BOE Votes to Rezone Apalachee Cluster

Some Barrow County students who attend one school now will be attend another this fall.

A vote Tuesday night by the Board of Education realigned attendance zones within the Apalachee cluster, affecting four elementary schools, as well as some middle-school students.

The rezonings for and elementary schools include changes that will affect residences south of Ga. Highway 316 between Ga. Highway 81 and Briscoe Mill Road.

The new map for and follows a two-mile radius along the Auburn city limits, a change from the original map the rezoning committee planned to recommend to the board.

"We did change our initial proposals and went with plan A that was presented for Auburn Elementary School and Kennedy Elementary School," Superintendent Wanda Creel said during Tuesday's board meeting. "(This) basically pulls in Kilcrease Drive and Cabot's Walk (subdivision). That is the difference in that particular plan."

Students going into fifth grade and eighth grade next year can choose to remain at their current school if parents or guardians provide transportation. 

The board voted 8-1 to approve the superintendent's recommendations for the rezonings, with Rickey Bailey, who represents District 6, providing the sole dissenting vote.

"What happens if we have a sibling that is at the same school?" Bailey asked during a discussion on the rezonings. "So you could have, like, a fifth and a third grader going to to different elementary schools?”

Creel said that situation could occur but would be left up to parents to decide what schools their children attend.

Bailey suggested all students be grandfathered in, but the board's vote only included fifth- and eighth-grade students.

The rezonings are intended to ease overcrowding at Bethlehem Elementary School. The school, which serves students living in the southernmost part of the county, is approaching 1,000 students compared to Auburn Elementary’s 550.

The rezonings are expected to result in the following student populations at each school:

• Auburn — 768 students
• Kennedy — 657 students
• Bethlehem — 725 students
• Yargo — 639 students