The Andover School Committee’s Redistricting Subcommittee met last Friday, October 18th. More than 20 parents joined Annie Gilbert & Dennis Forgue (sub-committee members), Mary Lu Walsh (transportation department) and Paul Szymanski (Asst. Superintendent) as they walked through data collected thus far, and how that would be applied to the redistricting process.
Metrics being taken into consideration for redistricting include school design capacities, enrollment data, transportation efficiency, and a look at growth projections (including data collected from Andover Community Planning & Development), all while attempting to minimize the amount of households that will be required to switch school catchments.
The software program Versatrans, which is currently used by the district to determine bus routes, has a redistricting module that will be the primary tool in redefining elementary school boundaries. This is a change from the manual process used in the past, including during Andover’s most recent 2002 redistricting.
It was repeatedly emphasized that the redistricting team is early in the process of redrawing lines, and that the boundary definitions remain extremely fluid. Nonetheless, draft revised boundaries were presented at the meeting as a way to demonstrate the effectiveness & capabilities of the Versatrans program. In this preliminary draft, Bancroft boundaries only expanded; no current Bancroft households were redistricted to other elementary schools.
Presentation material from last week’s meeting is expected to be posted on the Andover Public Schools web site, along with notice of the next redistricting sub-committee meeting once that is scheduled. As always, these meetings are open and the public is invited to attend.
The target date for draft lines to be widely presented to the community remains early December, with an eye to full School Committee approval of a redistricting plan at their January 9, 2014 meeting.