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Elementary school redistricting revisited

SCHOOL COMMUNITY MEETINGS

> Sweetwater: Oct. 7
> Clyde Campbell: Oct. 9
> St. Stephens: Oct. 14
> Webb Murray: Oct. 16

Information gathered at community meetings will be shared with the entire school board during its Oct. 27 meeting.

Click here to print map.

By Sarah Newell Williamson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: August 28, 2008

NEWTON - With a new elementary school opening in Catawba County in less than a year, Catawba County Schools is preparing redistricting plans that will affect children in kindergarten through sixth grades in the St. Stephens area.

Catawba County Schools is building Snow Creek Elementary School, on Snow Creek Road in Hickory. It is the first green elementary school in the county, and will have a capacity for 700 students.

Sweetwater Elementary School is closing after this school year, although not all of the students who attend school there will go to Snow Creek. Depending on where they live, they could go to Clyde Campbell, Murray or St. Stephens elementary schools if the schools are closer to their neighborhoods. That's part of what the school system is considering when the district lines are redrawn.

The school system plans to avoid dividing neighborhoods, reduce mobile classrooms and have balanced school enrollment at the affected elementary schools, said Steve Demiter, assistant superintendent of operations.

The proposed redistricting plans and map will be presented to the Catawba County Schools Board of Education at its Sept. 8 meeting, Demiter said. It will be reviewed and discussed again at the board retreat on Sept. 22.

Demiter said lines could potentially be changed in between when the board views it the first time and when the redistricting map is presented to the public, depending on the board members' input.

Community members will also have a chance to have their questions answered about the redistricting proposal at school community meetings. They're tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m.

"They'll have the opportunity to look at the maps, have their questions answered, provide input and express concerns or support," Demiter said. "I'll be there, and so will the superintendent, and a few of the board members will be at each meeting."

The information gathered at the community meetings will be shared with the entire school board at its Oct. 27 meeting. The plan likely will be approved by the board in December.