Henrico pares back school rezoning plan after pushback
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Henrico County School Board removed two more scenarios in its controversial school redistricting proposal, this time nixing a plan that would've shuffled nearly 800 students between Tuckahoe and Quioccasin middle schools.
Why it matters: It's the fifth scenario in the proposal that the county has removed or changed due to fierce community opposition.
State of play: Last month, Henrico proposed boundary changes that would've affected more than 1,800 students across 16 schools, largely to address potential overcrowding.
- The changes would've affected who goes to five elementary schools, five middle schools and six high schools.
- On average the county schools are at 84% capacity, but some, like Tucker and Freeman high schools, are over 100%. Others, like Henrico High, are at 63%.
- Now, the redistricting scenarios Henrico is still considering would affect fewer than 800 students at 10 schools.
Zoom in: Opposition to the Quioccasin-Tuckahoe middle school proposals dominated Henrico's three county-wide public redistricting meetings, per the Henrico Citizen.
- Parents and some teachers were concerned about hundreds of students swapping Tuckahoe for Quioccasin and vice versa, and Tuckahoe's ability to handle any more students.
Their issues: Breaking up elementary school feed patterns, a possible impact on home values, and a plan that one parent described to the Citizen as designed to "kick the poor kids out of Quioccasin and ship them over to Tuckahoe" and "take the rich kids [from Tuckahoe] and put them in Quioccasin."
Zoom out: Pushback to the Quioccasin-Tuckahoe proposal also garnered the most feedback via response cards circulated at the town halls, per a review of those summaries shared by the districts.
- Some parents suggested the county was trying to boost "an underperforming school by bringing in high-achieving" students currently zoned for Tuckahoe.
The other side: Henrico had initially projected that the redistricting would put Tuckahoe at 99% capacity. But with this year's student enrollment data, it found that capacity would actually get pushed to 104%. Hence, the yanking of the plan.
What's next: The school board is scheduled to review all community input on the proposals at its next meeting on Oct. 23.