What's on the horizon in 2017: The year rezoning could become reality

It has been nearly 10 months since the Hoover school board approved a rezoning plan that could shift about 2,000 students to new school zones, but community discussion about it has virtually ceased.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala in May gave preliminary approval to the plan but held off on implementing it for the 2016-17 school year because she wants more information from Hoover school officials about how it will impact minority students.

Hoover schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy said she’s a little concerned the topic has dropped off the public’s radar so much because some people may have forgotten about it, but it’s not going away.

She’s hopeful the federal judge will give final approval to the plan in time for the 2017-18 school year, which is expected to begin in August.

There are two main goals of the plan: redistribute students to make better use of available space at schools and “undo” previous rezoning plans that forced minority populations to travel farther to school.

Here are some key elements of the plan, as presented to the court:

► South Shades Crest Elementary would change from a K-4 school to a K-2 school, and Brock’s Gap Intermediate, now with grades 5-6, would begin to serve students in grades 3-5 in the South Shades Crest Elementary zone only.

► Trace Crossings and Deer Valley elementary schools, now serving grades K-4, would return as K-5 schools.

► Bumpus Middle, now serving grades 7-8, would switch to a 6-8 school, similar to Berry and Simmons middle schools.

► Trace Crossings Elementary students would, after grade 5, split up between Bumpus and Simmons middle schools but at more equal percentages than originally proposed. All the students from Trace Crossings Elementary would reunite at Hoover High.

► Students in numerous apartment complexes and single-family homes would be rezoned to different schools. Go to hooverrezoning.com to see rezoning maps with specifics.

► Students entering grades 9-12 would be “grandfathered” to stay in their current school zone, as would students who would have just one year in a school because of rezoning, such as students entering grades 5 or 8.

Haikala in May gave Hoover school officials, the U.S. Department of Justice and NAACP Legal Defense Fund until Jan. 17 to file a report of how Hoover schools are doing in regard to desegregation goals. 

A 1968 U.S. Supreme Court order requires school districts to ensure that black students are treated fairly with regard to student assignment, facilities, transportation and extracurricular activities, and that racial discrimination does not occur in the hiring and placement of faculty and staff.

Haikala also wants an assessment of how Hoover’s rezoning plan would impact its efforts to fulfill the court mandates.

Murphy said Hoover school officials know they need to increase minority representation among school employees and are beefing up efforts to achieve that.  Hoover teachers also have gone through training on how to better teach diverse classrooms.

Murphy said her staff will meet the Jan. 17 report deadline, and the school district’s attorney has stayed in touch with the Justice Department and NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “I believe we are on the same page,” she said.

There may be some tweaking to the final rezoning plan, but she does not anticipate significant changes, she said.

School leaders are eager to get final approval so parents can know for sure what will happen, but they understand it’s necessary to answer all the judge’s questions, she said.