Board Looks At Boundaries

Proposed Changes To School Attendance Zones Presented

— Proposed changes to school attendance zones in Rogers were officially presented to the School Board during a meeting Tuesday.

Packets distributed to board members included the boundary committee recommendation, 75 comment sheets gathered during public meetings Jan. 28 and Jan. 29, the 38 web comments submitted before Friday morning and questions and numbers from Westside parent Tim Howington.

Supplemental information from the district detailed the number of students transferring from each school, how many of them could grandfather into their school and an estimate of $600,000 to transport them — a common request from parents in feedback meetings.

“The board members have everything that we have, said Superintendent Janie Darr.

A consistent parent concern has been families with children in middle school and high school may be divided, Darr said. The district provided an estimate of 203 students enrolled in middle school and high school who would be affected by the change and 82 middle school siblings of high school students. Parents who volunteer for one high school couldn’t be involved in a second high school, Darr said.

The boundary plan would move 226 students from Eliza Tucker Elementary School and 75 Bellview students to Janie Darr Elementary School when it opens this fall. A small number of students will move from Bonnie Grimes Elementary School to Tucker; from Frank Tillery Elementary School to Northside and from Grace Hill Elementary School to Garfield.

At A Glance

New Principal

The Rogers School Board approved hiring Sharla Osbourn as principal of Janie Darr Elementary School on Tuesday night. Osbourn has been employed by the Rogers School District since 2008, according to a news release. She is principal of Lowell Elementary School and was an assistant principal at Bayyari Elementary School in Springdale for four years and has worked in education for 22 years.

Source: Staff Report

All students living in the Westside Elementary School attendance zone would change middle and high schools. Westside students now move on to Elmwood Middle School and Rogers High School. Under the proposal they would go to Oakdale Middle School and Heritage High School. The committee plan calls for grandfathering students going into fifth grade, seventh grade and those already in high school so they can finish at their school.

That was one of the concerns Brooke Bisbee-Ribar, president of the Westside parent teacher organization, planned to talk to the board about Tuesday.

Bisbee-Ribar said after the meeting she wasn’t allowed to speak because the boundary issue was already on the agenda and board policy opens the forum only to issues not on the agenda. Board policy states up to a half hour of the meeting be set aside for resident participation and residents should request in writing to be added to the agenda.

Her prepared comments requested a grandfathering option for the handful of families who will have children at both middle schools or both high schools at the same time. A PTO survey turned up 26 students.

Board members have been understanding, Bisbee-Ribar said

“They have been really willing to meet with us,” she said.

Administrators told board members they need a March decision for enrollment purposes and so they can plan how many teachers to place at schools. After allowing for potential growth and students grandfathered in elsewhere, Darr Elementary School could have as many as 400 student or as few as 271 when it opens in the fall, Mark Sparks, deputy superintendent,

Kindergarten enrollment is scheduled to start March 12, the same day the School Board vote is anticipated. Incoming kindergartners can enroll at their boundary school, said Virginia Abernathy, assistant superintendent of elementary curriculum and instruction. Current students will receive information in their enrollment packets, she said.

The next step for the board is to review all the available information, said Jerry Carmichael, board president.

“Now it’s our turn,” Carmichael told fellow board members. “The public has had the opportunity to have input.”

Study sessions were set for 5:15 p.m. Feb. 28 and March 7 for the board to review the information as a group. A vote setting the school boundaries is anticipated March 12.

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