Stafford continues to gather input on high-school redistricting
After three community meetings and numerous requests for input from the public, only one person spoke about the redistricting plan for Stafford County's high schools on Tuesday.
Even before the low turnout, the School Board had decided to hold a second public hearing, on Dec. 10, and to push back its decision on high-school redistricting until January.
But it's clear from the dizzying discussions recently held among board members that picking an option will not be an easy process. School officials have presented 11 different scenarios that cut up the county in different ways, all while trying to balance student enrollment, transportation time and a multitude of other factors.
School Board members last week narrowed the options to five, which are shown in detail at staffordschools.net/families/redistricting . But School Board member Alyssa Halstead wanted to go on the record, again, saying she's not a big fan of the way the school system's handled redistricting.
"I don't like this process at all," she said.
While she understood the need to share as much information about as many various scenarios as possible, Halstead said "it's really confusing for folks who can't keep track. And because it's ever-changing ... I think it's causing more strife."
Stafford needs to redraw its high-school boundaries as it prepares to open its sixth high school in August 2026. The 290,000-square-foot building, off Truslow Road in the Hartwood District, will accommodate up to 2,150 students in grades 9-12.
It's expected to cost $183 million for land and design, construction, furnishings and equipment in the new school, according to the school website .
After the School Board decides on boundaries for high schools, it will have to do the same for elementary schools as two new ones also are opening in 2026. One is next to the new high school off Truslow Road; the other is being built on the campus of Brooke Point High School.
As School Board Vice Chair Maya Guy reviewed the various scenarios for high-school redistricting, she was upset that many options overloaded Brooke Point in Aquia District, which she represents. Several options showed the redistricted enrollment projections over 100% for Brooke Point while other schools had room to grow.
Guy said she was trying to consider what was best for each school and felt like other members weren't doing the same.
"Dang, tell me you don't care about Aquia District without telling me you don't care about Aquia District," she said. "There's no way I'm comfortable putting a school at this disadvantage. But I just wish that my other board members felt that way."
School Board member Susan Randall responded: "It's not that none of us care about Aquia. It's just that we all come at this with different lenses."
Board members looked at scenarios in which Brooke Point and Colonial Forge High School, both in the northeastern portion of Stafford, weren't so overloaded.
Then, Chair Maureen Siegmund reminded them that when discussions started, central office administrators said their goal was to have "the bulk of overcapacity" in that part of the county because that's probably where the seventh high school will need to be built.
"That's essentially where we allowed, directed, asked for the burden to be placed," Siegmund said. "And in the future, it might be a conversation we have earlier in the process."
School Board member Elizabeth Warner highlighted some of the issues that have to be considered: the large geographic boundary of Mountain View High School and the distance to North Stafford and Colonial Forge high schools from southern and central locations in the county. There's also the attempt to keep neighborhoods intact, manage transportation and keep the number of disadvantaged students — those who receive free lunch or need special education or English-speaking classes — equitable at each school.
Members said they might have to do "spot redistricting," when small pockets of students are moved to other schools to keep programs balanced.
Maya said she wasn't as concerned about planning units — small geographic areas considered the building blocks of rezoning — together as much as she was focused on the big picture.
"I've never cared about what planning unit goes wherever," she said. "I've cared about let's make sure we don't screw over the entire district of Aquia."
Cathy Dyson:
Health, King George, features and is a local columnist
