Berkeley Lake Elementary Affected by School Redistricting

A tally of input forms collected by Boundary Committees in the Duluth Cluster, which includes Berkeley Lake Elementary School, shows overwhelming opposition to a current redistricting proposal by Gwinnett County Public Schools. The overall total was 1,116 opposed to 109 in favor, according to figures obtained by Duluth Patch from Christy Espy, the parent representative for B.B. Harris Elementary School. The forms were submitted to the GCPS Planning Department on Monday, April 11.

“They told us if any changes are made to the proposal, the new map will be in schools and on the county (GCPS) website no later than Monday, April 18,” Espy said.

The numbers represent forms collected at Duluth High School, Duluth Middle School, Harris Elementary, Chesney Elementary, Chattahoochee Elementary and Berkeley Lake Elementary, according to Espy. 

Current redistricting plans call for moving 270 students from Mason Elementary School in the Peachtree Ridge Cluster to Harris Elementary in the Duluth Cluster. About 130 students would be shifted from Hull Middle School in the Peachtree Ridge Cluster to Duluth Middle School in the Duluth Cluster. And 180 students at Peachtree Ridge High School would be redistricted into the Duluth High School attendance zone. 

In addition, an estimated 120 students in the Harris ES attendance zone would be redistricted into the Chesney ES attendance zone to make room for students from Mason ES. Both schools are located in the Duluth Cluster. Harris ES parents have expressed concerns about disrupting students and offered other suggestions.

The redistricting has been proposed to relieve overcrowding in schools in the Peachtree Ridge Cluster, according to GCPS officials, but Duluth Cluster opponents have challenged the proposal because it doesn’t address overcrowding in other schools in the two clusters. Overcrowded Berkeley Lake Elementary School in the Duluth Cluster, for instance, is not included in the proposal. Berkeley Lake Mayor Lois Salter asked the school board to reconsider the redistricting proposal at the Area III Gwinnett BOE meeting March 31.

Duluth city officials and citizens, still upset by the way the community was divided 10 years ago when Peachtree Ridge High School opened, have objected to apartments proposed to be redistricted back into the Duluth Cluster and asked for return of some of the stable, affluent neighborhoods that were taken away. Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris read a statement opposing the current redistricting proposal at the March 17 Gwinnett Board of Education meeting.

The initial redistricting map was posted on the GCPS website March 7. Boundary Committees led by a faculty and a parent representative were formed at each affected school to hold informational meetings and collect input. The Boundary Committees had a deadline of April 11 to submit input forms to the GCPS Planning Department.

The Duluth Cluster Boundary Committees tally does not include input forms obtained on the GCPS website and delivered in other ways. The deadline for submission of these forms was April 1.

Espy reported that several alternative plans developed by Duluth community members were turned into the GCPS Planning Department along with spreadsheets to organize the data. 

A map reflecting any revisions is scheduled to be posted on the GCPS website April 18. After a public hearing from 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 20, the school board is scheduled to vote at a meeting starting at 7 p.m. April 21. Mary Kay Murphy, who represents the Duluth Cluster and part of the Peachtree Ridge Cluster, has said it was possible to revise the April 18 map to incorporate comments and suggestions made at the April 20 hearing. Murphy has publically stated that she would not vote for the current redistricting plan.

“Apparently changes to the map are possible up until the last minute, and it has been explained to me that the BOE can, and has in the past, made changes very close to the vote time,” Espy said.