MCS schedules rezoning community meetings on March 22

MADISON – Since inception of Madison City Schools, district leaders always have arranged for campus populations with similar ratios in social and economic backgrounds.

Although temporarily uncomfortable to some families, rezoning of district lines results in the needed transition for each school to retain an equitable composition of students.

As of March 12, a new page on the MCS website documents the rezoning plan for revised elementary lines and provides space to collect feedback from school families. Visit madisoncity.k12.al.us, and scroll down to click “Revised Rezoning, Low COVID Cases, Curriculum Catalogs.” Then, click “Rezoning Info page” in the first paragraph of text. Or, you can type madisoncity.k12.al.us/Page/6253.

“The feedback form will close on Friday, March 19. Thank you for your support as we continue to grow our great school system,” Nichols said.

“We are in the process of creating new zoning maps for our elementary and middle schools. Then, elementary zones would take effect next year with the opening of Midtown Elementary. The middle school zones would take effect in the 2022-2023 school year,” MCS Superintendent Ed Nichols said in email distribution on March 12.

On March 22, MCS will host two community meetings to discuss rezoning for elementary schools. A public hearing at James Clemens High School Auditorium, 11306 County Line Road is scheduled at 4 to 5:30 p.m. Then, in Zompa Auditorium at Bob Jones High School, 650 Hughes Road, a meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

For anyone who cannot locate your home in the rezoning plan, email zoning@madisoncity.k12.al.us. Residents can record all other inquiries or concerns on the website’s feedback form.

In August, Midtown Elementary School will open off Wall Triana adjacent to Kroger supermarket with construction costs of $34 million; this population allows for additional growth. The site for Journey Middle School, which will cost $49 million, is on Celtic Drive, south of MCS Central Office.

According to current projections, Midtown will open with 879 students with capacity for 900 students. Other school projections are Columbia at 777 enrollment with 840 capacity; Heritage, 896 enrollment, 920 capacity; Horizon, 612 enrollment, 650 capacity; Madison, 478 enrollment, 575 capacity; Mill Creek, 988 enrollment, 1010 capacity; and Rainbow, 609 enrollment, 840 capacity.