Hearing on school assignment policy to be set in April

The date of a public hearing on the Alleghany County Schools school assignment policy is expected to be announced at the Alleghany Board of Education's April 4 meeting, according to Superintendent Jeff Cox.

The board held its first reading of the policy during their March 7 meeting, during which several minor changes, including grammatical errors, were made by board attorney Fred Johnson.

The second reading of the policy is scheduled for the board's April 4 meeting. New policies normally have three readings and then can be approved by the board after the third reading. The public hearing was planned at the board's discretion as a way to gather public input on the policy.

Following the information in the working draft, Johnson deleted the section of the draft regarding home construction. The section in the board's working draft noted a building contractor would have to provide a written statement indicating that the home under construction would be completed and ready for occupancy during the school year which the transfer is requested if a parent wanted his or her child to attend a school not serving his or her current residence. Simplifying a section on children of employees, Johnson's version reads, "Any employee of the Alleghany County Schools may request the reassignment of his/her child(ren) to a school in the attendance area of his/her place of employment."

Although Johnson's draft did not include the section addressing extreme hardship, his draft did include a section addressing homeless students, which stated the superintendent would assign the students in a manner consistent with state and federal law.

Under a section titled "Discretionary Reassignment," the draft read, "The superintendent may reassign a student due to such other circumstances that indicate reassignment to be necessary or appropriate to fulfill the student's educational needs. In making this determination, the superintendent shall consider the best interest of the child, the orderly and efficient administration of the public schools, the proper administration of the school to which reassignment is requested, and the instruction, health and safety of the students there enrolled."

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