Arlington (Map, News) - An Arlington plan to redistrict some elementary schools to relieve overcrowding, which drew passionate responses from parents and underwent a drastic revision before passing the School Board in February, was voided by a circuit court Thursday on a procedural technicality.
An Arlington County Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of six Tuckahoe Elementary School parents who argued that, among other things, the board did not properly advertise its public hearing date.
The board had advertised a Feb. 12 hearing, but rescheduled the hearing for the following day because of an ice storm that pummeled the region.
"Contrary to the plaintiffs' woefully incomplete recitation of events, the School Board did not base its decision to adopt the redistricting plan simply on a single Feb. 13, 2008, hearing the day before its action or on a single newspaper advertisement," the School Board's court filing read. "The School Board was highly engaged with the public in a comprehensive process that lasted more than a year. ..."
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WW II plane collection on display Friday in Everett The parents who filed the lawsuit all have children who would attend Nottingham Elementary instead of Tuckahoe under the board's plan.
"The plaintiffs' children live, on average, twice as far from Nottingham as from Tuckahoe," their court filing said. "Yet, there are families living more than twice as far from Tuckahoe than to their closest neighborhood school whose boundaries remain part of the Tuckahoe school district."
The School Board has scheduled a new public hearing on the plan for June 12.
School Board Chairman Ed Fendley said he respected the court's decision but declined to comment on whether the board would consider changing the plan, which would affect about 130 children by the 2009 school year.
"I'm very let down by the School Board's decision to simply re-notice the meeting and revote on it," said Joseph Delogu, one of the parents who filed the suit.
Delogu said the six parents are prepared to file another suit arguing that the redistricting plan failed to comply with the School Board's own policies governing boundary changes.
"We don't intend to have a cheap victory here by winning on the notice provision," he said. "My children are little, this is a big problem, and I can't have the county's capricious behavior affecting my family."
tluntz@dcexaminer.com