Limestone County Schools to vote on redistricting plan in March

Lynsey Smith
·2 min read

LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — News 19 is digging deeper into Limestone County Schools’ redistricting plan. It was introduced last month and has since stirred up a mix of emotions among parents and community members.

In less than one month, Limestone County School Board will vote on its redistricting plan, a plan the district says will address current and anticipated growth at several of its schools.

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Changes to January’s initial proposed plan were unveiled Tuesday night. Limestone County Schools Superintendent Dr. Randy Shearouse believes the changes will alleviate concerns parents and community members may have.

“Anytime you’re dealing with children and the possible movement of schools, parents are going to be very concerned about that,” Shearouse said. “That’s why we wanted to have individual meetings.”

Five meetings were held within the last two weeks, with concerned parents and community members calling on school officials to slow down and find a long-term solution to the problem.

The district will vote in March on the proposal, a vote the superintendent says must be taken soon.

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“You’ve got registration that has to take place, you have to look at teacher numbers/class sizes, and more,” Shearouse said. “I think it’s important to move in March to give us time to prepare for the upcoming school year in August.”

The superintendent said redistricting has been in the works for about two years now, and new zoning is needed to better distribute its students.

“Creekside Elementary and Creekside Primary is a very large school – over 1,100 students here. Johnson only has 300 kids currently. We felt like it would be a good move for some of those kids to go over to Johnson. I think the other moves we have allowed students to move in slowly,” Shearouse stated. “Students currently there aren’t impacted right away because we do want to look out for those students and we know an elementary kid that’s been there through 4th and 5th grade, we know they want to finish there.”

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12th.

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