How Northwood Elementary’s redistricting threatens to break up my family. And a simple solution that would fix it.

Two years ago, I moved to a suburban house in Roswell, Georgia specifically because it is in the Northwood Elementary school district. If you live in the area, I’m sure you’ve seen the house — a wood and stone farmhouse across the street from St. Brigid, the very first house in our neighborhood. You may have even even seen my kids bouncing above the fence on their trampoline or mounting the perennial mulch pile in our front yard.

My ex wife lives on the other end of the school district and it was important to me and for my sons — Jack and Malcolm — that my home be in the same school district as hers. She and I have joint legal and physical custody of the boys and they live with each of us about the same amount of time. Being in the same district lets them ride the bus and be close to their friends and family from both of their homes.

But it was just as important for me to be in the Northwood Elementary school district so that Ellie’s three children — Jamie, Marin, and Sean — could go there as well. Ours is a blended family, with five kids—we call them the Jellies—ranging from kindergarten through fourth grade. And we’re an active family at the school. All of the kids are in the after-school program. Three of the boys are in Northwood’s Cub Scout pack (the fourth boys wants to join next year) where Ellie and I are both den leaders. Our girl is in the third-grade TAG program. And our fourth-grader placed in this year’s tech fair. Ellie regularly volunteers at the media center and I take the kids to the All-Pro Dad’s breakfast every month.

And we love Northwood. Ellie’s three kids came to Northwood from Avondale Elementary, one of the poorest-perfoming schools in the metro area, and it was amazing to see the difference the school had on them. They’ve just lit up, there, and grown so much. It reminds me of the small private school I went to as a kid in Charlotte. I walk through the halls and kids in all the grades know me from scouts or know Ellie from the media center. And all the teachers know our kids. Kindergarten teacher Kelly Cope even educated three of them and knew our boys well enough to have them make two Christmas gifts in class — one for each of their families.

But if the school’s district lines are redrawn, we will find ourselves in a very uncomfortable place. Two of my kids can stay at Northwood because they’ve historically used my ex-wife’s address for their registration. And our rising fifth grader can choose between Northwood and Bardwell—the school we’re being redistricted to. But our first and third graders will have to move, splitting the family between two elementary schools.

And if the school’s district lines are redrawn, we will have few options. We’ve been told we don’t qualify for a hardship waiver, despite it’s impact on our household. And there are precious few houses for rent in the revised school district (as recent divorcees, Ellie and I don’t have the money to buy at the moment).

We’ve reached out to the School Board member for our district, Julia Bernath, and to our state senator, John Albers, for help. We’ve reached out to teachers and administrators , including principal Dr. Ritu Abuja—anyone who might be able to help. And we’ve done so on the heels of other parents facing redistricting from the school we love, especially the very organized parents of Spring Ridge. Because part of what has been so frustrating is not that the lines might be redrawn but the precious few options left to families affected by the decision.

Northwood is not overcrowded and the lines don’t need to be redrawn. But even if the new map is approved, dispensation should be made for currently-enrolled students. It’s traumatic for any young kid to change schools and leave their friends. Even worse for kids who’ve already been through divorce and been fortunate enough to bond with new siblings only to have their family split again.

And the solution is painfully simple. Let the current generation of Northwood Explorers stay through until they move on to middle school. The practical matter of redistricting will resolve itself soon enough as they graduate.

We know that ours is an usual situation. But we have an amazing tribe of kids. And ours if far from the only blended household. But perhaps we can serve as an example of how simple lines on a map aren’t so simple in this day and age. And hopefully we can find a way to keep our family together in the same excellent Roswell school.