After months of debate, the Fulton County School Board passed its controversial redistricting plan involving the county’s northern high schools Tuesday evening.

The board passed the plan unanimously by a vote of 7-0. The plan will shift 500 students from Roswell High School to Milton High School, and move around 1,300 Milton students to a new Bethany Bend High School.

Parents put up a fight for months, but Fulton Schools spokeswoman Susan Hale said the plan was necessary to ease overcrowding in the high schools. One mother showed up to the board meeting at 6:30 p.m. for the public comment portion, but when she arrived, the board had already made its decision.

“They said the public speaking would be from 6:30 to 7, so I was going to come and listen to the comments and the meeting, and the vote would be at 7,” Leann Jones told
Channel 2’s Amy Napier Viteri
.

Despite the scheduled 6:30 p.m. public comment portion, Hale said the meeting officially started at 6 p.m., and no parents signed up for public comment. So, the board moved forward with its decision.

“The board felt there was no further discussion that needed to be taken, and it was approved as part of the consent agenda,” Hale told Napier Viteri. “There have been many opportunities for parents to be involved and we have wanted them to be involved.”

The new plan will go into effect in August 2012.