District 81 Alters Attendance Areas

The Spokane District 81 school board voted to adjust attendance boundaries at two elementary schools on the South Side.

Students in a small neighborhood north of the 3200 block of East 11th Avenue will attend Franklin Elementary beginning in September. Previously students in that area went to Sheridan Elementary.

The change was made because the small neighborhood of four houses is isolated, said Ned Hammond, District 81 assistant superintendent.

“The kids who live on the top of the bluff have to walk down Thor for a block and a half, and during the winter the sidewalk isn’t walkable,” he said.

The change was based on a parent request and will affect about five students, Hammond said.

In a second boundary change, the board voted to transfer students in an area adjacent to the Inland Empire Highway and south of the Cheney-Spokane Road from Wilson Elementary to Mullan Road Elementary.

“Wilson is reaching capacity, and Mullan Road still has room,” said Principal Paul Stone.

“Right now we have 420 students, and I believe we could comfortably handle about 500.

The adjustment will affect about five students initially, Stone said.

“We have at least 2,000 housing units platted in the Latah Creek Valley. As that develops and grows, it’s going to have a tremendous impact,” Hammond said.

“Eventually it will have to support its own school.”

Hammond said there are about 20 new homes being built in the area now.

“In the meantime we have to find a place for those kids. Mullan Road can comfortably handle an additional 150 kids.”

, DataTimes