VHSL Redistricting & Reclassification Meeting Set

[imported_Sportsman]

R&R Appeals Schedule

Tuesday, April 4, 2006 -- 9:00 a.m.

VHSL Office, Lower Conference Room

I. Call to Order:

II. Agenda Approval:

III. Review of Materials:

IV. Appeals Presentations: In accordance with VHSL By-Laws now in effect as a result of action taken by the Executive Committee in December:

"The Redistricting and Reclassification Committee shall conduct a hearing to evaluate each appeal during which one representative of the school shall be permitted to present evidence in support of the appeal. The Redistricting and Reclassification Committee shall render its decision in response to the appeal and shall inform the appellant school within 30 days. The Redistricting and Reclassification Committee also shall publish a summary report of all appeals, and its justification in each case, as an appendix to its final formal recommended RRC plan when it is submitted to the Executive Committee.

"A school may then appeal the Redistricting and Reclassification Committee's decision to the Executive Committee. No hearing shall be conducted by the Executive Committee in response to the appeal. Instead, the Executive Committee's review of the appeal shall be limited to an evaluation of the written record of the original appeal as published in the appendix of the Redistricting and Reclassification plan. The Executive Committee shall then issue its decision in response to all such appeals as amendments to its final motion to approve the formal RRC plan. The VHSL's Executive Director shall inform each appellant school of the Executive Committee's decision."

Each appeal will be allowed five minutes for presentation, there will be five minutes allowed for opposition comments and five minutes for questions by the committee.

9:15 Robert E. Lee ( Staunton ) appeals its assignment to the Valley District North, Region II, Group AA, and requests assignment to the Valley District South, Region III, Group AA.

9:30 Valley District appeals its split into two regions and requests that the Valley District North be placed in Region III, Group AA.

Broadway, Harrisonburg and Turner Ashby High Schools individually request to be placed in the Valley District North in Region III, AA.

Fort Defiance and Stuarts Draft High Schools individually appeal the Valley District being placed in different regions; they request that Valley District schools be moved to Region III.

Spotswood High School appeals the assignment of Valley District schools to different regions and requests that the Valley District remain in the same region, even if the districts must split.

Waynesboro High School requests that the Valley District North, Valley District South and Seminole District be in Region III and that the Jefferson District be in Region II.

9:45 Jefferson District by a vote of 6-0-1 requests to be assigned to Region II instead of Region III.

Charlottesville , Fluvanna County , Louisa County , Monticello , Orange County and Western Albemarle High Schools individually vote to make this request.

William Monroe High School abstained from this vote.

10:00 Region II appeals assignment of Valley District and Jefferson District schools. By a vote of 28-1-3 , the region requests that (a) the Valley District be assigned to the same district or in different districts in Region III (instead of the Valley District North being in Region II and the Valley District South being in Region III) and (b) assign the Jefferson District to Region II (instead of Region III).

Note: The Dulles District and Northwestern District also submitted letters supporting the placement of Valley District schools in Region III and the Jefferson District in Region II.

10:15 Blue Ridge District appeals its placement in Region IV.

Alleghany, Lord Botetourt, Northside and William Byrd High Schools request to remain intact as a four-team district assigned to Region III; if that request is denied, these schools request that the proposed nine-team district be split into two districts.

10:30 Cave Spring High School requests to remain as part of the current River Ridge District and be assigned to Region IV. If this request is not approved, it requests the proposed nine-team district recommended by the R&R Committee.

Christiansburg and Hidden Valley High Schools request to remain as part of the current River Ridge District and be assigned to Region IV; this request also includes assigning Alleghany, William Byrd, Lord Botetourt and Northside as a four-team district in Region III.

Salem and Pulaski High Schools request that if the Blue Ridge District appeal (above) is not granted, that the nine schools in District I, Region IV, of the R&R proposal not be split.

Seminole District requests an appeal rebuttal and supports the original plan proposed by the committee.

10:45 Lebanon High School appeals its placement in Region D, District 4; instead, it requests to remain in the Hogoheegee District, Region C, Group A. Tony Dodi, Principal of Lebanon , presenting.

Mike Neal, Principal of Rural Retreat, has requested to speak in opposition to this appeal.

11:00 John Battle High School appeals its placement in Region D, District 4; instead, it requests to remain in the Hogoheegee District, Region C, Group A.

Mike Neal, Principal of Rural Retreat, has requested to speak in opposition to this appeal.

11:15 Fairfax High School appeals its placement in the Concorde District, Northern Region, Group AAA, and requests instead to be in the Liberty District, Northern Region.

Note: The Concorde District endorses the request by Fairfax to be assigned to the Liberty District, Northern Region.

11:30 Northwest Region appeals the assignment of Loudoun Valley High School to the Cedar Run District, Northwest Region. The vote was 18-2-1 against Loudoun Valley entering the Northwest Region.

Loudoun Valley High School has requested to speak in opposition to the Northwest Region appeal.

Northern Region has requested to speak in opposition to the Northwest Region appeal.

~LUNCH~

V. Action Agenda: Committee deliberates and acts on appeals. The Committee shall publish a summary report of all appeals, and its justification in each case, as an appendix to its final formal recommended plan when it is submitted to the Executive Committee.

VI. Business from the Floor:

VII. Adjournment:

[imported_Counts]

Thanks for the update the following comment was VERY intresting to me

[ QUOTE ]
10:45 Lebanon High School appeals its placement in Region D, District 4; instead, it requests to remain in the Hogoheegee District, Region C, Group A. Tony Dodi, Principal of Lebanon , presenting.

Mike Neal, Principal of Rural Retreat, has requested to speak in opposition to this appeal.

11:00 John Battle High School appeals its placement in Region D, District 4; instead, it requests to remain in the Hogoheegee District, Region C, Group A.

Mike Neal, Principal of Rural Retreat, has requested to speak in opposition to this appeal.


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It really makes me think that the Hogo does not mind loseing Leb and Battle and some may infact want them out.

IMHO I did not look for that appeal to afftect the R&R plan and with Rule Retreat and possably the rest of the Hogo speaking in opasition of Battle and Lebanons apeail I don't think it has a snowballs chance

[imported_hhstigerfan]

For some reason I am thinking that the Neal guy is the chairman of the district, so he will be speaking on behalf of the rest of the hogo principals. So yeah, looks like the Hogo is trying to kick Lebanon and Battle out.

[imported_Counts]

I think you are right. If the Hogo does not want Lebanon and Battle back that and the Reagion D wants them and the VHSL wants them to be there it seems like we may already know what the R&Rs dission on there appeal is going to be

[imported_VHSLhelper]

The VHSL Executive Committee met today and heard all of the Realignment appeals.

Lebanon & John Battle's appeals to stay in the Hogo were turned down, so they'll join Lee, Va. High & Gate City in forming a new district in Region D.

All of the AA appeals were granted, which means Region IV gains the River Ridge District (minus William Fleming, which will go to AAA), and Region III gains the Valley District (which will be split).

[imported_hhstigerfan]

It kind of surprises me with Lee leaving the Highlands District and Fleming going to AAA that the SWD didn't try to get Carrol Co. to join the River Ridge and Marion and Abingdon go back to the SWD.

[imported_Counts]

Here is the Bristol papers artical on Leb and Battle It does look like they were more worried about not being able to compeat than anything else and Battle even seems to think that they will lose there football team LOL

http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tr...4-05-0016.html

[ QUOTE ]
CHARLOTTESVILLE "? It was a long day for Tony Dodi.
The Lebanon principal left his house in Russell County at 5:30 a.m. Four and one half hours later and after battling high winds while driving over Afton Mountain, Dodi appeared before the Redistricting and Reclassification committee of the Virginia High School League.
Just over halfway through his trip home from Charlottesville, Dodi heard some bad news via cell phone
The appeal by Lebanon and John Battle to remain in the Region C, Hogoheegee District was denied by a 12-0 vote. Both schools will be transplanted to a Region D district, tentatively named District 4, beginning in the 2007-08 school year.
"I did what I had to do,"? said Dodi, who ended his marathon day at a Lebanon baseball game. "I presented what I thought was the best case for Lebanon High School.
"Now, we will accept the decision and move forward."?
Dodi and John Battle athletic director Linda Thayer outlined several reasons why they felt their schools would be a better fit in the Hogoheegee District. Both five-minute presentations centered around scheduling, rivalries, travel and disparity in numbers.
After the vote, the R&R committee released a statement saying the geographical and travel concerns were not compelling enough to warrant changing the original proposal which sought to achieve region and district balance.
Rural Retreat principal Mike Neal, former chairman of the Hogoheegee District, spoke in opposition to the appeals by Battle and Lebanon.
According to Neal, he was also representing Hogohogee members Chilhowie, Northwood and George Wythe. The principals of Holston and Patrick Henry declined to vote against fellow Washington County school John Battle.
"We have a great relationship and rapport with Lebanon and John Battle,"? Neal said. "In trying to equalize the schools, the R&R committee has created a new Hogoheegee District that affords our students an opportunity to compete on a more level playing field."?
John Battle and Lebanon currently have the largest enrollment numbers in the Hogoheegee. Under the new plan, no Hogoheegee school will have over 500 students. Meanwhile, Lebanon will have the smallest enrollment in District 4.
Dodi said he understood the reasoning by the Rural Retreat principal.
"(Neal) presented the best-case scenario for his school, and I did the best for my school,"? Dodi said. "We all try to take care of our students and programs."?
While Dodi said that athletes, coaches and community members in the Lebanon preferred to remain in the Hogoheegee, he feels the adjustment process to Region D will be smooth.
"Lebanon competed well when it was placed in the Highlands District in the 1990s, and we will do the same in Region D,"? Dodi said.
Thayer pointed out that Battle is in a unique situation due to its location in Washington County and lack of a centralized community.
"A lot of our student body is close to Abingdon, Virginia High and Gate City,"? Thayer said. "Our student base is just spread out."?
And Thayer feels the move to a new district will compound the numbers problem already within the Trojan football program.
"The survival of most any school's athletic program financially depends on their football program,"? Thayer said. "When we start competing with Lee and Virginia High on a district level, we're going to eventually lose athletes. That's our dilemma.
"We might not see a big difference the first year just because of the novelty. But, if we continue to lose it will make a difference."?
While the Battle appeal was denied, Thayer felt she made her points.
"I was pleased with the way the committee accepted what we said,"? Thayer said. "We did what we needed to do and said the right kind of things."?
Thayer said the travel issue will be especially evident involving games with Lee, which is located two hours via bus from Battle.
"Depending on the scheduling for boys and girls basketball, our students might have to leave school around 4 p.m.,"? Thayer said.
Like Dodi, Thayer has been appreciative of the warm response from Region D officials. She even understands the longtime challenge at Lee
"Lee has a unique situation,"? Thayer said. "They have the enrollment, but there's nobody to compete with unless they travel long distances."?
After approval by the VHSL executive committee, the challenging chess game of attempting to align districts in an ever-evolving state appears complete.
"We've got a lot of work to do, such as naming the new district and putting together schedules,"? Dodi said. "It's time to move on."?
[email protected] | (276) 669-2181


On The Move
The modified Virginia High School League Alignment plan for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 as proposed by the R&R committee:
GROUP A
Region D
District 4
Lee: 840 students
Virginia High: 730
John Battle: 638
Gate City: 599
Lebanon: 575
Region C
Hogoheegee District
Patrick Henry: 470
George Wythe: 439
Chilhowie: 410
Rural Retreat: 339
Northwood: 332
Holston: 316
GROUP AA
District 2
Carroll County: 1206
Abingdon: 1002
Richlands: 795
Marion: 793
Tazewell: 576
Graham: 523
Grundy: 506

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