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Prince William County Public Schools officials have presented the division’s recommended redistricting scenario, paving the way for the possible reassignment of over 2,600 students to new schools.
Within the recommended proposal – “Scenario 6” – the aging Potomac View Elementary will close at the end of the school year.
The school system recommended the board move forward Scenario 6 to establish attendance areas for the upcoming “Woodbridge Area” elementary school and the new “Potomac Shores” elementary school, coming in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years, respectively.
The Woodbridge area elementary, adjacent to Fred Lynn Middle School, will have a program capacity of roughly 630 students. The following school year, the Potomac Shores elementary, near Covington-Harper Elementary School, will have an approximate program capacity of 1,050 students.
The school system developed four initial redistricting scenarios and added a fifth following an initial town hall and a sixth following another town hall.
All scenarios involve the transition of Potomac View Elementary students to the new Woodbridge elementary school.
Potomac View is one of the oldest school facilities in the district and would have required “significant investment” to modernize for continued instruction for students, according to the school division.
Matthew Cartlidge, the division’s supervisor of planning, said a full Potomac View renovation would be difficult to complete with students in the building.
“The redistricting process has provided us an opportunity to reimagine and offer a better facility to the students of Potomac View Elementary by relocating all of its students to the new Woodbridge area elementary,” Cartlidge said.
The School Board is expected to hold a public hearing on the redistricting process on Jan. 21, and a final vote is expected at the board’s Feb. 4 meeting.
Community engagement
Some of the key takeaways from several community engagement sessions included an emphasis on community integrity, walkability, safety, student support and stability. Focus group members “overwhelmingly” favored scenario six, Cartlidge said.
Cartlidge provided insight on the communities that will be affected by the redistricting, most of which fall along the Route 1 corridor.
The northern part of the Route 1 corridor is “effectively underutilized” and is projected to continue to decrease in student enrollment as a function of lower birth rates, Cartlidge said.
Conversely, the southern part of the Route 1 corridor houses schools that are “significantly overcrowded,” Cartlidge said.
In total, nine of the schools along the Route 1 corridor are above 100% of program capacity – a problem the redistricting proposal is intended to solve by creating long-term stability.
A breakdown of the proposed redistricting scenario showed how different communities would be affected by the changes.
Under Scenario 6, all of the affected schools would be within compliance over the next several years for capacity utilization, with no school exceeding 105% and other schools moving away from being less than 80% utilized.
The proposed redistricting would mean 2,660 students are reassigned to a new school, roughly 31% of the students who attend the affected schools.
The proposal maintains current boundaries for student walkers wherever possible, Cartlidge said, and students who attend Kilby Elementary would progress to one middle school – Fred Lynn – rather than two.
Under this scenario, students at Pattie Elementary School would progress to only one high school – Forest Park – and are no longer split between two middle schools. Vaughan Elementary School is also reduced from three geographic progressions to two.
The school system ultimately recommended the sixth scenario with specific parameters for implementation, including:
- Rising fifth-grade students will not be reassigned. All rising fifth graders residing in areas affected by the adjustments may remain at their currently assigned elementary school for their fifth-grade year.
- The attendance area for the Woodbridge area elementary school will take effect beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
- All remaining elementary school attendance area adjustments, including the establishment of the Potomac Shores elementary school attendance area, will take effect beginning in the 2027-28 school year.
- Students in grades other than rising fifth graders who reside in areas reassigned effective the 2027-28 school year will attend the school to which they are newly assigned beginning in that school year.
School board, community comments
Justin Wilk, the Potomac District board member, said he understood frustration from community members, with the volume of information from the school system being difficult to navigate.
“The Potomac District always has some of the strongest PTOs…in the county, in my opinion, and I’m thankful that a number of them really pushed and engaged their families to come out and support this event,” Wilk said.
Not all schools and communities had that experience, Wilk said, which made him concerned for schools that had lower parent engagement or schools with large volumes of first-generation families.
“I’m concerned about those communities, because there are significant changes coming to those schools,” Wilk said.
While he said the redistricting process was “not fun,” Wilk ultimately said the proposed redistricting option “is the best outcome.”
Loree Williams, the Woodbridge District board member, sought to assure community members this was not a “done deal” and nothing would be “done” until the board voted.
Both Williams and newly appointed Vice Chair Richard Jessie suggested creating another community input session to ensure residents feel they’ve had a chance to voice their opinions on the matter.
Sesalle McDaniel, president of Pattie Elementary’s parent-teacher organization, voiced support for the proposed redistricting scenario six.
“It maintains walkability for established neighborhoods, respects geographic proximity, preserved parent involvement investment and was responsive to the majority of feedback when feasible,” McDaniel said.
While McDaniel said the proposed plan addressed some parents’ concerns, she agreed the process has been difficult and complicated.
“Reassigning 2,660 students means losing the teachers who know their learning styles, the staff who greet them by name and the programs their families have helped to build,” McDaniel said. “I can’t even think about the teachers and staff who will be reassigned.”
Ryanta Leach, a parent at Mary Williams Elementary School, voiced frustration with the redistricting process, though she also supported the proposed option.
“The redistricting process thus far has been chaotic, difficult for many of our families to navigate and just confusing,” Leach said. “However, we were encouraged to see that Scenario 6 was added … At this time, Scenario 6 is the only scenario that appears to be truly beneficial to the Mary Williams school families and keeps us all together.”
