'Purely Coincidental' No Redistricting Committee Members Impacted

None of the volunteer members of the Council Rock Redistricting Committee are impacted by the current proposal to shift nearly 10 percent of elementary students to various schools, a fact that is "purely coincidental," according to correspondence distributed Tuesday by the district.

The committee, which meets in closed session, was made up of two parent representatives from each school.

"Committee member impact, however, is subject to change in light of possible modifications to the proposed redistricting plan," the district said in a Question and Answer email circulated to parents.

Three building administrators and five central office administrators were also members of the committee, which studied enrollment projections, reviewed community feedback, examined housing information and analyzed building capacity to come up with a redistricting proposal that was met with resistance during a community hearing earlier this month.

Dozens of Northampton Township residents have expressed outrage over the plan, saying it will isolate their children from the community and divide neighborhoods. Those opponents have asked the committee to consider making Richboro Elementary a north feeding school. That idea has been rejected, district officials say, because it would cause an imbalance between the regions, and would result in Newtown Middle School exceeding 100 percent capacity.

A vote on the proposal, originally planned for Jan. 25, has been pushed back. A new date for a board vote has not been scheduled. However, district officials said in the Tuesday evening correspondence that the board would need to vote on a proposed plan by the end of February to allow for timely implementation.

A meeting of the redistricting committee was scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 23.

The committee will also meet the following dates: Jan. 30; Feb. 6; and Feb. 12. Despite pushback from the community, the committee will continue to meet in closed session. "Meeting summaries will be provided within 24 hours of meeting dates and pertinent information relative to meeting activity will be posted to the Redistricting Hub," the district said.

Image of proposed Council Rock Redistricting map