Big changes are on the way for Harrisonburg City Schools in the 2017 school year, including the redistricting of school zones.

Tuesday night's school board meeting was aimed at informing the public of the new boundary lines for the districts, while giving parents the opportunity to raise their concerns in a public hearing.

The board says that re-drawing lines will help the overcrowding that most schools are experiencing. By opening Bluestone Elementary School and pushing students west, they hope to fill the new school and solve the overcrowding issue in current schools.

However, parents who came out to the public hearing had three major concerns: that the new district lines would make it difficult for children in certain areas to walk to school safely, that siblings would not be able to attend the same school, and the lack of a dual language program offered at some schools.

Even though they understand that redistricting needs to happen, some parents hope that by hearing their concerns, the school board will reevaluate some lines.

"I think there are a couple questions on my mind about how they've reallocated some of the lines across the schools. I'm really interested to hear more and provide a little feedback," Nick Hurst, a concerned parent, said.

"We're hoping that there will be a way to get everything together that the Spanish classes can continue for our children so we don't have to split our families up," Marlin Carr, another concerned parent, said.

Two more public hearings will be offered on November 1 and December 6 to anyone who wishes to address the school board. The school board says that any feedback is valued and appreciated.

You can view the entire school board redistricting presentation in the Related Links section of this article.