At 6 p.m. Tuesday night on Oct. 27, 2020, a public forum was held at North Forsyth High School’s very own Performing Arts Center to discuss the general opinion on the specific effects of redistricting. The upcoming East Forsyth High School, which is currently under construction on Jot Em Down Road, is set to open in August of 2021.  Forsyth County School Systems are currently developing a plan to successfully redistrict the surrounding area in a way that will, hopefully, benefit everyone. 

Despite overcrowding being a common issue among Forsyth County Schools, many passionate citizens attending and speaking at the public forum were against it. A multitude of complaints have arisen over the chosen methods of populating East Forsyth High School. The most common complaint seemed to be the sheer number of students from West Forsyth High School moving to North Forsyth High School. Many argued that the proposed redistricting plan reached too far for new students from WFHS, and it was not fair for students to have to travel almost double the distance to attend EFHS. In the WFHS Band alone, they are currently set to lose over 10 percent of their students in the process, most of which will come to North. 

Linda Carol, a public speaker whose son is being forced to leave West, thinks the “district lines and approval process for out of district request should also include extra-curricular activities and not just academics alone.” She also states that she is fearful for her son to have to drive across Highway 369 everyday to arrive at his new school.

Ann Sullivan claims that her family is deeply embedded in the community. After living in the area for 15 years, she feels that everything her daughter has done has led her to WFHS and that she is firmly “entrenched in the school.” 

Currently, FCS is working on addressing the complaints they received from both the public forum and the online survey found on the school website. For more information on the developing situation, click here.