ABSS superintendent visits School of Education for redistricting discussion

Recently, the topic of redistricting has caught the attention of the Alamance-Burlington School System. In order to become better informed about upcoming changes within the district, Elon University’s School of Education welcomed the superintendent of ABSS, Bill Harrison, to speak to faculty, staff and students about his plans for improvement.

Harrison has worked in the field of education for more than 40 years and acknowledged how difficult yet beneficial redistricting can be. During his presentation in the Curriculum Resources Center, Harrison explained the major issue within this school district: schools are overpopulated, but still continue to accept more and more students each year. Harrison, along with the rest of ABSS, is working to begin the process of redistricting in order to focus on making choices that will benefit students in the long run rather than maintaining the status quo.

The driving argument behind the push for redrawing district lines is the desire to make ABSS schools reflect the socio-economic diversity of Alamance County, which would ideally lead to equal access to different programs and courses, regardless of a student’s attendance zone. With the proposed plan, Williams High School will be implementing a new International Baccalaureate program, Graham High School will become a skilled trades academy, and Cummings High School will be repurposed into a school for the arts for students in grades 6-12.

The educational community outside of the university is especially important to current students in the School of Education as many of them complete practicum experiences and student teach in the district. The issues and questions surrounding redistricting are just as important to the faculty, who need to ensure that their students are prepared for their experiences. Having Harrison available to speak to some of these issues and answer so many questions was a wonderful opportunity for all who attended.