Hopewell News

Minor changes have been made to the current elementary school rezoning plan after the School Board and the Redistricting Committee received public comments about the plan. But the three roads that have been a major concern to parents in the southern part of the county —Tatum, Hair and Loving Union roads —are still proposed to be rezoned from South Elementary to Harrison Elementary, requiring children on those roads to cross U.S. Route 460 to get to school.
The minor adjustments the Redistricting Committee made were based on demographic information. Now it is being proposed that Lamore Drive, the area between Petersburg, Route 460 and State Route 156 be moved from Harrison to Walton Elementary. Also, Gary's Church Road and Gatewood Road are being moved from Walton to South.
"In our plan it had them going to Walton, but they both currently go to South," said Assistant Superintendent for Maintenance and Operations Jimmy Williams. "It's just a matter of them staying there. We're only talking about two students at that location."
Also, the Committee suggested that children in the commons area of Rolling Meadows stay at Walton instead of being moved to L.L. Beazely Elementary School.
The school system is planning to rezone the elementary schools because of growth in the county. Since 1990, the population in Prince George County has increased from 27,000 to 36,000 people and it's expected the population will continue to grow.
To accommodate more students, the school system is building a new building for North Elementary behind the present building. The new building will be able to hold 728 students, about 300 more students than the present North Elementary. The school system would like to use the additional space the building will provide and eliminate as many classroom trailers as possible.
Assistant Superintendent Jimmy Williams said the trailers had maintenance difficulties and had security problems.
In December, the school system had three public hearings about rezoning at three elementary schools. A disproportionate number of parents that attended the meetings were from the southern part of the county and had a child attending South. Parents on Tatum, Hair and Loving Union roads wanted their children to stay at South because it's closer than Harrison and because their children wouldn't have to cross Route 460 to get to school.
Route 460 has a reputation for being dangerous. It has four lanes, no center turn lane and tractor trailer trucks often travel along it at high speeds. In Disputanta, where Harrison is located, the road is often bumpy. Just two days after the School Board meeting on Monday, Jan. 12 a van crashed into the back of a tractor trailer truck in the west bound lane near New Bohemia.
The second major concern parents expressed is disrupting the social environment their child has gotten used to at their present school. Some parents have suggested to allow their child to finish out the remaining years at their present school, even if they have been rezoned.
At the meetings last month, Williams said one of the reasons why the roads were rezoned as they was because the school system wanted to spread out the demographics. They didn't want a disproportionate number of the same demographic of children going to one school.
The board is supposed to vote on the plan next month, but Carl Coalson, a resident who does not favor those three roads being rezoned, suggested the board delay the vote so they can have time to consider the changes. Also, several board members said they were not comfortable with the overall picture yet.
Chairman Robert Cox said he would not be voting for a plan that requires the residents on Tatum, Loving Union and Hair roads to cross Route 460.
"I'm not happy with the overall presentation with the routes as they are," Cox said. "But I can tell you my major area of concern is the Tatum Road, Hair Road area. And it will be until it's rectified."