By HEATHER HARTSELL
Leader staff writer
The Cabot School District is one of the five fastest growing districts in the state and because of that, the district is rezoning its elementary school attendance zones to accommodate its eighth elementary, Stagecoach Elementary, that will open in August.
A public meeting with parents and administrators was held Tuesday night at the Cabot High School Loft to share the district’s draft rezoning plan and allow parents to give input and feedback, as well as determine if their student will be moving elementary schools this fall. Another public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at the CHS Loft to give more parents the chance to hear the district’s plan before it is finalized.
Superintendent Dr. Frank Holman said the district opened Magness Creek Elementary six years ago and has added 35 additional classrooms at four of the elementary schools to delay rezoning the district and hopes the final plan will enable the district to go another three to five years without doing it again.
“A lot of work has gone into this for quite awhile. We think we have a plan were we won’t have to go back and rezone, but we never know,” Holman said.
“One major change is that the area outside of Austin is now zoned to Ward Central — from the White County line south all the way to Austin is now Ward Central,” Dalton, district assistant superintendent said.
Other notable changes include: Central Elementary’s zone now includes a smaller area; the Grayhawk area will attend Stagecoach Elementary and not Westside Elementary; any housing area that empties on to Bill Foster Memorial Highway will attend Southside Elementary, areas to the north of Bill Foster will remain at Westside Elementary, Crooked Creek and Willow Drive areas will attend Stagecoach Elementary. Dalton, presented the draft rezoning plan, saying the district tried to stay within the geographic areas around the schools when drawing up this plan.
