BROOKINGS – During the first reading of the proposed elementary school district boundaries this week, the Brookings School Board made plans for a public informational meeting on the matter to be held Jan. 16.
During the Dec. 11 school board meeting, a presentation was given outlining six different configurations of the attendance boundaries, which determine which elementary school a child would attend based on his or her address.
The board meeting on Monday went forward with a first reading, having selected the boundary changes recommended by the Brookings School District boundary committee.
In the current boundaries, the border between Medary and Dakota Prairie mainly follows 12th Street South east of Main Avenue South. Under this new scenario, however, this boundary is pushed southward to follow 15th Street South.
Also, Western Estates and Hillside Trailer Court, now within Medary’s boundaries, would instead be in Hillcrest’s boundaries under this plan.
The city of Aurora would fall within Hillcrest’s boundaries now, instead of Dakota Prairie.
“We have exceptional teachers in all of our elementary schools, so regardless of where a child may be assigned for an attendance boundary, there’s no question about the quality of education and educational opportunity from one school to the next,” Brookings School District Superintendent Klint Willert said.
“People can be assured that there is no diminishment in quality or expectation and, frankly, outcomes that students will experience if they are asked to transition from one school to the other.”
Although discussed in the December school board meeting, the school board and district administrators want to have more opportunities for informing the public about the proposed attendance boundaries and give them a chance to provide feedback.
Thus, the district plans on having an informational session dedicated to the topic at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, at Dakota Prairie Elementary. There will be no vote or board action on the issue during this meeting, which is strictly a time to present the plan to the public.
There will be large maps of the boundaries on display and opportunities to ask questions of members of the boundary committee, Willert and potentially members of the school board.
Members of the public can also bring forth comments and feedback at the Jan. 22 school board workshop meeting.
The measure will have its second reading and be voted on during the Feb. 12 school board meeting. It’s important to determine what the district will do in regard to the boundaries before kindergarten roundup begins, allowing parents and school administrators to know what to expect.
School board member Steve Bayer was on the school board when the previous attendance boundaries were drafted.
Reflecting on his experience, he said, “I can tell you based on going through this last time, there is no map that we are going to draw that will not upset people. You can’t get this perfect. It is the job of the parents to look out for the best interest of their child; it is our job to figure out how to meet the collective best interest and those two things don’t line up perfectly. … If we can get these boundaries right so that it’s at least five more years, we’ll take a lot of the stress away from the community as well.”
A big component that the district is working on ahead of that second reading is drafting language on how a student might be grandfathered into the school boundaries they’ve attended thus far.
Although there was a grandfathering policy when the attendance boundaries were last changed, it wasn’t written in. Members of the school board want it written into the text of the policy this time around, however, so that it’s more easily found by district staff and families as well as being clearly defined.
Willert will work with school administrators on the issue and whether or not something will be written for the final policy. Still, Willert is confident that something will be included, and he envisions that the grandfathering policy for these boundaries would be similar to the previous one.
The last time the attendance boundaries were changed, the grandfathering policy operated on a child-by-child basis, not a family basis. That is, if a second-grader lived in a home where attendance boundaries changed, he could be grandfathered into remaining at the school he currently attends after the family requests a waiver from the superintendent. But if he had a younger sibling not yet school aged, that sibling would not be able to utilize the grandfathering policy, instead attending the school corresponding to the new attendance boundaries.
As Bayer said, “That doesn’t mean that three years from now, when the 3-year-old comes through, that they would have their choice. It was a one-time waiver for the first year” of the attendance boundary change.
Willert encouraged those with questions about how the boundary changes might affect them to contact the district offices at 696-4700.
Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.
