900 Students Move in Arlington Superintendent's School Boundary Recommendation

Arlington Public Schools unveiled Superintendent Pat Murphy's recommended boundary changes for seven North Arlington elementary schools on Wednesday.

The changes are necessary to accommodate a new elementary school in Williamsburg, part of a larger effort to deal with overcrowding as the population of students in the public school system continues to grow.

Murphy will make his formal recommendation to the school board Thursday night.

In all, that plan moves 900 students — more than one-third of them from Nottingham Elementary School to the new elementary school.

Murphy's recommendation:

• Moves 67 students from McKinley to Ashlawn
• Moves 56 students from Glebe to McKinley
• Moves 164 students from Jamestown to the new elementary school
• Moves 71 students from Taylor to Jamestown
• Moves 347 students from Nottingham to the new elementary school
• Moves 49 students from Taylor to the new elementary school
• Moves 146 students from Tuckahoe to Nottingham

Further, a to-be-determined program will be moved from Glebe to the new elementary school. Staff will be working with the Special Education and Early Childhood offices to determine which program would be moved, according to Bellavia.

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The school system has hosted more than 40 community meetings on the matter, according to the memo that contains the recommendation. Staff developed its initial recommendation plus two variations after gathering public input.

Murphy will recommend the second variation.

The superintendent held a town hall earlier this month that drew several hundred parents, mostly of students in Glebe and Taylor elementary schools. While the crowd was far from reaching a consensus, the majority of those who attended the town hall favored the second variation.

"He definitely took into account what he heard at the town hall meeting," Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia told Patch.

Murphy also will present the initial staff plan and first variation to the school board for informational purposes, Bellavia said.

"There are people who understand that we have to do boundaries. They've been part of the process, they've been listening to the process for the last year… and they're going to look at the presentation and make up their minds whether it's good or bad for them," he said. "I don't know how it's going to be perceived."

Murphy will make his presentation Thursday following a public hearing on his proposed 2014 budget. So far, 14 people have signed up to speak on the budget.

Murphy's presentation includes several grandfathering provisions. Click here to read his full recommendation.

Read more:

• School Boundary Changes: Arlington Superintendent Gets Feedback
• School Boundary Changes: Latest Recommendations Released
• Proposed School Boundary Changes Get Heated Reaction from North Arlington