New High School Site in Milton – Redistricting Info

The Fulton County School system has set the redistricting meeting schedule for the as yet unnamed Bethany Bend High School site in Milton.  The redistricting process to decide which students will attend the new high school is a 4 step process consisting of three community forums before the Board of Education votes on a final plan.{[}]{[}]Here’s a photo taken Saturday from Bethany Bend looking south – looking closely, you can see that the parking on the north end is starting to take shape just beyond the grass berm, the arrow on the rendering below is approximately where the picture was taken.{[}]{[}](Note – I’ve rotated the rendering so that the North side of the property is at the top of the rendering – the school front will face the north with the stadium on the east side of the property near the water towers off Hwy 9.) Approximately 25 acres of the 65 acre site will remain greenspace. With approximately 720 parking spaces and a sports complex seating about 3500, you do the math – get ready Kings Ridge and Publix parking lots on Friday football nights!{[}]{[}]Here are the meeting dates for the Community Forums, all scheduled at 7pm – 9pm at Alpharetta High School:{[}]{[}]Round one – February 23{[}]{[}]{[}]Round two – March 16{[}]{[}]{[}]Round three – April 13{[}]{[}]During the Round One meeting, the school system staff will outline the process and criteria for creating the attendance zones, then community attendees will break into small-group sessions during which you can give input into the process. Afterward, the staff will review public comments from the forum and apply Board criteria to develop alternative attendance zone plans to be presented during the Round Two meeting.{[}]{[}]At the Round Two Forum, alternative proposals will be presented for new attendance zones. Once again, community members will break into small-group discussions that are facilitated by staff. During these break – out sessions, the strengths and weaknesses of each plan will be discussed. Staff will then use public input to reduce the alternative plans.{[}]{[}]At the Round Three Forum, the revised plans will be reviewed, once again in facilitated small-group discussions. The Staff will then use the comments from this meeting to develop a final attendance zone recommendation for consideration and approval by the School Board.{[}]{[}]The approved attendance zone will go into effect with the opening of the new school in August 2012. Speculation from the fall meeting is that some Roswell HS students will be moved to Milton HS, with the majority of the new Bethany Bend high school students coming from Milton HS and portions of the Alpharetta HS zones. If that is the case, I suspect that the Forums might get a bit heated.{[}]{[}]Keep in mind that under the School Board’s new attendance policy, rising sophomores, junior and seniors all have the option of remaining in their original high school regardless of the new attendance zones. The only caveat is that you must provide their transportation as the bus routes will change once the new school opens.{[}]{[}]Here are previous articles written about the Bethany Bend high school site:{[}]{[}]More progress on new High School in Milton{[}]{[}]New Milton High School Construction to Begin – Under Budget!