Our area is expecting a little bit of snow today and this evening. For the most up to date info, I have found that NBC29 tends to have the most accurate info. Albemarle’s school closing link is a dead link to NBC29. We tend to have an inordinate amount of school closings, in my opinion. The primary reason for this is that our counties still are quite rural. My understanding is that if one rural road is dangerous, the entirety of the school division shuts down. Surprisingly, 29 does not yet have their red jackets on yet.
Browsing Category Education
Where is Albemarle Growing?
From Brian Wheeler’s SchoolMatters: Where is Albemarle Growing?:I recently updated my analysis of the Albemarle County building reports from the past two years which document each quarter where new building permits are being issued in the County. These do not reflect newly approved developments (e.g. Old Trail Village), but rather homes in developments previously approved where a building permit has now been issued.The report includes all types of housing, but my analysis is limited to single family detached homes, as those are a leading indicator of future enrollment growth for Albemarle County Schools.Brian has done an excellent job and service by providing the actual data that should be used when considering redistricting in Albemarle County. Determining where the growth will be is a difficult task. From one of Brian’s previous posts: If you look at the list of proposed and current housing developments used by the Redistricting Committee and Dr. Castner in isolation, you can easily conclude about 50% of the development is coming up Route 29 North. However, this report does not include Old Trail Village or Wickham Pond (two developments in Crozet submitted after the committee started its work). It also does not include the proposed development at the Breeden Farm (south of I-64 near Mill Creek and 5th Street). The Breeden Farm alone could be larger than all of the growth projected for Crozet (i.e. there could be housing for more than 12,000 people, the number projected for Crozet)…. Maintaining relatively small class sizes and efficient feeder patterns should be priorities. Using accurate, up to date data should be too.
Redistricting in Albemarle County
WINA and the DP have their roundups, but I think the best commentary is that provided by Brian Wheeler, the only member of the Board who blogs about his governmental experience. I did a search on Google that was for the following words:lessons in humility, school redistrictingWould you believe of the over 9,200 hits the number one item was a story about redistricting in Albemarle County schools in 1993. It was written by a mediator who used the Sutherland middle school redistricting as a case study in conflict resolution.What got me searching for insights on humility was a bible verse:Matthew 23:12 – Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
I want to talk about humility, not humility we might possess before a God, but rather humility before an immense community challenge like redistricting.Brian seems to feel that the best interests of the entire community were not represented. Agree with him or not, that he has the conviction and intestinal fortitude to stand for what he believes is the right path for the County is commendable.
Redistricting in Albemarle
WINA notes last night’s decision here…. Most importantly, Brian Wheeler, clarifies a few items on his blog.Of note – At last night’s meeting we also learned the following about enrollment as of 9/6/05 :Total students = 12,433 (60 above projection for this year)
Agnor-Hurt is 37 students above projection
Brownsville is 19 students above projection
Crozet is 30 students above projection
Henley is 29 students above projectionIf you are wondering where the bulk of the growth is – look at the numbers above. Three of the four schools above the projected numbers are in the Western Albemarle District. A wise man said to me recently that if you cannot hit the school with a rock, don’t be assured that your kids will go there …