Education

• Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS)

  • Board of Education — our member is Shayla Adams-Stafford (District 4)

• School Redistricting

  • Broad context: PGCPS undertakes redistricting (the Comprehensive School Boundary Initiative) to balance school utilization throughout the county, to avoid schools from being overcrowded or underutilized.

    • Key factors considered in planning boundaries are: utilization, distance to school, specialty programs and services, facility conditions, and assignment stability.

    • Three redistricting draft proposals were drawn: one to address the extremes in utilization while keeping rezonings to a minimum, a second that attempts to balance out school utilization as widely as possible, and a third that maximizes the number of students attending school in updated facilities.

  • Cheverly-specific context: most elementary school age children in Cheverly attend Gladys Noon Spellman elementary, but a small minority of children, particularly in the Old Fourth Ward (south of Route 50) and in other parts of Cheverly as well, are assigned to other schools, both under the existing school boundaries and under each of the three new proposed boundary scenarios (see reports and boundary tool below). This is a concern for parents in these areas who want their children to attend Gladys Noon Spellman, i.e. the same school as their friends and neighbors.

    • According to the full report, redistricting boundaries are drawn by using small geographic areas called planning blocks. Boundaries are drawn by how the planning blocks are assigned to school districts. According to the maps in the full report, the planning blocks do not match the shape of Cheverly’s boundaries. The Old Fourth Ward is assigned to the same planning block as part of Fairmount Heights. Gladys Noon Spellman is labeled 45 in this map of the northern portion of the county, while the Old Fourth Ward is assigned to Robert Gray, which is labeled 94 and appears in a different map of the central portion of the county.

  • The final phase of community engagement is planned for Fall 2021. Watch for Zoom meeting announcements from PGCPS!

  • Summary report, Comprehensive School Boundary Initiative (published Spring 2021)

  • Full Report on School Redistricting in Prince George’s County — proposals, methods, community engagement timeline (Jan. 2021-Feb. 2022)

  • Boundary Explorer Tool and Feedback Form — refers to scenarios mentioned in the full report

• Coronavirus page, Prince George’s County Schools

• Cheverly Parent Resource Center — connect with fellow parents in Cheverly