Family Magazine

Redistricting Update

By Monicasmommusings @mom2natkatcj
As you may recall our town is in the midst of a huge city wide school redistricting plan.  Two new schools are being built and set to open in the fall and 4 old schools are closing.  With that means the destination of our students for next year has been up in the air.  We had found out over a month ago what things were going to look like for my elementary school children and I was relieved that it was going to be status qua for the little ones.  But I had no idea what the fate of my middle school daughter was going to be for her final year of middle school.
Preliminary reports for middle school!
The results were finally revealed and my daughter will remain in the same middle school for her final year.  Nothing is final, but I was so happy to see that she wouldn't have to bounce around from school to school.  I was so happy that she'd get to continue being in the Avid program and not have to miss a year of that before starting high school.  I was happy that she was going to be in the same building she has been getting to know for the past year and a half.  I thought she would be happy too.
Much to my surprise my daughter is not happy!
My child who does not handle change well is not happy that she doesn't get to go to the new school.  She hates her current school.  For whatever reason she thinks a building is what makes the experience better.  She wants to go to the new school.  She wants me to send her to the new school.  She doesn't want to finish out her final year in the middle school she has attended for the past year and a half.  This roller coaster ride sure has been taking us for quite the ride.  I never would have predicted that my daughter wouldn't want to continue to attend the same middle school.  Well aside from her best friend going to a different school, but that's not even the case.  So it has been quite a shock to me.
Even without all of this there are still unanswered questions.
We still do not know how they are staffing these new schools.  We have no idea if teachers we love are going to be moved to different schools.  Teachers who had helped our children immensely what they will be doing next year.  We won't know this until school starts most likely.  I will pry and ask for honesty from these teachers about what their plans are for next year.  If they have heard anything.  If they are applying for jobs in new schools or are staying where they are.  I will hope that we will continue to be lucky and not have changes.  Or if we do that they will be changes for the better for my children.
Just sitting in limbo
There's nothing I can do about any of this.  Even the slight ease I have been put under that the children will go to the same school isn't finalized yet.  April is when they have the final vote on the redistricting plan.  I can only hope they don't change things there.  I can only hope that staff is not moved around too much and important teachers in my children's lives remain where they are at least for another year.  And now I have to hope that my oldest can understand that the education she receives is not made better or worse by the building she is in, but by what she puts into it and takes from it.
Have you been through the crazy ups and downs of redistricting before?
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