A group of Dublin City School District parents asked the district Sept. 14 to grandfather their younger children into the school system's new maps, allowing younger children with overlapping high school years with their older siblings to attend the same high school.
The parent group, which spoke out at the Sept. 14 board of education meeting, is the latest in a series of Dublin community groups that have emerged in response to the district's controversial redistricting process, which ended in June. Another group of parents recently filed a formal complaint with the district, alleging it discriminated against them during redistricting.
For parent Lon Hogan, who has a freshman at Dublin Jerome High School and a seventh grader at Eversole Run Middle
School, the district's new maps could leave the siblings divided. Hogan told The Dispatch after the meeting, where his wife addressed the board about the matter, that the family's home was redistricted to Dublin Coffman High School, meaning the younger boy will have to attend that school in a few years' time.
When the new maps were released, Hogan's older son was already weeks into sports at Dublin Jerome, Hogan said. Now, the older brother will have to choose whether to switch to Coffman to keep the family together or stay with the school he knows, he said.
"We are in a very interesting situation. Both of our boys are in athletics. They both play football, and what will happen is we won't be able to attend all of their games. We'd be in a situation actually now that we wouldn't even be able to sit together at the games as families," Hogan said.
The group of parents contends the district could accommodate families like the Hogans with overlapping high school years separated by the new maps at Dublin Jerome High School.
Delaney Ruth, a Dublin City Schools spokesperson, said Superintendent Jen Schwanke would not comment about the matter for this story, and directed a Dispatch reporter to the district's redistricting webpage.
According to the district's frequently asked questions page on redistricting on its web page, the district is not grandfathering in siblings because it would make it more difficult to implement the new boundaries "consistently, accurately and in a way that accomplishes the goals of redistricting."
If the district were to make an exception for younger siblings, other families might ask why their circumstances don't merit an exception, according to the district. Allowing students to go to schools outside their enrollment zone would also make enrollment projections less predictable and could reduce the enrollment relief the new maps are meant to provide, according to the district.
Reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Group of Dublin City Schools parents ask for redistricting exception for siblings
