BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. – A redistricting proposal in Bedford County has sparked strong opposition from parents, as the school board weighs a plan that could reassign more than 140 students to different schools. The plan, under discussion since May, resurfaced during last week’s school board meeting, prompting an emotional response from the community.
“Our changes have been really hard for my family,” one parent said during the public school board hearing on Oct. 9. “We moved here about three years ago and it’s been an emotional rollercoaster for us to get into the community and to get really tied in and this change is going to be affecting my two kids.”
The proposal would move 83 students from New London Academy to Otter River Elementary, and 60 students from Forest Elementary to a combination of Thomas Jefferson, Boonsboro, and Otter River Elementaries.
School Board Chairman, Marcus Hill, said during the meeting that the plan “allows [the school board] to better distribute enrollment, reduce overcrowding and create equal learning environments.”
District 3 board member Steven Hill, whose district would see the greatest impact, is advocating for a different approach. He believes the board should adopt what he calls an “overflow model,” which he says would allow existing families to remain at their current schools while directing new residents in the Bedford area to schools with available space.
“For the 2026-2027 school year, we do have a capacity problem at Forest Elementary school and we’re going to need to figure out how to redraw those lines,” Hill told 10 News. “But for the vast majority of students, we can use the overflow model. Before a community is built, before it is inhabited, they’d already know that they may not be going to the nearest school, but they will be going to the nearest school that has capacity for those kids. And if there’s spots that open up down the road, they can choose to move to the nearest school.”
He added that the school board should have more say when it comes to redistricting. “We as a school board have been reactionary for too long. For too long we’ve not been in driver’s seat when it comes to new development coming in.”
He says that while board members may differ on solutions, he believes they all take the community’s concerns seriously.
“It’s the dozens of emails that I’ve gotten over the last week or two,” Hill said. ”I have a constituent that has several foster kids and she told me how it was going to affect them. If we can help it as a school board to avoid trauma for just one kid, I would love to figure out any way possible to avoid any type of negative feelings they have around school.”
The school board is scheduled to vote on the redistricting proposal at its next meeting on Thursday, November 13.
10 News reached out to Bedford County Chairman, Marcus Hill, for additional comments, but have not yet heard back.