Houston School Board Picks Revised Zoning Plan

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=74279&catid=175

The Houston school board has approved a new version of its alternate zoning plan. This one leaves the Quail Run neighborbood in the Northside High School District.

The seven-member board had been scheduled to choose between two proposals. The two plans can be viewed at the Houston County School Board's website. But board members today discussed a third plan, actually a revision of that second plan unveiled earlier this month.

That plan puts Quail Run back in the Northside High School District. It also puts the area west of Moody Road, east of Houston Lake and south of Feagin Mill Road into the Veterans High School district. But the area east of Moody Road and north of Highway 96 will remain in Warner Robins High School's zone.

The revision plan passed by a 6-1 vote.

Board member Griff Clements said the board was moving too fast on the new plan, but other members said they wanted to settle the divisive issue today. The school board unveiled one plan last year, then went back to the drawing board after some parents criticized the zoning.
Then a second parents' group asked them to pick the original plan, saying it was fairer and provided a better racial mix of the district's schools.

School board members said they'd received as many as 1,000 emails on the controversial topic. Some said people were still lobbying them in the parking lot outside the meeting. Members said they took seriously the business of deciding where the district's 25,000 children would attend school. They said they hoped the community would heal after the vote and get back to the business of maintaining an outstanding school system. The board must draw new school-district lines due to this year's scheduled opening of the new Veterans High School.

**Emergency Announcement**

Fellow Residents,

The school zoning vote will take place Thursday at Noon. Location is the Perry office.
Address = 1100 Main St
Let's come on out and help fill their auditorium.

This looks like it is going down to the wire and every vote counts. The most effective way to let your voice be heard would be to e-mail the HCBE board members at the following addresses:
Post1@hcbe.net, Post2@hcbe.net, Post3@hcbe.net, Post4@hcbe.net, Post5@hcbe.net, Post6@hcbe.net, and Post7@hcbe.net

I have e-mailed the entire group...in my humble opinion the only board member that appeared to be undecided was Mr. Dawkins. He can also be contacted by phone at the following numbers:
-Home - 988-1333
-Cell - 951-8381

Thank you for your time and lets make one last push to pass the alternate proposal ensuring our place at Veteran's High School.

The folk favoring that we be zoned for WRHS are making their opinion clear

At 6:30 tonight folks are gathering together to support the original zoning proposal - this is the proposal where Riverbend Plantation is zoned for WRHS.

If you are in favor of the revised proposal, where Riverbend Plantation is zoned for VHS, please let your voice be heard. Post your comments to http://www.hcbe.net/ AND send an Email to the board members (copy and paste all addresses) :

'post1@hcbe.net'; 'post7@hcbe.net'; 'post2@hcbe.net'; 'post5@hcbe.net'; 'post6@hcbe.net'; 'post3@hcbe.net'; 'post4@hcbe.net';

Nothing is final - your action is required!

Let your voice be heard, stand up for what you believe. The folks favoring that we be zoned for WRHS are making their opinion clear - you better too - speak now or it will be too late!

Board Asks Stakeholders for Input on Zoning Proposals

Please see below for information regarding zoning. To ensure Riverbend Plantation is zoned for VHS (alternate proposal) , please read the below and take action!

Board Asks Stakeholders for Input on Zoning Proposals (http://www.hcbe.net/frontnews4.aspx)

The Board of Education is considering two zoning proposals for the 2010-2011 school year. Proposed maps for an original proposal and an alternate proposal are posted to the Houston County Board of Education Web site, http://www.hcbe.net/, on the zoning page. The Board is seeking input to these proposals via an online survey, which is also posted to the zoning Web page.

Board Chairman Tom Walmer commented, “We appreciate that many community members took time to express their opinions about the original zoning proposal. An alternate proposal was developed based on this input. I encourage interested stakeholders to take this opportunity to review the proposals and to share their views. Public input will be carefully considered as we prepare to make a final decision on zoning.”

The survey asks if the original or alternate zoning proposal is preferred and gives respondents the opportunity to post any comments or questions. Questions will be addressed through a list of Frequently Asked Questions, which will be posted to the HCBOE Web site.
The Board will hold a called meeting on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, to vote on the final school zones. This meeting will be held at 12:00 p.m. at the Board of Education office located at 1100 Main Street in Perry.

With the opening of Veterans High School in August 2010, all high schools will be affected by this rezoning. Slight adjustments are also proposed for six other schools: Eagle Springs Elementary, Quail Run Elementary, Huntington Middle, Northside Middle, Thomson Middle and Warner Robins Middle.

Call To Action

While the alternate map ( http://www.hcbe.net/media/192988/alternate%20high%20school%202010-2011%20model.pdf) zones us for VHS and looks like a positive change to the Thompson Mill Road Corridor residents, there are many people throughout the county that support the original proposal (zoning us for WRHS). These people are actively communicating their opinions to the HCBE Board Members. It is CRITICAL that the residents from the Thompson Mill area make their voices heard over the next 10 days!


All residents supporting the alternate proposal should, at a minimum, post their comments on the hcbe.net website AND send personal emails of support for the alternate plan to each of the HCBE Board Members. The Board Member email addresses can be found at http://www.hcbe.net/system/board-of-education/board-of-education-members.aspx.

Final Zoning Meeting is Scheduled

The final meeting will be on the 28th Jan. at 12:00 at hcbe in Perry.

The final vote will happen that day.

YOUR ACTION IS STILL REQUIRED

Please go to http://www.hcbe.net/zoning.aspx to share your updated comments as well as to view the revised map ("alternate proposal") and review additional information.

VHS Zoning Update

Do you wonder if your comments are making a difference? Well they are! The new proposal for Veterans High School now INCLUDES Riverbend Plantation. This is still a proposal, nothing is final, we all need to help ensure we stay included in the VHS school zone.

YOUR ACTION IS STILL REQUIRED

Please go to http://www.hcbe.net/zoning.aspx to share your updated comments as well as to view the revised map ("alternate proposal") and review additional information.