VHSL and 4A

[Bulldog 82 11]

If the VHSL goes ahead and dumps the current 6 division setup for a 4A system, does anyone know what the school enrollment limits will be for each classification? I know North Carolina has a 4A system but I don't know the enrollment figures for each class. I wonder if VA's 4A system might be similar to Carolina's? Does anyone have any insight on this subject?

[GMan 3,569]

I had high hopes of the VHSL going to four classes on the next R&R schedule after the R&R committee voted for the change. However, in recent days, one of the AAA regions voted against the latest redistricting changes that would affect their region. This in my opinion will be the first "battle" against any sort of realignment or restructuring of the current VHSL system. Check out the article...I think most of their "exuses" are a crock-a-poo but that's just my opinion...

 

Loud-oun and Clear: Region Rejects Redistricting Plan

By Greg Wyshynski

June 4, 2004

 

The Virginia High School League [VHSL] redistricted a pair of Loudoun County high schools into the Northern Region last month for the 2005-06 school year.

Maybe it should have asked the region for permission first.

Expressing frustration and disappointment with the VHSL's Redistricting and Reclassification Committee, the Northern Region Council [NRC] of principals and directors of student activities strongly rejected the relocation of Loudoun Valley and Stone Bridge to the region in Fall 2005.

"It's not in our best interest to add two schools to this region at this time," said Dale Rumberger, chairman of the NRC and the new principal at the South County high school opening next year.

He lamented the fact that the committee recommended the plan without any analysis or serious input from the Northern Region.

"I have difficulty with an R&R recommendation to an entire region that didn't come through that region first. Philosophically, that's not a way we've ever done it before."

At its meeting Wednesday at Marshall High School, the NRC voted 23-0 — with Herndon abstaining and four schools absent — to reject the recommended alignment of Loudoun Valley into the Concorde District and Stone Bridge into the Liberty District.

The plan, which was approved by the VHSL R&R committee last month, must still be voted on by the VHSL Executive Committee this fall. The region's motion to reject the plan is a symbolic gesture that clearly states its opposition to the addition of Loudoun schools to the region; the final decision, however, rests with the Executive Committee.

The NRC vote opens the door for months of debate and alternatives to the current plan, which was enacted when new ADM student population numbers pushed Loudoun Valley and Stone Bridge out of AA and into AAA classification — the largest class in the state.

STONE BRIDGE PRINCIPAL Jim Person, one of three Loudoun County administrators who attended the meeting, said he's been stunned by the rapid growth of his and other county schools.

"I never dreamed things would bust loose the way they have. But that's the reality of life for us," he said.

Upon learning his school would be moved up to AAA classification, Person's first notion was to try and stay in the Dulles District — home to local rivals Park View, Broad Run and Potomac Falls. But he also began to explore other options, including moving with other Loudoun schools to the AAA Northwest Region.

While his petition was rebuked at first, the region then made a proposal.

"I learned that the Northwest Region had met, and they decided to place Stone Bridge in the Cardinal District," said Person. The Cardinal contains schools like Hylton, Gar-Field and Woodbridge.

"Being in Ashburn, that is a hike," he said.

His next move was to contact the VHSL. He sent a letter to executive director Ken Tilley. "My first priority, I said up front, would be to stay AA, stay in the Dulles District. Status quo," said Person. "I specifically said my second option would be to go to the Northern Region, preferably Liberty District."

A third option, he said, would be to relocate to the Cedar Run District in the Northwest Region, home to Manassas area schools like Osbourn and Stonewall Jackson.

On May 13, the VHSL R&R committee met and approved a plan that kept the Northern Region's recent redistricting plan — Robinson and Fairfax to the Concorde, Jefferson to the Liberty, Lee to the Patriot District — while adding Loudoun Valley to the Concorde and Stone Bridge to the Liberty. The region's newest school in Lorton — the 31st when the Loudoun schools are counted — would enter as either a Patriot District or National District program.

Rod Manuel, principal at Annandale and the region's R&R committee representative, said the Northern Region was kept in the dark regarding the Loudoun schools' plan.

"There seems to have been some communication going on between the VHSL and the Loudoun County school system. I felt like the odd man out — I hadn't seen any documentation prior to that. I sort of went into that meeting blindly," he said.

Person apologized at the NRC meeting for not communicating with the region leading up to the proposal vote on May 13. Both he and Tilley, who also attended the NRC meeting, said the short time between the release of the new ADM numbers and the R&R committee meeting in Charlottesville last month made it difficult to make the Northern Region aware of the plan.

Rumberger said the committee was out of line to push the plan through without it coming under Northern Region consideration.

"I'm angry. I'm angry because this is a major issue for this region, and we had 10 days [before a vote]," he said

THE RELOCATION of the Loudoun schools affects the Northern Region on several fronts.

First is the transportation issue. Under the recently approved redistricting plan by the Northern Region, Rumberger said Fairfax County Public Schools transportation officials told him that geographic obstacles had been finally cleared for local schools. If Loudoun schools were brought in, "all bets are off," he said.

Another issue is the fact that Loudoun schools don't play every Northern Region sport. There is no field-hockey in Loudoun. There aren't JV lacrosse teams yet either.

Mostly, however, the relocation of the two schools would demolish the philosophy the Northern Region had established with its own recent redistricting — that of aligning schools by size and geography. Loudoun Valley is a Div. 5 school, and would be by far the smallest in the Concorde. Stone Bridge would be the second-smallest school in the Liberty District.

NRC members said a simple solution to this realignment headache would be for the Loudoun Schools to relocate to the Northwest Region. Another solution could be for schools close to AAA status in Region II to simply move up a classification.

For example, schools like Warren County (1,516 students in the new ADM numbers), Liberty (1,533), Broad Run (1,492) and Potomac Falls (1,408) could all be AAA schools if they chose to, but are currently slotted in AA.

"Those schools have selected not to play up. When you're one student different between AAA and AA, and you select to play AA, I don't know what that message is," said Rumberger. "We have schools here in our Northern Region who select to play AAA every single year."

Marshall (1,257), Stuart (1,469), South Lakes (1,588) and Falls Church (1,536) are all close to the unofficial cut-off for AAA status, which is 1,500 students.

Loudoun Valley is projected to have 1,678 students, while Stone Bridge will have 1,586.

"We've had prior conversations with all the Loudoun Schools about maybe if some of us have to go AAA, maybe we have to shift our mindsets. Maybe all of us go there," said Person, who added that he didn't expect Loudoun schools to make the leap to AAA status.

"I respect the fact that people get a level of comfort with where they are, and are looking out for their kids."

Oakton Principal Charlie Ostlund said some of the decisions regarding school classification are "obvious idiocy" on the part of the VHSL. He said nothing short of a major overhaul of the classification system could remedy situations like the current Loudoun County controversy.

"We can't put a band-aid on a wound that needs major work. It's really tied up in the notion of three classifications. Maybe the answer is four, maybe the answer is seven," he said.

WITH THE REGION voting to reject the R&R plan, it's now up to the VHSL Executive Committee to make the ultimate decision this fall. Tilley said that unless the committee makes an exception, the Northern Region will be powerless to redistrict again for 05-06 if the VHSL decides to adopt the R&R plan.

The Northern Region could decide this summer to come to the VHSL with an alternative plan that includes the Loudoun Schools. One option, according to Manuel, would have Valley and Stone Bridge moving to the Liberty District, and Langley shifting to the Concorde.

A wild card in this entire redistricting debate is Fairfax, which Rumberger said could still contest its relocation from the Liberty to the Concorde by petitioning the state.

Any amendment to the R&R plan must be submitted by August 13.