Parent urges board to keep her child at Morton Elementary amid redistricting plan

Lindsey Jones told the Onslow County Board of Education during public comment that a confirmed elementary-school redistricting plan would move her second-grade daughter from Morton Elementary to Woodland Elementary and asked the board to let children who are "thriving" remain at their current school.

"This action would move my daughter from Morton Elementary to Woodland Elementary," Jones said. She said her family depends on YMCA before- and after-school care at Wharton because both parents work full time and that Woodland is about a 20-minute drive compared with an eight-minute drive to Morton, creating a substantial commute burden that could affect her job at Camp Lejeune.

Jones said extracurricular sports and other activities that support her daughter's development would be disrupted by the longer commute and that families in her neighborhood share similar concerns. She cited the district's redistricting map posted on the Onslow County website and said Morton's projected utilization would shift under the new plan: "The new realignment plan for Morton Elementary's enrollment would actually decrease from 102% to 77% according to the Woodland Elementary realignment map on the Onslow County website." She asked the board to consider allowing her daughter and other students in similar circumstances to remain at Morton.

Jones' remarks occurred during the public comment portion of the meeting; board policy on public participation was read aloud at the start of the comment period. The board did not take action during public comment; board members reserved responses for the board-member comment period at the meeting's conclusion, per policy.