Crowd Complains About Gwinnett School Redistricting

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA -- About 125 people attended a Gwinnett County school board meeting Thursday, many of them to complain about the board’s school redistricting plan.

According to coverage by the Gwinnett Daily Post, among the most vocal attendees were parents of children proposed to be moved from Sugar Hill Elementary School, in north Gwinnett, to Sycamore Elementary School.

One parent told the board he chose a home in the Sugar Hill district after smelling a landfill located near Sycamore.

Another, Brandon Hart, said that while house-shopping, his family found a house they loved, but opted against it because it was zoned for Sycamore, not Sugar Hill.

“If all these places don’t want their kids to go to Sycamore, why not address the problems at Sycamore,” Hart told the board, according to the Daily Post. “With the ratings that Sugar Hill Elementary has, it’s a better elementary, and for that reason we were worried about our home values.”

The landfill was mentioned by several attendees of the meeting, as were test scores, which are higher at Sugar Hill Elementary.

More than 20 people spoke at what was the first of two public hearings on the redistricting plan.

It impacts areas in the Duluth, Lanier, Meadowcreek, Mill Creek, Mountain View, Norcross and Parkview school clusters

Overall, 31 existing schools and more than 6,800 students will be affected, the Daily Post reported.

Redistricting was needed because of the additions of Baldwin Elementary in Norcross and Coleman Middle School in Duluth. Both new schools will open in August.

Revised district maps were expected to be available at impacted schools Friday morning. The second public meeting on the issue is set for January 21 at 5:30 p.m. That will be just before a regular school board meeting, at which the board is expected to take a final vote on redistricting.