I recently read one of the top stories on Potomac Local about the new high school opening in 2021.
After reading, I had some thoughts about reoccurring themes happening in Prince William County regarding the placement of public schools. I know that overcrowding has been a growing issue in Prince William County and we’ve compensated by building new schools around the county to accommodate the growth.
I’ve noticed that the school’s are being conveniently placed on the west side of the county, near Patriot High School, which can also be considered the more affluent side of the county. The school boundary lines set for these schools appear to exclude neighborhoods with a lower social economic status, which is basically gerrymandering.
The county has said the placement of boundary lines was unintentional toward these areas. Although, I understand where the school board is coming from based on the fact that there isn’t much room on the east side of the county to build new schools, however it still doesn’t change the fact that students attending these new schools are having access to better resources and technology resulting in a more advanced education.
The main purpose for adding these school is to tackle the problem of overcrowding in schools but it’s interesting to see what other “convenient benefits” come out of these new schools.
