Charles reviews elementary school redistricting

Some elementary students in Charles County are destined for redistricting, and the school board discussed two potential alternatives at its monthly board meeting on March 12.

A new elementary school, temporarily referred to as Elementary School 23, is being built in White Plains and is scheduled to open in the 2025-2026 school year.

A committee was formed in October 2023 to form redistricting proposals for the new school and its surrounding communities. The committee met weekly from November to January to develop the two options it presented to the board.

Both redistricting alternatives pull students to Elementary School 23 from Arthur Middleton, Mary H. Matula and Billingsley Elementary Schools. Alternative A will also adjust the districts for Malcolm, Mary B. Neal and J.P. Ryon Elementary Schools, while Alternative B will also adjust the districts for Berry, William A. Diggs, T.C. Martin, Walter J. Mitchell, J.P. Ryon and William B. Wade Elementary Schools.

With the districting adjustment for more elementary schools in the county, Alternative B proposes the movement of over 1,000 students, while Alternative A projects a movement of over 500 students.

“The redistricting process is not something that this committee nor the school system take lightly,” Michael Heim, the school system’s chief of operations and supporting services, said. “It’s never an easy decision to move kids from an existing building to another building, so a lot of thought goes into this process.”

In both alternatives, students in districts that allow them to walk to school will not be affected by the redistricting.

Three public hearings are scheduled for community members to share questions and concerns about the redistricting. The first two public hearings will be held on April 2 and May 1.

After Superintendent Maria Navarro makes her recommendation to the board on May 21, a third public hearing will be held on May 22. The board will vote to approve a plan in June.

Another committee has been working on the decision of a name for Elementary School 23. The committee presented the results of community surveys about the elementary school name to the board at the meeting.

The three options for the elementary school name are Margaret Jamieson Thornton, Ronald E. McNair and White Plains Elementary Schools. The committee received community input from a live public hearing in February and a community survey distributed to county residents.

The survey received nearly 800 responses and allowed community members to answer open-response questions to express their opinions on the potential names of the new school.