What Henrico redistricting proposals mean for middle, high schools

Henrico County Public Schools is in the midst of a redistricting process that will alter boundaries for a number of schools countywide. Officials have narrowed the proposed changes to two options for elementary schools, two options for middle schools and two options for high schools – though modifications to the remaining options are likely.

When the School Board last approved a countywide redistricting plan in 2009, its redistricting committee pared six months of work into two final recommendations, but then school system officials created a third hybrid option from those two in one week, and the School Board ultimately adopted a revised version of that option shortly thereafter.

The current School Board will have a much different look next year – three current members opted not to seek re-election and will be replaced by three new members. The five-person board is expected to adopt a redistricting plan in May.

Below is a look at the impact Options A and B would have on each middle and high school in Henrico County. (A separate article examines the  impact on elementary school zones.) Schools are listed below in clockwise geographic order, beginning with those in the Near West End followed by those in the Far West End, Northern Henrico and Eastern Henrico.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Tuckahoe Middle – Both options maintain the boundaries nearly as they exist currently, except that Option A would include a small section of homes on the north side of Patterson Avenue off Maybeury Drive but move a number of homes south of I-64 and east of Parham Road to Quioccasin. Option B essentially would swap those moves while also keeping an additional section of homes along Marroit Road and east of Fon Du Lac Road at Tuckahoe.

Quioccasin Middle – Option A would shift a large section of homes east of the Church Road/Pump Road intersection and south of Three Chopt Road (including the Church Run and Lake Loreine neighborhoods) from Pocahontas to Quioccasin. Most homes east of John Rolfe Parkway also would switch to Quioccasin as part of Option A. The western boundaries in Option B, however, would be farther east, keeping many of those areas at Pocahontas.

Pocahontas Middle – Option A would use West Broad Street as a northern border for the Pocahontas zone, moving a large chunk of homes in the Nuckols Farm Elementary zone from Short Pump Middle to Pocahontas. Option B would keep those homes at Short Pump Middle and adjust Pocahontas’ eastern boundaries as outlined above in the Quioccasin description.

Short Pump Middle – Option A would shrink the Short Pump zone considerably, making West Broad Street the southernmost border while extending the eastern border to Cox Road south of Nuckols Road. Option B would retain the Nuckols Farm Elementary School zone south of West Broad Street and also extend the easternmost border toward Fort McHenry Drive in Innsbrook. Both plans would move a small section of homes north of Shady Grove Road adjacent to the Chickahominy River into the Short Pump zone.

Holman Middle – Both options would remove a large portion of Innsbrook from the school’s boundaries, but Option B would remove more, as described above. The other existing boundaries would remain the same in both plans.

Hungary Creek Middle – Both options are identical for Hungary Creek, and both would make only one change to the existing zone: removing homes north of Francis Road and west of Brook Road and sending them to Brookland Middle instead.

Brookland Middle – Both options would extend the school’s existing zone farther west, as described in the Hungary Creek section above. Option B would retain more of the school’s current eastern zone (which extends to Chamberlayne Road), but Option A would move a large chunk of that eastern section (in the Chamberlayne Farms area) to Wilder Middle instead.

Moody Middle – Both options are identical for Moody, and both would adjust the current boundaries only by removing homes east of Route 1 near Henrico High School and switching them to Wilder Middle.

Wilder Middle – Option A would represent a western shift for Wilder, pushing its western border (currently at Chamberlayne Road) slightly west of I-95 in sections, while ending its eastern border at Mechanicsville Turnpike. Option B would extend the western border only slightly and retain the current easternmost section of homes in the Ratcliffe Elementary School zone east of Mechanicsville Turnpike. It also would add a section of homes north of Harvie Road and east of Mechanicsville Turnpike to the Wilder zone.

Fairfield Middle – Both options would slide the existing eastern border just slightly west, to Oakleys Lane. Option A also would make Mechanicsville Turnpike the western border from the city line to the Hanover line, while Option B would continue to send a large chunk of homes east of Mechanicsville Turnpike, south of Laburnum and west of Sandy Lane to Wilder (as the current boundaries do).

Elko Middle – The school’s existing boundaries would remain the same in both options except for two changes: the western boundary would slide slightly west to Oakleys Lane, and a section of homes east of I-295, north of Route 5 and generally south of Portguee Road to the New Kent County line would shift to Rolfe Middle.

Rolfe Middle – Both options would extend the school's zone to include a region east of I-295, north of Route 5 and generally south of Portguee Road to the New Kent County line.

HIGH SCHOOLS
Freeman High – Both options would extend the school’s current border west along the Quioccasin Road corridor.
Option A would extend it as far west as the Kingsley subdivision, while Option B would extend it even farther – all the way west to John Rolfe Parkway, so that all homes east of that point and south of Gayton Road/Quioccasin Road would move from the Godwin zone to the Freeman zone. Both options also would remove the northernmost sections of the current Freeman zone – roughly those north of Quioccasin Middle School, east of Gaskins Road and west of Three Chopt Road, as well as a small section north of Tuckahoe Middle – and send them to the new version of Tucker instead. Option B also would shift hundreds of homes in the Crestview and Three Chopt elementary school zones – roughly those east of Three Chopt Elementary and south of West Broad Street to the Richmond city line – to Tucker.

Godwin High – Both options would carve a chunk of Godwin’s easternmost neighborhoods – roughly those west of the intersection of Gaskins and Three Chopt roads and along the Church Road corridor. Option A would draw that boundary slightly farther west than Option B. Godwin would lose neighborhoods south of Gayton/Quioccasin roads as described above in the Freeman section, with Option B costing it more of those neighborhoods than Option A. Option A would shift Godwin’s borders north to West Broad Street, while Option B would move them even farther north, to I-64.

Tucker – The Tucker zone will expand in either proposal – one of the intended results of the redistricting process, since the new version of Tucker will have a great capacity than the current version. Both options would move the boundaries farther south and west, picking up a number of neighborhoods south of Three Chopt Road as far east as Parham Road. Option A would retain most of Tucker’s northern zone but shift some homes in the Longan Elementary zone to Glen Allen High School, while Option B would establish West Broad Street as Tucker’s northernmost border and also give it hundreds of homes in the Crestview and Three Chopt elementary school zones.

Deep Run High – Both options would remove homes south of West Broad Street from the Deep Run zone; Option A would make West Broad the southernmost boundary, but Option B would move that boundary even farther north, to I-64 instead. Both options also would pull a large section of Innsbrook from the Glen Allen High School zone into the Deep Run zone. Option B would pull a larger section, establishing Springfield Road as the easternmost boundary.

Glen Allen High – Both options would remove most of Innsbrook from the Glen Allen zone, as described above in the Deep Run section. Option A would pull two of the northernmost sections of the current Tucker High zone into Glen Allen, while Option B would give Glen Allen all homes north of West Broad Street, east of Springfield Road and west of West End Drive. Glen Allen would lose its easternmost neighborhoods in both plans – roughly those located east of Woodman Road, north of Francis Road and west of Brook Road – to Hermitage High.

Hermitage High – The current Hermitage zone extends east to Chamberlayne Road for all but a small section; that would change under either option. Option B would pull that eastern boundary all the way back to Brook Road, from the city line to the Hanover line. Option A would keep a large section of homes north of Parham Road and west of I-95 in the Hermitage zone, but a small section in the North Run area near Old Mountain Road would move to Henrico High. Both options also would move a section of homes north of I-295, east of Winfrey Road and west of Brook Road from Glen Allen High School to Hermitage.

Henrico High – The school’s western boundaries would shift farther west in both plans; the existing zone ends roughly at Chamberlayne Road, but Option B would move it west to Brook Road, from the city line to the Hanover line. Option A also would use Brook Road as a partial boundary, but homes along the northern line of Brook near Virginia Center largely would attend Hermitage under that option. Both options also would shift the school’s eastern boundaries just slightly, moving a small section of land west of Laburnum Avenue, east of Sandy Lane, south of Harvie Road and north of Crieghton Road into the Highland Springs zone.

Highland Springs High – Both options would maintain the existing boundaries, with a small change: a section of homes north of Finlay Street, west of Oakleys Lane, south of I-64 and east of Laburnum Avenue would shift to Varina High School. (Most of that area is commercial land occupied by the Shops at White Oak Village).

Varina High – Both options would maintain the existing boundaries, with the addition noted above in the Highland Springs section.