FAIRFIELD — Parents in two Fairfield Township subdivisions will have the option of sending their children to either East or North elementary schools for the next three years, if the Fairfield Board of Education approves a redistricting plan at its April 15 meeting.

        Under the proposal, the Weathered Oaks and Ashwood Knolls subdivisions would move this August from the attendance boundaries of North to East. Princeton, Liberty-Fairfield, Morris and Hamilton-Mason roads bound those in the one-mile area affected by the redistricting.

        The district originally planned to include the area in the attendance zone for East when it opened in 1997. But that was changed so that the two township schools would have similar enrollment, said Rob Amodio, administrative assistant for business.

        If the redistricting were approved, enrollment at East would increase from 454 to 577 students, while North's would drop from 582 to 459. Projections show North's enrollment will continue to grow while East would stay in the high 500 to low 600 range, Mr. Amodio said.

        “It really balances out the schools,” Mr. Amodio said.

        Students now enrolled in grades 1 to 3 and their younger siblings could remain at North for the next three years and still receive transportation.

        After that, they would have to apply to go to North under the schools' in-district open-enrollment policy, and their parents would have to provide for transportation.

        “I think it's the only logical move. North is getting overcrowded and East has empty classrooms,” said parent Arlene Werts, of Autumn Hill Drive. “We're the logical area to move.”

        Nevertheless, Mrs. Werts said she will probably leave her second-grade daughter at North. She is undecided about her 3-year-old.

        “I was disappointed six years ago when we moved here that we wouldn't be at East, but now we love North. I have mixed feelings about my younger daughter. I might still request North. We have great admiration for (Principal) Kathy Dixon.”

        Mr. Amodio said transportation plans wouldn't be determined until parents in the affected areas decide whether they want to remain at North or move to East.

        “I think (Mr. Amodio has) been very sensitive to the needs of our students and their parents,” said Anne Crone, president of the Fairfield Board of Education.

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