Gwinnett County Real Estate more than anything else is driven by Schools.  In particular, High Schools, have the greatest impact on an area.  I'm not looking forward to the outrage when kids in Brookwood High School get redistricted to Berkmar High School.  Mill Creek to Dacula, North Gwinnett to Central and so on and so on.  There's going to be a lot of battles.

In the same way a messy divorce can be a "good" thing to a Realtor, this will certainly stir people to move to get into or out of school districts. It's never a happy thing, but it will definitely stir the economy.

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15 new schools and create three clusters of elementary, middle and high schools.

The new schools will open in 2008 and 2009.

"This will be one of the largest redistricting efforts the district has ever undertaken," spokeswoman Sloan Roach said Monday.

The last time the district launched such a large initiative was in 1999, when attendance lines were drawn for the schools that make up the Mill Creek and Peachtree Ridge clusters. A cluster is made up of one high school and the feeder elementary and middle schools.

As part of redistricting, school officials adjust attendance boundaries for existing schools, forcing some students to switch from their current neighborhood schools.

This year's process kicks off Oct. 4, when draft proposals of new school boundaries are released to the public. The maps will be available to affected schools and posted on the district's Web site.

For a two-month period, parents and other community members will be able to suggest changes to the proposed maps. School officials say the boundary lines could be revised based on the public's suggestions.

The Gwinnett school board is scheduled to vote on the redistricting plan Dec. 13.

Roach said the system has not finalized a list of which existing schools will send students to the new schools.

The new boundary lines will affect thousands of students.

Besides setting attendance zones for the new schools, the district will develop cluster boundaries for the new Archer, Lanier and Mountain View clusters. These clusters will affect the existing cluster lines for the Central Gwinnett, Collins Hill, Dacula, Grayson, Mill Creek and North Gwinnett communities.

"This redistricting will be more complex than those most recently completed," Roach said.

The proposed maps will be developed by the district's planning department, which charts enrollment trends. The department tries to allow all the children in one neighborhood or subdivision to attend the same school, but Roach said that isn't always possible.

Redistricting has become a common practice in Gwinnett, the state's largest school district. The district draws new attendance boundaries when a school opens or when needed to balance enrollment or relieve overcrowding at some campuses.

SOURC: AJC

NEW SCHOOLS FOR GWINNETT COUNTY

The school district is developing a redistricting plan to send students to 15 new schools. Here are the new schools:

Opening August 2008

• Trip Elementary School, 841 Cooper Road, Grayson.
• Puckett's Mill Elementary School, 2442 S. Pucketts Mill Road, Dacula.
• Rosebud Elementary School, 4151 Rosebud Road, Loganville.
• Lanier Middle School, (replacement for existing campus), 6482 Suwanee Dam Road, Buford.
• Benefield Elementary School (replacement for existing campus), 1221 Old Norcross Road, Lawrenceville.

Opening August 2009

• North Gwinnett Middle School, 160 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Sugar Hill.
• White Oak Elementary School, 6442 Suwanee Dam Road, Buford.
• Archer High School, 2255 New Hope Road, Lawrenceville.
• Mountain View High School, 2351 Sunny Hill Road, Lawrenceville.
• Twin Rivers Middle School, 2300 Braselton Highway, Buford.
• Starling Elementary School, 1725 Grayson Highway, Grayson.
• Bay Creek Middle School, 821 Cooper Road, Grayson.
• Couch Middle School, 1777 Grayson Highway, Grayson.
• Woodward Mill Elementary School, 2020 Buford Drive, Lawrenceville.
• Dyer Elementary School (replacement for existing campus), 1707 Hurricane Shoals Road, Lawrenceville.

Source: Gwinnett County Public Schools.

REDISTRICTING TIMELINE

Here are some key dates as the district develops attendance boundaries to fill 15 new schools and create three new clusters:

Oct. 4: Draft boundary maps and comment forms regarding the proposal are released.

Nov. 1: Deadline to complete a comment form.

Nov. 13: Public meeting to discuss proposed new attendance boundaries.

Nov. 15: A second public meeting regarding the proposal.

Dec. 5: Revised redistricting maps released.

Dec. 13: School board votes on redistricting plan.

Source: Gwinnett County Public Schools.