Parents deserve answers on school redistricting
Much of Tuesday night's meeting of the Cumberland County Board of Education promised to focus on the resignation of former Terry Sanford principal Diane Antolak.
But, meanwhile, a small group of parents in Hope Mills' single-street Landsdowne West subdivision are still waiting for answers and perhaps a measure of fairness for their children.
They are the parents of children who were moved out of Stoney Point Elementary under a new redistricting plan when some students who live in Gates Four were added to Stoney Point.
The school board's original redistricting plan, announced in December, called for some of the students who live in Gates Four to attend Stoney Point and some to attend New Century International Elementary School, scheduled to open this summer.
In January, the school board, under pressure from parents in the Gates Four community, decided not to separate the Gates Four children from classmates living down the street.
And that would seem to make sense. After all, children who live in the same neighborhood should attend the same school.
But at the Feb. 9 meeting, the Landsdowne West parents also presented good points to the board. Why should their children, who live less than a mile from Stoney Point, be the ones who are moved?
At the February meeting, some school board members said they may consider redrawing district lines to include the Landsdowne West students, but no such item was scheduled for Tuesday night's agenda.
We all know that redistricting is necessary to help ease overcrowded schools. But we also believe the plan should be drawn with fairness as the utmost concern.
These Landsdowne West parents deserve some answers. And the answers should make sense.