Union Co. school board's redistricting vote surprises, angers parents

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — The Union County Board of Education approved a highly-controversial plan to shuffle thousands of students to different schools. The decision outraged many parents and students.
 
Board members said they had no other choice because of issues of overcrowding within the district.

That vote came as a big surprise to more than 100 parents attending the school board meeting, since the vote wasn't even on the agenda.

The board members voted to approve two amendments to the redistricting plan.

One amendment would allow high school students and seventh and fourth graders to be grandfathered in at their current schools but they will have to provide their own transportation.

The second amendment allows the Mill Bridge community to stay at their current schools because of roads that are under construction.

Most parents Channel 9 spoke with with agree that class sizes should be smaller, but they don't think that sending their children to different schools is the best solution.

Another option the school board has talked about before is to build portable classrooms on campus -- that was actually on the agenda Tuesday night. The board voted against accepting $3 million from the county to do just that.

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