks, Olde Bridge, Copperfield, Plantation, and Clemens Heights. After considering the impact of changing the maps, we reached consensus to include Olde Bridge with the rest of the Palomar neighborhood association and amend the proposed plan to send the residents of Olde Bridge to Rosa Parks Elementary School beginning in the 2016-2017 school year.
The board declined to make any other changes to the draft proposed maps from the School Rezoning Committee, which means the following proposals will move forward as developed by the volunteer panel:
· Hunting Hills and Squire Oaks will be moved to Tates Creek Middle and Tates Creek High School.
· Seven Parks will be assigned to Picadome Elementary School.
· Copperfield, Plantation and Clemens Heights will be assigned to Jessie Clark Middle School.
Our discussions also touched on grandfathering and whether to do away with the student continuation plan, which sends elementary aged students to alternate schools if their neighborhood’s assigned school is too full.
The current recommendation would allow grandfathering without transportation for students entering grades 5, 8, 11 and 12 the year the new zones take effect, and grade 10 for anyone who would have to switch to the new high school. The board would like to phase out the student continuation plan in the future. We have also asked district staff to develop guidelines that would allow early entry this fall for a limited number of students impacted by the elementary school changes in the fall of 2016-2017.
To update you on our progress toward hiring a new superintendent, I am pleased to share that the transition from the former search firm to McNamara Search Inc., the local executive search firm, is now complete. McNamara Search has obtained all the information as submitted directly by applicants who expressed an interest in becoming Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent.
McNamara has contacted all applicants to make them aware of the transition. All applicant files are currently being compiled in preparation for our Screening Committee members to begin their review. The Board will receive a recommended slate of top candidates from the Screening Committee and McNamara.
The timeline will be dependent on completing the processes of screening, interviewing, referencing and background investigations. Although the board remains hopeful that we will find the right candidate to start in July, we are committed to a thorough, quality process so that we can hire the very best superintendent to lead the Fayette County Public Schools.
Your involvement and engagement is critical in both the school rezoning and superintendent selection processes. Please remember that your comments about both topics can be submitted online through the district’s Let’s Talk portal at www.fcps.net/letstalk. Thank you for your continued support of the Fayette County Public Schools!
Sincerely,
John Price
Fayette County Board of Education Chair
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