Redistricting meetings began for new Fayette middle school without public notice

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A committee has met three times in the past month to consider changes in attendance boundaries for Lexington’s new middle school, district officials confirmed Wednesday, but no public notice was given before the events.

No notice to the community of the three April meetings about redistricting was given because “we just began looking at scenarios,” said district spokesperson Dia Davidson-Smith.

The Herald-Leader asked Wednesday whether meetings had begun. No information was on the district website. District officials had posted recaps of two of the three meetings and other details on its website by Thursday morning.

Rezoning school attendance boundaries, sometimes called redistricting, has previously been a highly passionate issue in Fayette County for families who have concerns about their reassignment.

As new schools are built, the Fayette County Board of Education’s School Zoning Committee considers changes in attendance boundaries to even out the student population, the district website said. The group is made up of parents, community partners, district administrators and school leaders.

Davidson-Smith had initially said that names of the committee members would be released Thursday. By Friday afternoon, the names had not been released. The committee chair was out of town, she said.

The Middle School Rezoning Committee was formed because Mary E. Britton Middle School is set to be completed in April 2025 on Polo Club Boulevard. The committee is considering changes in school zoning assignments for students. The school is slated to open in fall 2025.

“No rezoning is taking place at the elementary nor high school level,” Davidson-Smith said. “This group is not making any decisions, just gathering info to present to the board. No board members are involved in this process.”

In explaining further why public notice for the April meetings was not given, Davidson-Smith on Wednesday said, “We were going to start notifying families after (a meeting in May) where to find information regarding rezoning materials.

“We just began looking at scenarios, and that is why we have not notified anyone yet, but the intention was to notify the community once those conversations began,” she said.

“We are starting with small groups for the rezoning meetings so we can gather information to present to the board and public,” she said.

Davis Demographics, a firm that helps school districts with their planning needs, is helping the rezoning team devise scenarios to recommend for boundary realignment.

“Many facets will be discussed this spring, but nothing will be final until the school board votes on the recommended plan this August,” the district website said.

The meetings

The committee met on April 9 and 23 and had a virtual meeting April 30. The next meeting is at 5:30 p.m. May 14 at Central Office.

Much work has already been done, according to the district website:

• From November to April, internal meetings were held to review data, future residential growth, district programs, magnet placement, and grant possibilities.

• On April 9 and 23, the rezoning committee met and discussed rezoning scenarios.

• On April 30, the committee reviewed other middle school boundaries needing adjustments and presentations of draft scenarios and rationales.

• On May 14, there will be the finalization of Mary E. Britton recommendation and middle school adjustments and final review of scenarios and school residential data, the district website said.

A community forum with a Q&A session and discussion of feedback will be held at a later date. Once recommendations are identified, and before the board is presented with options, a community forum will be held to share information and allow for attendees to give feedback, Davidson-Smith said.

In August, there will be a proposal presentation to the school board.

The committee work

The charge of the committee is to recommend revised attendance zones for middle schools that will accommodate assigning students to Mary E. Britton Middle School in 2025-2026, said Davidson-Smith.

The charge is to be as least disruptive to the current attendance zones as possible, Davidson-Smith said. “This involves considering study areas of current and projected population data that will lead to an informed and logical recommendation.”

“The committee will make a recommendation to the board of education. The committee is not a decision making group. The decision is the board’s to make,” Davidson-Smith said.

In the first phase of the committee meetings, the goal was to develop the attendance boundary for Mary Britton.

In the second phase, the committee was set to review additional middle school attendance zones to determine if there needs to be adjustments, Davidson-Smith said.

Britton Middle can have 1,200 students. The goals of the committee include devising an enrollment boundary for the new Polo Club Middle School with 800 students and address areas of current overcrowding.

Not taking portable classrooms into account, Edythe J. Hayes Middle, which is near the new middle school, is 145% above capacity. Leestown Middle is 114% over capacity. Lexington Traditional Magnet Middle is only at 41% of the total capacity.

In the areas potentially changing are 730 sixth through eighth grade students.

The committee is addressing future enrollment growth or decline.

District officials want to create new middle school boundaries that have the least disruption.

School district staff will communicate directly with families affected by possible zoning changes, the district website said.