Rogers school rezoning proposal shared

ROGERS -- Darr Elementary School's enrollment of 750 would shrink by about half under a proposed change to attendance boundaries for next school year.

Marlin Berry, the School District's superintendent, unveiled the proposal during a public information meeting Thursday at Tucker Elementary School. It was the first of three such meetings planned this month to solicit public input on the plan.

Rezoning is necessary to make room for Fairview Elementary School, which is under construction and on schedule to open in August.

The district's proposal would affect the boundaries of three elementary schools -- Darr, Bellview and Tucker -- on the southwest side of town, though Darr would see by far the biggest impact.

A map shows Darr's current attendance zone would be split roughly in half. Most of those living between South Zion Street on the west side and Interstate 49 on the east side would be zoned for Fairview.

A chunk of Darr's zone on its north side would shift to Bellview. That portion of the zone has about 50 students. Another small chunk of Darr's zone would shift to Tucker; only three kids live in that area, Berry said.

One complicating factor is the district intends to allow those students who are fourth-graders at the impacted schools to be "grandfathered in," or stay where they are for fifth grade -- the last year of elementary school -- if they so choose, Berry said. Siblings of those fourth-graders could remain at Darr as well.

As many as 70 students from Darr could accept the grandfather option, in which case Darr would open the 2019-20 school year with about 388 students and Fairview would open with 267, according to the district's projections.

"It might be the thought ... that 267 is too small to start an elementary school," Berry said.

If that's the case, one idea is to slice a portion of Tucker's zone on its south side and move it to Fairview, adding as many as 80 students to Fairview's zone. Fairview then would open with 347 students and Tucker would drop from 622 to 547 students.

Tucker's zone "has the potential for some additional growth," Berry said, citing more than 100 lots available in the Chandler Run and Grove subdivisions.

The rezoning recommendation will be presented at the School Board's next meeting Nov. 13. The board will take some time to mull it over and likely will set the boundaries at its meeting Dec. 18, Berry said.

"Change is hard. We know it is," he said. He acknowledged it can be difficult to be uprooted from a school you like, but promised it will be a "really good experience."

Turnout for Thursday's meeting consisted largely of district administrators and some School Board members. Only a couple of others showed up.

One of them was Erin Clark, who lives in an area zoned for Tucker, but is close to what could be Fairview's zone. She attended with her young son, who will start kindergarten next year.

Clark said she came just to get an understanding of what administrators are thinking. She said she'd be happy going to either Tucker or Fairview.

Darr opened in 2013 with 334 students. Enrollment is at 748 today.

The district, faced with a rapidly growing population, proposed and earned voters' support of a 3.5-mill tax increase in May 2017. Proceeds from the increase were earmarked primarily for two elementary schools. Fairview is the first of those schools to be built. It's unclear when or where the next one will be built.

The rezoning committee, co-led by assistant superintendents Virginia Abernathy and Charles Lee, met several times last month to form its proposal. Other committee members included principals, parents and teachers from Bellview, Darr and Tucker elementary schools. All three are near Fairview, which is being built at West Garrett and South Bellview roads.

NW News on 10/12/2018