BENTONVILLE -- The School Board on Monday got its first look at new attendance boundaries proposed to take effect with the opening of West High School in two years.
Representatives from Jack Schreder and Associates presented their boundary proposals after spending much of the last three months developing them.
At A Glance
Criteria
Jack Schreder and Associates used the following criteria to form its recommendations on school boundaries for Bentonville.
• Historical student migration patterns
• Projected students
• Student diversity
• Current and planned residential development
• Proportions of future students to ideal and adjusted enrollment capacities
• Neighborhood schools
• Community/neighborhood integrity
• Student safety
• Geographic features
• Fewest affected students
• Transportation impacts
Source: Staff Report
Jamie Iseman, an associate with the firm, presented one boundary recommendation for each of the elementary, middle and junior high school levels, as well as one for the elementary schools that operate on the nontraditional calendar. She presented two options for the high school level. West High School, now under construction in Centerton, is expected to open August 2016.
The first step in developing the high school boundary proposals was to assign Bella Vista to one school or the other, Iseman said.
Under scenario No. 1, Bella Vista is assigned to Bentonville High. The boundary follows a mostly north-south line. Much of southwest Bentonville and all of Centerton is assigned to West High.
Under scenario No. 2, Bella Vista students would attend West High. Almost all of the city of Bentonville and a small part of Centerton would be assigned to Bentonville High.
Schreder and Associates developed its boundary recommendations with a list of 11 criteria in mind, including historical student migration patterns, neighborhood schools and student diversity.
Free and reduced lunch rates -- the percentages of children who get their school meals for free or at a reduced price based on family income -- were considered part of the diversity calculations. Under scenario No. 1, West High School has a free and reduced lunch rate of 23.7 percent while Bentonville High's rate is 17.9 percent. Under scenario No. 2, the rates for both schools are about 20 percent.
Iseman also explained the firm's rationale for its boundary recommendations at other school levels. The elementary-level proposal shows Central Park Elementary's zone shrinking to accommodate rapid growth in the district's southwest area.
"We also knew we had to reduce the Cooper (Elementary) boundary," Iseman said.
The firm's proposal takes a large chunk of east Bella Vista away from Cooper and assigns it to Apple Glen Elementary on the district's east side.
Iseman noted the proposal would shrink Willowbrook Elementary's free and reduced lunch rate from 20.6 percent to a projected 9.3 percent. That raised concern for at least a couple of board members.
"Willowbrook going down that large a percentage is not going to be swallowed very well in this community," said Travis Riggs, a board member. He noted Mary Mae Jones Elementary's rate would be about 53 percent, about what it is now.
Fixing that kind of disparity is a challenge when weighed against all the other boundary criteria, Iseman said.
A similar problem exists at the middle school level, where Bright Field would see its free and reduced lunch rate drop from 18.9 percent to 11.5 percent. The other three middle schools' rates would be no less than 26 percent, according to the firm's recommendation.
Superintendent Michael Poore said a copy of the boundary recommendations would be posted online today at Bentonvillek12.org. The board may decide to act on the recommendations as early as its next meeting Oct. 27.
Poore asked board members to consider the proposals and pass along their thoughts as well as any comments they hear from community members.
"When you think about a boundary adjustment, it's something no superintendent necessarily looks forward to, because it means some form of disruption," Poore said.
Rapid growth has forced the district to make boundary adjustments for two of the past three school years. The district asked Schreder and Associates to update the demographics study it did for the district last year, then make boundary recommendations based on its information. The firm's work this year cost the district about $40,000, according to Sterling Ming, finance director.
Monday's board meeting was held at Ruth Barker Middle School to accommodate what was expected to be an unusually large crowd because of the boundary presentation. About 40 people showed up, many of them district administrators or staff members.
NW News on 10/07/2014