Hanover County Public Schools Boundary Adjustment Process
Hanover County Public Schools is currently undergoing a boundary adjustment process as part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring that our school buildings support the current and future needs of our school community.
This webpage serves as your central hub for information regarding the ongoing boundary line evaluation and adjustment process. You will find important dates, opportunities to provide input, the specific maps (once drafted), and more relevant information to help ensure you are fully informed throughout this process.
We are committed to working with our families during this process and appreciate your partnership and collaboration.
Project Overview
As part of a long-term and more comprehensive solution to addressing current and future student enrollment and capacity across schools in the division, HCPS is undergoing a boundary line evaluation and adjustment process. This process will help to ensure that we continue to serve our students in facilities that are used in the most effective and efficient way possible.
HCPS has engaged a third-party vendor, MGT, to lead this process, utilizing their expertise in school boundary analysis and associated community engagement. MGT representatives will draft the adjustment options, lead the community meetings, present to the School Board, and more.
Timeline
We are in the initial phase of the process, which involves data collection and analysis. Draft boundary options are expected to be published in early 2025 along with several community meetings.
The final options will be published in advance of their presentation to the School Board, which is currently slated for the School Board’s March business meeting. A vote on the boundary adjustments is currently scheduled to take place at the School Board’s April business meeting.
With the School Board approval, the adjustments would take effect for the 2025-26 school year.
Here is more information about the process to-date:
- October 3, 2024: HCPS announces the start of boundary evaluation and adjustment process.
- October 8, 2024: MGT, the third-party vendor hired to lead the process, provides a high-level overview of the process to the Hanover County School Board. The presentation can be found on BoardDocs.
- December 18, 2024: HCPS shares new webpage with utilization of each school and announces January community engagement sessions.
- January 14, 2025: MGT presents a comprehensive update to the School Board and outlines the upcoming community engagement sessions.
Community Engagement
We understand that there will be significant interest in this process. Please be assured that your valued input and partnership will be a key part of informing this important work. We are committed to keeping you fully informed as potential adjustments are proposed and as community meetings are scheduled.
MGT will host three in-person community engagement meetings next month to receive input on the draft boundary options, which remain scheduled to be released in January.
The three meetings will be held as follows:
- Monday, January 27 at 7 p.m. at Atlee High School
- Tuesday, January 28 at 7 p.m. at Patrick Henry High School
- Wednesday, January 29 at 7 p.m. at Mechanicsville High School
On Thursday, January 30, the proposed boundary options, a recording of the presentation made at the in-person meetings, the presentation from the meetings, and a link to provide input will be made available on this dedicated boundary adjustment process webpage and shared with the community directly. This will allow families, staff, and community members to access this important information as often as needed, as well as provide necessary context to better understand the process and options presented prior to sharing input.
Data
The MGT school utilization webpage includes the utilization (essentially, the percentage of a school’s functional capacity in which students are enrolled) of each school in the division. Please note that there are current, five-year, and 10-year forecasts for each school level.
This data is guiding MGT’s work as we collaboratively work to effectively and efficiently utilize our school buildings. We are committed to keeping you fully informed throughout this process and this information is an important cornerstone for this work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is HCPS adjusting school boundaries?
As you may know, HCPS, along with the Hanover County School Board, have worked to address a significant increase in enrollment at Cool Spring Elementary School, including the installation of temporary learning cottages. As part of a long-term and more comprehensive solution to address student enrollment and capacity across schools in the division, a boundary line adjustment process is needed.
What is the process for adjusting the boundaries?
The process follows four steps: Initiation, Preparation, Boundary Options, and Recommendation/Finalization.
In the first step, data is gathered and analyzed, among other things. In the second step, forecasts are drafted and boundary options are developed. The first two steps are expected to be completed before the end of 2024.
In the third step, draft boundary options are published and community engagement sessions are held. In the fourth step, the final boundary options are published and the School Board votes on the adjustments. The final two steps are scheduled to take place between January and April 2025.
What is the timeline for the adjustments taking effect?
With the School Board approval, the adjustments would take effect for the 2025-26 school year.
Will middle and high school zones be impacted?
As noted above, we are in the initial phase of this process. While there is much work to be done, the primary focus of this effort will be elementary schools. Middle and high school data is still being analyzed and, given the comprehensive nature of this boundary line review, adjustments, if necessary, may need to be made to our secondary school zones.
We are committed to keeping you informed throughout this process.
Does the capacity data include learning cottages?
Capacity data includes only brick and mortar buildings.
Where can I find the proposed boundary adjustment maps?
While no proposed boundary adjustments are currently drafted, you will be able to access the specific draft options via this webpage. Please stay tuned!
Will families and community members have the opportunity to review the proposed adjustments and share input?
Yes. We deeply value the input of our families and community members, and will offer opportunities in which you will be able to share feedback throughout this process. We will communicate frequently and broadly with our families and greater community to help ensure all relevant information is communicated, including opportunities to provide feedback.
Why are the options being made available when they are?
As we hope you can understand and appreciate, this is complex work. Our vendor, MGT, leads processes such as this across the country and strongly advises that we take this approach (release the options at the community engagement meetings and afterwards) to make sure the necessary facts and context are provided so our community can better understand the process and options prior to sharing input.
While we previously planned for the release of the options prior to the meetings, it became abundantly clear over the past two months that explanation and context would need to be provided to allow for greater understanding of the options, yielding more robust community engagement.
To help ensure that members of our community have the necessary facts and context regarding the options, the draft options are being made available at the meetings. Then, on January 30, we will provide a recording of the presentation and the presentation itself. We assure you that there will be ample time and opportunities to provide input, whether it is at one of the meetings or via online input that will open later that week, as well as view more specific details regarding each proposed option.
Who will receive the input?
All stakeholder input received will be collected by our vendor, MGT, and shared with the School Board. We will share more information regarding the deadline for input when we send out the link for input and other information, but we anticipate that the online input will be open through February 10, which is well over a week following the community meetings.
Contact
If you have any questions about this process, please contact [email protected].