STUDENTS

School Attendance Areas

A. Generally

Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent, the School Board shall designate school attendance areas.

The Virginia Beach School Board recognizes that only through effective long-range planning for enrollment can the division be adequately prepared to meet the needs of its current and future student population. In order to assure such planning, the Board establishes procedures which require annual review and recommendations from a Building Utilization Committee regarding enrollment trends and their impact on division facilities and which will assure adequate opportunity for community reaction prior to any redistricting decision by the Board.

B. Projections

The division demographer, under the supervision of the Superintendent, shall:

1. Produce by November 1 of each year, annual updates on the 6-year enrollment projections for the division which take into consideration the following:

1. Figures from the latest school census;
2. School registration figures;
3. Review of forthcoming changes in planning and zoning;
4. Review of current and planned community land development and housing projects; and
5. Latest available birth data.

2. Coordinate enrollment data, facilities planning, transportation impact and formation of recommendations for review by the Superintendent and the School Board.

C. Process

1. Building Utilization Committee

The Superintendent shall create a Building Utilization Committee, with no more than seven (7) members. The division Demographer shall chair this committee. In addition to the Demographer this committee shall include a representative from School Administration, and two or three representatives of the School Board. The Council of Civic Organizations and the PTA Council shall also be invited to name one member each to serve as members of the committee.

2. Review of Projections

Between November 1 and March 15 of each year, the Building Utilization Committee, chaired by the division demographer, shall analyze the updated 6-year enrollment projections to determine the impact, if any, of changes in enrollment projections on optimal building utilization and report to the School Board any recommendations.

The Building Utilization Committee shall propose a plan for redistricting when building utilization at any school building differs from the optimum building utilization level by exceeding the level by ten (10) percent or by falling below the level by ten (10) percent.

3. Formulation of Redistricting Recommendations

The Committee will receive, at the onset of their discussions, a proposed redistricting plan developed by the division demographer, which may include a recommendation for no action, to provide a basis from which to move forward in making recommendations. The Committee shall consider the proposed plan in light of the factors set forth below. While each of the factors must be considered and discussed, it may be impractical to reconcile each factor in the recommendations which will ultimately be presented to the School Board.

1. Optimal utilization of space;
2. The desire to keep areas commonly known as subdivisions or neighborhoods together;
3. The need to develop long term solutions that support limiting redistricting of individual students to one time at each level (i.e. once at elementary, once at middle and once at high school), except in cases of student change in residence;
4. Construction considerations (documented new subdivision construction and scheduled school renovation/construction projects);
5. The desire to reduce or eliminate the number of middle and high schools with divided feeder patterns if at all possible;
6. Transportation considerations (non-transporation zones, hazards, redirection of the number of students riding a bus and reducing the length of bus rides);
7. The costs associated with the various options considered; and
8. The impact of enrollment changes upon course offerings/subject offerings, equipment needs, building modifications, etc;
9. The desire is to redistrict as few schools and students as possible.

The Committee's recommendations will be incorporated into the final redistricting plan prepared by the division demographer.

4. Community Input

Before the Comittee's proposed redistricting plan is presented to the School Board for information, the division demographer shall present the proposed plan to the community at one or more community meetings in each area affected by the proposed plan (e.g. a possible single boundary change affecting three schools could be handled by one meeting), where members of the community will have an opportunity to review the plan, to comment on its merit and make suggestions for its improvement.

The Building Utilization Committee shall consider public comment prior to presentation of the proposed redistricting plan to the School Board.

D. School Board Action

The Building Utilization Committee shall prepare a final report no later than March 15 of each year. The final report will include the redistricting plan developed by the Committee, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of the plan. The report will be presented by the chair of the Committee to the School Board for information at a meeting no later than the second School Board meeting in March.

Prior to taking action on the Committee’s proposed redistricting plan, the School Board must hold a public hearing not less than ten days after reasonable notice to the public in a newspaper of general circulation if the redistricting of school boundaries affects fifteen percent or more of the pupils in the average daily membership in the affected school. Such public hearing may be held on the same day as the School Board meeting at which action on the plan is taken as long as the hearing is held before action is taken.

E. Definitions

1. Optimum Building Utilization: the division-wide building utilization, adjusted at the site level, for the average two-year historical growth in membership from September 30 to March 31.

2. Building Utilization: the actual percentage use of program capacity, factoring in the number of inaccessible seats by grade level.

3. Program Capacity: the maximum capacity of the school building for a particular school year and particular student population, taking into account the number of first seats in the building (without counting portables currently on site).

4. First seat: an instructional space with the physical plant of the building in which students receive core and primary instruction. Self-contained special education classrooms are also considered to be first seats.

F. Attendance Area Exceptions

1. The Superintendent shall ensure that students attend the schools that serve their attendance area as established by the School Board, except in the instance where redistricting decisions affect an individual child more than one time at a school level (i.e. at the elementary school level, at the middle school level or at the high school level), except in cases of a student change in residence. Additionally, the Superintendent or designee shall ensure that no school which exceeds its optimum building utilization by ten or more percent receives out-of-zone students unless approved by the Superintendent or his/her designee under established regulations. The Superintendent shall develop a mechanism to verify actual attendance areas for students.

2. Children of Virginia Beach School Division Employees will be allowed to attend the school to which such parent or guardian reports or is their primary assignment pending approval of the school principal and such enrollment will be exempt from the school’s optimum building utilization by ten (10) percent or more requirement. Virginia Beach School Division employees who live out of the City of Virginia Beach will be required to pay tuition according to the provisions set forth in Division Regulation 5-16.1.

3. A student may be transferred out-of-zone when the student’s presence in the school poses a significant disruption to the educational environment or to the safety of students or staff at the school. Upon recommendation of the Director of Student Leadership the Assistant Superintendent may review the student’s placement and make a decision to transfer the student to another school or an alternative educational setting. Transportation to the designated out-of-zone school may be provided. The student or the student’s parent/legal guardians may appeal the Assistant Superintendent’s decision to the Superintendent within five calendar days of notification. The Superintendent will review the matter and make a final, written, unappealable decision. Any such placement will be for the current school year. Such transfers are exempt from the optimum building utilization level as stated in section F-1 of this policy.

G. Last Year Options

Upon the establishment of new attendance zones by the School Board, rising fifth, eighth and twelfth graders shall be permitted to continue in their previously assigned schools if they provide their own transportation to that school, and such enrollment will be exempt from the school’s Optimum Building Utilization by ten (10) percent or more requirement.

Editor’s Note
For established regulations see Regulation 5-14.1: Criteria for Out-of-Zone/School Attendance Areas and 5-16.1: Nonresident Students
(See Virginia Beach City Public Schools website at www.vbschools.com)

Legal Reference:

Code of Va., §22.1-79. Powers and Duties.

A School Board shall:

4. Provide for the consolidation of schools or redistricting of school boundaries or adopt pupil assignment plans whenever such procedure will contribute to the efficiency of the school division;

8. Obtain public comment through a public hearing not less than ten days after reasonable notice to the public in a newspaper of general circulation in the school division prior to providing (i) for the consolidation of schools; (ii) the transfer from the public school system of the administration of all instructional services for any public school classroom or all noninstructional services in the school division pursuant to a contract with any private entity or organization; or (iii) in school divisions having 15,000 pupils or more in average daily membership, for redistricting of school boundaries or adopting any pupil assignment plan affecting the assignment of fifteen percent or more of the pupils in average daily membership in the affected school. Such public hearing may be held at the same time and place as the meeting of the school board at which the proposed action is taken if the public hearing is held before the action is taken. If a public hearing has been held prior to the effective date of this provision on a proposed consolidation, redistricting or pupil assignment plan which is to be implemented after the effective date of this provision, an additional public hearing shall not be required.

Code of Va., §22.1-3.3. Transfer of students under certain circumstances. Whenever any student has been the victim of any crime against the person pursuant to Chapter 4 (§ 18.2-30 et seq.) of Title 18.2, and such crime was committed by another student attending classes in the school, or by any employee of the school board, or by any volunteer, contract worker or other person who regularly performs services in the school, or if the crime was committed upon school property or on any school bus owned or operated by the school division, the student upon whom the crime was committed shall, upon written request from the student's parent, or the student, if such student is an emancipated minor, be permitted by the relevant school board to transfer to another comparable school within the school division, if available. Any transportation services for such students shall be provided in accordance with school board policies.

For the purposes of this section, 'victim' means any student who has been the victim of a crime against the person pursuant to Chapter 4 (§ 18.2-30 et seq.) of Title 18.2, and who has suffered physical, psychological, or economic harm as a direct result of the commission of such crime.

Adopted by School Board: October 21, 1969
Amended by School Board: October 15, 1974
Amended by School Board: August 21, 1990
Amended by School Board: July 16, 1991
Amended by School Board: June 15, 1993 (Effective August 14, 1993)
Amended by School Board: October 20, 1998
Amended by School Board: August 17, 1999
Amended by School Board: June 5, 2001
Amended by School Board: August 6, 2002
Amended by School Board: November 19, 2002
Amended by School Board: September 16, 2003