Students do the shuffle

By Cindy Landrum  

JUNE 30, 2011 11:01 a.m. (0)

For the second time in a decade, scores of students are finding themselves being reassigned from one of Greenville County Schools’ most popular – and successful – elementary schools.

“We moved to the Highgrove subdivision mainly for Oakview Elementary,” said Nath Mahendranath. “It’s the kind of school we want our children to attend.”

But Highgrove is one of a long list of subdivisions that is being reassigned to a new school beginning the school year after next.

That’s one of the problems that come with living in an area that has been and continues to be one of Greenville County’s fastest growing areas.

On Tuesday night, members of the Greenville County Schools board of trustees voted to reassign nearly 1,500 students to new schools effective with the 2012-13 school year. Click here to view a map of the changes (PDF)

While most of the reassignments were necessary to fill a new elementary school on Five Forks Road opening in August 2012, other reassignments were designed to relieve enrollment pressures at the county’s five largest elementary schools, to eliminate long commutes for some middle school students and to eliminate attendance assignment “islands,” or neighborhoods not contiguous to their school zones. Click here to see which subdivisions and multi-family housing units have been assigned to new schools

“It’s not just planning for growth. We’re trying to get the populations down at our five largest elementary schools,” said Betty Farley, the school district’s director of demographics and planning.

Five-year projections call for a growth of 500 to 600 students in the areas currently assigned to Bell’s Crossing, Bethel, Mauldin, Oakview and Woodland elementary schools, Farley said.

The new assignments would put 795 students in the yet-to-be-named school on Five Forks Road. The school will have a capacity of 1,000 students.

The plan takes 316 students away from Oakview, 280 of which are now in the new school’s attendance zone. Thirty-six students will be assigned to Mauldin, while 49 Woodland students will now attend Oakview.

Some residents of Highgrove appealed to the school board to leave their subdivision in Oakview’s attendance area, saying reassignment would divide their neighborhood, add to the distance they have to travel to and from school and add safety concerns.

Farley told the board the commute is the same to both schools, travel time is less and the route they’d have to travel is safer because it has traffic signals instead of stop signs.

Farley said the district decided to allow students and their younger siblings to attend their current school after the reassignment takes effect if their parents provide transportation.

“This reassignment is affecting 11 of our elementary schools. It’s necessary as we look at our current population and future growth,” she said.

The last time Oakview lost a significant chunk of its population was in 2002 when Bell’s Crossing Elementary opened. Bell’s Crossing has a capacity of 1,122 students. Before the reassignment plan was approved Tuesday, Bell’s Crossing had 1,311 students in its geocode,  1,205 of which attended the school.

Students in the new school’s attendance area have traveling distances of 2.5 miles or less.

“Twenty years ago, no one would have imagined having an attendance zone that small with that many students,” Farley said.

Board member Crystal Ball O’Connor said some residents of Highgrove wanted to attend the new school. She has heard from other neighborhoods wanting to go to the new school as well.

More reassignments are coming in the future. The district plans a new high school, two new middle schools and additions to seven of its elementary schools by 2025.

Seventy-one middle school students who live south of Interstate 85 who are assigned to Berea and Woodmont middle schools will be shifted to Tanglewood.

A 400-seat addition to Brushy Creek Elementary will result in the reassignment of some students from Woodland Elementary.

 

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A new school will open in southern Greenville County in Aug. 2012 to relieve overcrowding at the county’s five largest elementary schools: Bell’s Crossing, Bethel, Mauldin, Oakview and Woodland.

These subdivisions and multi-family housing units have been assigned to new schools beginning in 2012-13.

From Bethel to new school:
Riverwalk
Chatham Woods
Connor’s Creek
Matteson Brook (Adams Pointe)
Squires Creek
Waverly Hall
Ansley Crossing
Boxwood
Harrison Grove
Stonehaven (Phase 7)
Avondale Heights
The Ravines at Creekside

From Bell’s Crossing to new school:
Woodruff Lake
Adams Run
Gresham Park
Magnolia Place
Sparrow’s Point (Twin Lakes)
The Townes at Woodruff Park

From Oakview to new school:
Highgrove (Batesville Road)
Bennett’s Grove
Five Forks Plantation (McDonald Fields)
Bradley Oaks
Countryside Estates
Heritage Glen
Kensington (Stonington)
Somerleaf
Stonehaven (except Phase 7)
Sutton Place
Wedgefield
Deerwood
McRae Park
Springwood
The Townes at Highgrove


From Mauldin to new school:
Colonial Acres
Stonewyck

From Bell’s Crossing to Bethel
Abbeyhill Park (Bellewoode)
Carrington Greene
Castlewood
Chantilly
Summerwalk
Trotter’s Ridge
Shadowood

From Bell’s Crossing to Simpsonville
Ponderosa

From Bethel to Mauldin
Chamblee Court
Cavalier Woods Apts.
The Townhomes at the Grove
Rutland Ridge (Heatherwood Apts)
Laurel Woods Apts.
Berkley Pointe (Wenmont Apts)
Wenwood Towns

From Mauldin to Bethel
Parkwood
Rainbow Circle
Lions Gate
Mauldin Gardens
Aleda Terrace
Country Manor Apts
East Oak Apts
Family Circle Homes of Mauldin
Hyde Park
Jlynn Apartments
Miller Road Apartments
Rainbow Place
Rainbow Villas

From Oakview to Mauldin
Walden Creek

From Rudolph Gordon Elementary to Bell’s Crossing
Ravenwood (Raven Falls)
The Reserve at Ravenwood

From Woodland to Oakview
Griffith Farm (Griffith Pond)
Mahaffey Plantation (Riverstone)