<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3dKstR_0vkWnnqE00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3dKstR_0vkWnnqE00" width="1763" height="1175" ><figcaption>Potowmack Elementary School students get off the bus on the first day of school, Aug. 24, 2023.&nbsp; Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now</figcaption></figure>There won’t be an elementary school attendance zone change in eastern Loudoun this fall after the School Board voted Tuesday to reverse its Aug. 13 vote to make revisions of certain zones in the Algonkian District. The schools that were being looked at for a potential rezone were Algonkian, Countryside, Horizon, Lowes Island and Potowmack Elementary Schools Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lewis said there were several reasons they asked the board to reconsider, including; a potential need to rezone the area again in a few years because of some new residential developments that have been approved but not yet built in the Countryside and Potowmack Elementary School zones, the full implementation of Potowmack Elementary’s Dual Language Immersion program which is set for fall 2028 and includes the addition of 150 more students to the school, to more closely examine school projection numbers for the coming years because several schools aren’t meeting their Fiscal Year 2025 enrollment projections, a change in the use of free and reduced meals that will alter the board’s consideration of socioeconomic data, changes in base building capacity calculations for all elementary schools starting this fall due to changes in capacity for special education classrooms from 10 students per class to eight and a change in special education class numbers. “We are coming back to you with a recommendation to cancel this attendance zone process for this fall,” Lewis said. Doing so required the board to hold a vote to suspend its rules of operation to vote to make the item an action item, which required a 2/3 majority vote. That passed 8-1 with Anne Donohue (At-large) opposed. The board then voted on a motion to replace the adopted Aug. 13 calendar with a revised calendar that excluded the attendance zone meetings. That also needed a 2/3 majority vote.It passed unanimously.April Chandler (Algonkian) said she appreciated the staff’s work in gathering the information and said her constituents were grateful for the pause. “I don’t believe the Algonkian District has gong through a change in 20 years,” she said adding that doing it once would be a better option. Chandler asked Lewis to quantify where the enrollment was today so the community could have an idea of where the schools are with capacity.Lewis said they would have final numbers when the official enrollment count was released Sept. 30.The Aug. 13 vote also approved meeting calendars for discussion of the Capital Improvement Program and Capital Asset Preservation Program. Those meeting dates will still take place as scheduled, with the next budget meeting Oct. 22. </div></body>

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No Eastern Loudoun Elementary School Zone Changes This Fall

There won’t be an elementary school attendance zone change in eastern Loudoun this fall after the School Board voted Tuesday to reverse its Aug. 13 vote to make revisions of certain zones in the Algonkian District. The schools that were being looked at for a potential rezone were Algonkian,...