Loudoun County School Board moves to limit out-of-zone student transfers

Locally, Loudoun County Public Schools taking action to end a decades-old policy with roots in racial discrimination. But there are still a lot of disagreements on how to end or implement, rather, those new school transfer policies. And Fox 5's Melanie Oluk, she's live in Ashburn to break this down for us and explain. Mel, good morning. Good morning. So, you know, Loudoun County's been pretty unique in our area in just the range of reasons, the broad range of reasons that allows families to do so-called out-of-zone transfers, send their kids to schools that are outside of their designated attendance zones. Now that special permissions policy, as it's called, is becoming something more restrictive. School officials say that this policy began in the 1970s, and it allowed white families to avoid integrating with black students. Today, some families say they use it to keep siblings or friends together or to avoid who they consider to be substandard teachers. The board voted to end the open school transfer policy but then wrestled with what exceptions would be allowed and how the process would work, especially for students already attending schools outside of their zone. Parents of current transfer students asked for exceptions, by the way, in a move to tone down past disruptive behavior. Loudoun County Public Schools no longer broadcast video of public comment, only the audio. We're serious about being inclusive. Families have to count too. Special permissions are one way LCPS shows the family's count. That should not be taken away. We are not trying to leave our community. We're trying to stay in it from the start. With three kids, we also want them at the same elementary school. Having them at two different schools or moving one partway through would be hard on them and on us. If special permission does go away, please land the plane smoothly considering there are real people on board. The stricter out-of-zone policy will allow transfers now only in limited circumstances, including overcrowding, child care needs, and certain family situations like students with disabilities. The board approved an exemption allowing elementary students to attend the same out-of-zone school as their siblings in certain circumstances, but once they move to a higher grade level, they will have to revert back to their assigned zones unless they get another exemption. Board members admit that they'll probably need some fine-tuning to this. There's going to be some adjustments. The new stricter transfer policy is set to begin next school year. Stephen Marissa.