NORMAL -- Details of the proposed Unit 5 redistricting plan, which will determine where children will go to school in 2010, has been unveiled in advance of the final meetings in the process later this month.

The plan -- first announced in October -- has gone through several versions based on professional consultation and community feedback. The school board is expected to vote on the plan Aug. 26.

The official maps dividing the district among the elementary, junior high and high schools are available at Pantagraph.com.

Having it online this week means district families have a full week to digest the proposal before the final public forum, which will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 10 at Normal Community High School, said Gary Niehaus, superintendent.

On Aug. 12, the redistricting committee will present its recommendation to the school board. The 25-person group drafted the document and maps, working with consultants from Ohio-based Cropper GIS (Geographic Information System).

The committee includes parents, district administrators, teachers and school board members.

"It's really been a good process. We had a great redistricting committee and they've taken community feedback and done a good job working it in to the final recommendation," said Niehaus.

One key topic addressed was attendance exceptions, earlier referred to as a "grandfather clause," that would allow certain students to stay in their current schools and avoid being moved through redistricting. The current proposal calls for allowing eighth-graders and high school students to have that option.

Walk-in registration for district elementary schools will be Thursday, and he expects the plan to be a topic discussed there as well. Junior high and high school walk-in registrations are next week, after the forum but prior to the board's vote.

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• Unit 5 redistricting passed unanimously