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Parents discuss timeline, extent of rezoning at community meeting

by

ERICA TECHO

ERICA TECHO

ERICA TECHO

ERICA TECHO

Several parents expressed concern about students transitioning between high school feeder systems in Hoover during a community meeting on Thursday night.

The meeting was the last of five preliminary gatherings being held by Superintendent Kathy Murphy to discuss rezoning in Hoover City Schools. This meeting was targeted for the Greystone, Riverchase, Rocky Ridge and Shades Mountain elementary school zones, as well as Berry Middle School and Spain Park High School.

Some students might face rezoning that pulls them from a school that feeds into Spain Park High into a school that feeds into Hoover High, and parents brought up how the change might affect extracurricular opportunities, academics and social groups.

Larry Langston, a Shades Mountain resident with two children at Shades Mountain Elementary School and one child at Berry Middle School, said his seventh-grader is already “Jaguar invested” and might miss out on opportunities by moving into a new school.

Langston’s comment brought up the discussion of "grandfathering" some students so they could stay at their current school. Murphy said while there have been discussions of leaving high school students at their current school, exempting students can be a slippery slope.

“So how do you deal with that child who is an eighth-grader getting ready to go there [to high school]?" Murphy said. "Would those eighth-graders have some opportunity to be grandfathered? And that would be a conversation."

Nicki Mayhew attended the meeting with her daughter, Sophie, who is an eighth-grader at Berry Middle School. Mayhew said Sophie is ambitious and has planned out what she hopes to do in the future, including the courses she would take at Spain Park.

“We don’t know if she’s going to be moved to a different high school, but that’s a concern for her,” Mayhew said. “She’s already got her map. She already knows what she’s taking here.”

Mayhew said she understood that rezoning might not affect high schoolers, but transitioning out of that set path was a concern. Murphy commended Sophie for attending the meeting and taking an interest in her future.

Aisha Crawford, the mother of a Berry Middle School student, asked if grandfathering could potentially apply to middle school students.

“The problem is you can’t grandfather everybody because then the whole process doesn’t work,” Murphy said.

“We don’t want it to work; we want to stay where we are,” Crawford replied.

Murphy added the extent of grandfathering would have to be decided at a later date and noted it is a point that has been made throughout other community meetings.

A timeline for rezoning also came up. Murphy said she hopes there will be a plan by January so the possibility of rezoning isn’t hanging over Hoover City Schools.

Langston, however, asked if there was a way to wait a year and establish a plan that looked further into future growth.

“I don’t want to rush to get unitary status at the expense of moving my child again and again and then again,” Langston said.

Murphy said the only way to ensure stability is a moratorium on construction. While she would be willing to wait another year to ensure the plan was “absolutely right,” she said simply waiting for future projections would unnecessarily extend the process.

“One of the things that I have heard … is look, if we’re going to do this, hear us. Craft it, share it with us, let’s tweak it as we need to because we need to get this done,” Murphy said.

Crawford, who currently lives in a multi-family complex, said she hope to buy a house in Hoover soon. Her concern, however, is keeping her son where he is at Berry Middle.

“I’m not excited about getting into $250,000 worth of debt to get a home to live here permanently and then him be transferred to another school,” Crawford said. "I’m just afraid to jump into something and then we get shifted.”

Murphy said the next step is to begin work with a Geographic Information System. The system will look at several factors, including current school zones and demographics. Then a smaller community group of two or three people per school will meet with Murphy and other administrators.

“Then, we’ll bring this plan back out to you,” Murphy said. “We’re going to bring it back out in five meetings ... At that point, it’s not etched in stone. We’ll still be glad to hear your feedback.”

For now, parents can send in questions and feedback to rezoning@hoover.k12.al.us. There are also resources and information available online at hooverrezoning.com. 

See reports from the first four Hoover City Schools rezoning meetings at:

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