The first Community Meeting for the redistricting process saw a large turnout on Thursday night when 120 people gathered at T.C. Williams High School for the start of the discussion to create school better boundaries for Alexandria City Public Schools.
Community meetings will be held regularly over the course of the redistricting process as a way of ensuring the public has genuine and meaningful participation in any decisions made. While Thursday night’s meeting served as a general introduction to the process, future meetings will involve looking at maps and data.
Community meetings, in addition to Redistricting Review Committee meetings and Steering Group Meetings, will be held at regular intervals. The 35 members of the Redistricting Review Committee will be the voices of their communities during the process, and be responsible for ensuring community involvement.
It was good to see so many people at Thursday’s night’s first Community Meeting. We know that robust community involvement is going to be critical throughout this process,” said Redistricting Steering Committee Chair and School Board member Stephanie Kapsis.
The Redistricting Review Committee is made up of two representatives from each school across the division, along with one high school student and two members of the wider Alexandria community. The Redistricting Review Committee will provide a recommended option or options for new school attendance zones based on community feedback, School Board approved redistricting criteria, and guidance from the Redistricting Steering Committee to the School Board. Staff will then use the Redistricting Review Committee’s work to submit a final recommendation to the School Board.
Redistricting has not taken place in Alexandria since 1999 and is needed to solve capacity issues and strengthen the sense of neighborhood schools.
For more information on redistricting visit www.acps.k12.va.us/redistricting and follow the process on Twitter: @ACPSk12 #BetterBoundaries.