Redistricting Columbia, Clarksville (Ellicott City, Hebron: 2015, apartments, house prices)

[smileysme]

Hello.

We are in the process of buying a new home. Currently we are seeing a home that is in Columbia, but is 1 to 2 miles from all blue ribbon schools. Atholton high is 5 miles from this home, but it is not the current assigned high school. Can redistricting happen such that the assigned high school may change to a further school (Atholtion) just because of the city?

Radar : Blue ribbon school -1 mile ; Home we like ; --5 miles-- Atholton.

Investing quite some funds on the new home, so want to be careful.http://www.city-data.com/forum/images/smilies/think.gif

Thanks in advance, for any help.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by smileysme

We are in the process of buying a new home. Currently we are seeing a home that is in Columbia, but is 1 to 2 miles from all blue ribbon schools. Atholton high is 5 miles from this home, but it is not the current assigned high school. Can redistricting happen such that the assigned high school may change to a further school (Atholtion) just because of the city?

Your question is almost impossible to answer without knowing the exact address. If the house is in an area that is experiencing growth, some redistricting might happen. If the neighborhood is completely filled in, I would not bet on redistricting.

I suggest calling the County School System and asking if the address is in a potential redistricting area.

Otherwise, I suggest buying in the school district you truly want, even if it costs more. For example, lots of buyers know that Centennial High is one of the best rated in the county, and that tends to push up the house prices.

BTW, Redfin.com shows you houses in a selected school zone. If you want to be in Atholton, here is the area and current listiings: https://www.redfin.com/city/12839/DC...pe=7&market=dc

The zone for Atholton has a strange shape, and it has had for several years. I believe the intention was to bring the students in the apartments to the east of Route 29 into the Atholton zone.

[newhart]

Originally Posted by smileysme

Hello.

We are in the process of buying a new home. Currently we are seeing a home that is in Columbia, but is 1 to 2 miles from all blue ribbon schools. Atholton high is 5 miles from this home, but it is not the current assigned high school. Can redistricting happen such that the assigned high school may change to a further school (Atholtion) just because of the city?

Radar : Blue ribbon school -1 mile ; Home we like ; --5 miles-- Atholton.

Investing quite some funds on the new home, so want to be careful.http://www.city-data.com/forum/images/smilies/think.gif

Thanks in advance, for any help.

I'm a little confused by your question. The city location (mailing address) will have nothing to do with your school assignment. It's all county-based. I've never known of any attempt to keep Columbia/Ellicott City/Clarksville/Fulton.... residents in schools in the same "town". They might try to keep large neighborhoods together when they make changes but they cross town boundaries all the time. If you're going to have someone in high school in the near future, you can get information from the school board web site on projected boundary changes in the next couple of years, if there are any.

[smileysme]

Hey guys..
Getting used to this board, and posting here.
Thanks for all this information. This home is near Guilford rd.

[J_Lurk]

There is no redistricting happening in 2014, so the fastest any redistricting would happen is 2015 for the year 2016.

No one can tell you for sure what the plan would be. Redistricting takes a long time and involves multiple meetings with public comment. However, you can get an idea of the parameters by looking at this study: http://www.hcpss.org/f/schoolplannin...lity-study.pdf
As you can see there, the projections are that Atholton High School will be at 119% in 2018 if there is no redistricting. This implies that students would be transferred out of Atholton, not in. This is particularly true if you are currently assigned to a school to the west. In general, the county is growing in the east, not the west, and redistricting moves students west. The only students who could hope to get transferred into Atholton are those to the east of it, and then they would move more out of Atholton to the west to accommodate those.

[smileysme]

Originally Posted by J_Lurk

There is no redistricting happening in 2014, so the fastest any redistricting would happen is 2015 for the year 2016.

No one can tell you for sure what the plan would be. Redistricting takes a long time and involves multiple meetings with public comment. However, you can get an idea of the parameters by looking at this study: http://www.hcpss.org/f/schoolplannin...lity-study.pdf
As you can see there, the projections are that Atholton High School will be at 119% in 2018 if there is no redistricting. This implies that students would be transferred out of Atholton, not in. This is particularly true if you are currently assigned to a school to the west. In general, the county is growing in the east, not the west, and redistricting moves students west. The only students who could hope to get transferred into Atholton are those to the east of it, and then they would move more out of Atholton to the west to accommodate those.

Thank you!! This really helped.

[AeroGuyDC]

Word of caution. You will not make friends in your new neighborhood if you come in guns ablazing seeking school redistricting. Most people are very adamant about keeping what they have when it comes to neighborhoods and schools. Afterall, they didn't just show up one day and say "Oh, gee look how lucky we are to live in this neighborhood! The schools are great here!"

Conversely, people don't generally buy a house hoping that the neighborhood will one day be redistricted to another school district.

People with school kids buy a certain house for a reason and it usually hinges on the schools. If you want a certain school or schools, then buy a house in that district. It's as simple as that.

[smileysme]

Thank you. Yes, at this point, we are considering our new home, on schools.

[cjmeck]

HCPSS has a redistricting committee that you may want to contact. I believe if you search www.hcpss.org you will find the contact information. Another poster said that the redistricting is taking place to ease the crowding in the eastern part of the county and that did seem true for the last elementary school redistricting that happened. Its impossible to predict what will occur when they redistrict again; unfortunately it happens too frequently. I'd personally make sure you will be happy with the 2 closest schools to the homes you are considering just incase.

[smileysme]

Originally Posted by cjmeck

HCPSS has a redistricting committee that you may want to contact. I believe if you search www.hcpss.org you will find the contact information. Another poster said that the redistricting is taking place to ease the crowding in the eastern part of the county and that did seem true for the last elementary school redistricting that happened. Its impossible to predict what will occur when they redistrict again; unfortunately it happens too frequently. I'd personally make sure you will be happy with the 2 closest schools to the homes you are considering just incase.

Agree on your thought. Atholton has a ranking of 10. But no way it is closer to River Hill

On the other hand the option of Centennials versus Mount Hebron/Marriots is always a safer bargain.