The Russet Woods Hoover AL school rezoning plan, as detailed in the October 6, 2010 Birmingham News has been anticipated for about a year and really should have very little impact on the demand for housing in the area whichever direction the system decides to go. All Hoover City schools, including those at the elementary, middle and high school level, are quality institutions that exceed national averages on the SAT.
The Russet Woods school rezoning plan involves moving students from Deer Valley Elementary to South Shades Crest Elementary for residents in the Russet Woods community. The proposed rezoning is due to Deer Valley approaching its student enrollment limit. The move makes a lot of sense from the standpoint of traffic as Russet Woods parents will have a shorter commute when dropping their children off and picking them up each day. The map at the bottom shows the local area around Deer Valley and South Shades Crest Elementary schools, including the neighborhoods of Russet Woods, Lake Cyrus and others. The commute distance is shorter by about 2.4 miles. Click South Shades Crest for a list of homes actively on the market that are currently zoned for this school. Click Deer Valley for a list of homes actively on the market zoned for this school.
Other than parents with children in grades K-2 worried about disruption / continuity, concerns about changing schools would logically be measured by academic achievement on SAT scores. Take a look at the chart at right detailing the SAT test scores of each school in 2009. While Deer Valley appears to be a higher performing school, it is difficult to say whether it is a "better school" than South Shades Crest because there are many other qualitative factors to be considered. For example, it is difficult to estimate what effect a transfer of 150 students would have on scores overall. Other variables include the quality of the PTO for each school as well as the quality of the teachers and administration. While the differences in scores appear significant (i.e., about 8%), the Russet Woods school rezoning does not appear to present any material issues relative to supply or demand overall. There may be people, however, that are uncomfortable with the proposed rezoning and would consider moving in order to keep their children in Deer Valley Elementary. The costs and benefits of such a move vary greatly between households in the current housing market.
With a child currently attending Deer Valley, I have been completely satisified with the administration, faculty and PTO and would not want to consider moving my child but the current proposal would not impact our family whatsoever. As a disclaimer, I currently have no listings or contemplated sales transactions involving homes zoned for either of these two schools. For a link to the article as published in the Birmingham News, click school rezoning. For a free market snapshot of homes currently listed or recently sold in your area, send me a message to sold@markcrain.com or go to www.markcrain.com.
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