Proposed Rezoning Plan Seeks to Please Everyone Glynn School Officials Look to Balance Enrollment, While Appeasing Parents.

By TERESA STEPZINSKI

BRUNSWICK — The desire of parents to keep students in neighborhood schools and the need to balance enrollment among the 10 Glynn County public elementary schools are reflected in a proposed attendance rezoning plan.

Howard Mann unveiled the proposal Monday night to the Rezoning Task Force — a 13-member advisory group appointed by the county Board of Education. The school board is looking at changing student attendance zones to accommodate the construction of Sterling Elementary School, which is scheduled to open in August.

Rezoning also is needed, said board members and school system administrators, to relieve overcrowding at some elementary schools and boost enrollment at others.

The task force asked Mann, special assistant to the Glynn County School System superintendent, to develop the rezoning plan that he presented to the group for review and possible revisions.

“The object is to minimize the movement [busing] of students, and to maximize the use of our existing facilities, all while doing our best to stay within the parameters of the federal desegregation order,” Mann said.

Many of the proposed changes affect students attending elementary schools on the mainland. The two elementary schools on St. Simons Island will be impacted to a lesser extent, the proposal shows.

“The most important thing is we’ve tried to keep the students as close to their neighborhood schools as we could and still meet the federal order,” said Mann who described the rezoning proposal as “a very common-sense plan.”

Residents will have an opportunity to review and comment on the plan during public meetings scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, and Wednesday, April 18. The location of the hearings hadn’t been decided Monday.

The plan could undergo “some adjustments depending on how the community responds to it,” before the school board acts on it, Chairman Dave Smith Jr. said.

“I’d hope it would come before us [school board] for approval in one of our May meetings,” Smith said.

Smith would like the plan in place as soon as possible so parents will be prepared when classes resume Aug. 15 after the school system’s summer recess.

Historically, rezoning has been an emotional issue for some parents, Smith said.

“Change is hard and some people don’t like it … but we certainly don’t want overcrowded schools,” he said.

Andrew Lakin, school board attorney, said Monday morning that he hadn’t seen the proposal but planned to be at the evening’s task force meeting. Lakin also said he hadn’t had an opportunity to discuss it with board members.

Citing those reasons, Lakin declined comment about whether U.S. Justice Department approval would be needed before the plan could be implemented. He also declined to estimate how long it would take to win such approval.

The school system, which has about 12,280 students, like many other public school districts nationwide, is under a long-standing federal court desegregation order. The order governs the racial makeup of the student population at each school.

Glynn’s total student population is about 55 percent white and 45 percent minorities including blacks, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders and American Indians, enrollment records show.

The increase in minority students, Mann said, is mainly due to the growing population of Hispanic residents in the county.

The desegregation order calls for a 70 percent majority to 30 percent minority racial balance at each school, but allows for up to a 20 percent variance either way.

In past years, Glynn generally has had a 60 percent white to 40 percent minority makeup at its schools, he said.

“The 60-40 balance would be a close target for us on this plan in general,” Mann said.

However, a few elementary schools would have a higher percentage of minority students because of the racial composition of the surrounding neighborhoods, he said.

Mann is optimistic. They are going to move forward and if the Justice Department objects to the plan, then it can be revamped and implemented the following year, he said.teresa.stepzinski@jacksonville.com, (912) 264-0405HITTING HOME

The Glynn County Board of Education is looking at changing the attendance zones for students attending the 10 elementary schools in the public school system.

The proposed rezoning plan was unveiled Monday night at a meeting of the school board’s Rezoning Task Force, an advisory committee including residents, school board members and Glynn County School System staff. The school board will vote on the proposal at a later date. Read the school-by-school breakdown, A-7SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL BREAKDOWN

This is a summary of the projected kindergarten through fifth grade enrollment and projected racial composition at each school if the plan remains unchanged.

— Sterling Elementary School — Total enrollment: about 555 students. Racial composition: 69 percent white to 31 percent minority. The school would get 244 students from Glyndale Elementary School, 179 from Golden Isles Elementary School and 25 from Burroughs-Molette Elementary School.

— Glyndale Elementary School — Total enrollment: about 485 students. Racial composition: 60 percent white to 40 percent minority. The school would get 86 students from Altama Elementary School, 59 from Burroughs-Molette and 52 from Golden Isles. Glyndale would keep 169 students in its present attendance zone.

— Golden Isles Elementary School — Total enrollment: about 682 students. Racial composition: 63 percent white to 37 percent minority. It would get 70 students from C.B. Greer Elementary School, 11 from Altama and six from Burroughs-Molette. Golden Isles would keep 439 students in its present attendance zone.

— Altama Elementary School — Total enrollment: about 597 students. Racial composition: 75 percent minority to 25 percent white. It would keep 383 students in its present attendance zone. The school would get 30 from Golden Isles, 18 from C.B. Greer, five from Burroughs-Molette, six from Glyndale, 10 from Goodyear Elementary School, eight from Oglethorpe Point Elementary School, five from Satilla Marsh Elementary School and 22 from St. Simons Island Elementary.

— Burroughs-Molette Elementary School — Total enrollment: about 497 students, all of whom live within a 1-mile radius of the school. Racial composition: 96 percent minority to 4 percent white. It would keep 140 students in its present attendance zone. The school would get 88 from Glyndale, 93 from Goodyear Elementary School and 61 from Oglethorpe Point Elementary School.

— Goodyear Elementary School — Total enrollment: 521 students, all of whom live within a 1-mile radius of the school. Racial composition: 80 percent minority to 20 percent white. No changes to the school’s attendance zone.

— C.B. Greer Elementary School — Total enrollment: 628 students. Racial composition: 64 percent white to 36 percent minority. It would keep 456 students in its present zone. The school would get 28 students from Altama, four from Burroughs-Molette, 10 from Golden Isles, five from Glyndale, three from Goodyear, two from Morningstar, three from Oglethorpe Point, one from Satilla Marsh and nine from St. Simons Island Elementary.

— Oglethorpe Point Elementary School — Total enrollment: about 573 students. Racial composition: 74 percent white to 26 percent minority. It would keep 327 students from its original attendance zone. It would get 78 students from Burroughs-Molette, 45 from St. Simons Island Elementary School and 17 from Goodyear.

— Satilla Marsh Elementary School — Total enrollment: about 715 students. Racial composition: 84 percent white to 16 percent minority. No changes to its attendance zone.

— St. Simons Island Elementary School — Total enrollment: about 410 students. Racial composition: 57 percent white to 43 percent minority. It would keep 209 in its current attendance zone. The school would get 93 students from Burroughs-Molette, 28 from Oglethorpe Point, six from Glyndale, two each from Golden Isles, Altama and Goodyear; three from Greer and five from Satilla Marsh.

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