News: Sherando Wins Appeal to Remain in Region II

(Apr. 19, 2010) - Sherando High School won its appeal to stay in the AA Region II instead of being moved up to the AAA classification.

Frederick County Schools recently redrew boundaries to keep Sherando's population just within the AA limits. Sherando is now projected to have 1,571 students, making it the region's largest school. Freedom at 1593 and Broad Run at 1595 are being moved up (starting in 2011-12) to the AAA Northwest Region Cedar Run District which was where Sherando was headed before winning its appeal.

Freedom and Broad Run will be smaller than three of the other four schools in the Cedar Run including Osbourn (1974), Stonewall Jackson (2384) and Battlefield (2873). Loudoun Valley and Heritage, currently in the Cedar Run, are moving down and back into Region II and the Dulles District with new schools opening in Leesburg and Purcellville this fall.

Stone Bridge, on the other hand, remains in the AAA Liberty District in the Northern Region where the Bulldogs at 1945 students will be larger than any other school except for Langley (2076) and Fairfax (2362).

The new Dulles District starting in 2011 will include nine high schools from Loudoun: Briar Woods, Dominion, Heritage, Loudoun County, Loudoun Valley, Park View, Potomac Falls, Tuscarora and Woodgrove.

The results of the Redistricting and Reclassification Committee Appeals Hearings have been posted on the VHSL website along with the updated 2011-12 and 2012-13 Classification Plan. Click on this link to access: http://www.vhsl.org/classification. Final action on this plan will be taken at the Executive Committee meeting on May 6.

Summary Report of Appeals and Action/Justification by R&R Committee
April 19, 2010
The following summary represents the chronology of appeals presented to the VHSL Redistricting and Reclassification (R&R) Committee at its meeting on April 19, 2010. The committee's action in response to each appeal is noted along with its justification for the decisions.

I. William Monroe High School appealed its placement in the Jefferson District, Region II, Group AA and requested instead to be placed in a district in Region B, Group A.
Action: Doug Straley moved, Sue Ross seconded and the committee voted 7-6 (Straley, Crook, Thomas, Ross, Hollandsworth and Compton voting yes along with Chairman Melton, to break the tie) to grant William Monroe’s appeal to move to Group A.
Justification: It was noted that had the break points of 104 (AAA), 104 (AA) and 103 (A) been reversed, William Monroe – with just one student making the difference – would have been Group A.
Placement: Steve Barnett moved, Stan Latham seconded and the committee voted 12-0 to place William Monroe in the Bull Run District, Region B, Group A. Placement in the Bull Run District would keep the region balanced.

II. Central (Woodstock) High School appealed its placement in Northwest District, Region II, Group AA and requested instead to be placed in Bull Run District (or any Region B district the committee would designate), Region B, Group A.
Action: Sue Ross moved, Doug Straley seconded and the committee voted 12-0 to grant Central’s appeal to move to Group A.
Justification: Central High School (after correcting a computer programming error) had a change in the actual numbers reported to DOE; the resulting number of 751 is within the Group A range.
Placement: Steve Barnett moved, Steve Leaman seconded and the committee voted 12-0 to place Central (W) in the Bull Run District, Region B, Group A. Placement in the Bull Run District would keep the region balanced.

III. Sherando High School appealed its placement in the Cedar Run District, Northwest Region, Group AAA and requested instead to be placed in Northwest District, Region II, Group AA.
Action: Steve Leaman moved, Steve Spangler seconded and the committee voted 12-0 to grant Sherando’s appeal to move to Group AA.
Justification: The Frederick County School Board took action on February 4 to redistrict the county’s three schools such that Sherando’s numbers would be reduced significantly and would be well within the Group AA range.
Placement: Steve Leaman moved, Larry Compton seconded and the committee voted 12-0 to place Sherando in the Northwest District, Region II, Group AA.