Revisions of school zones worry parents
Since a draft proposal of changes to the Coeur d’Alene School District’s elementary attendance zones was presented to the Coeur d’Alene School Board last month, the district and committee members have been inundated with letters, phone calls and visits from concerned parents.
About 700 students could be moving to different elementary schools in the fall under the draft plan. The move won’t come as a surprise to about 240 students – those moving from Hayden Lake Elementary to Atlas Elementary, the school built to replace it.
But the ripple effect of adding a new school and a new attendance zone to the district is catching parents in other parts of the district off guard. To varying degrees, it would also affect students at every elementary school except Bryan and Fernan.
And district business manager Steve Briggs encouraged all parents to pay attention to the proposal because future drafts could consider those schools as well.
About a half-dozen concerned parents attended a meeting of the attendance zone committee Tuesday. They weren’t allowed to speak at the meeting, but they submitted a letter to the committee.
“…Winton is a worn-out, old school that has seen better days. But it is our worn-out, old school,” read the letter, signed “Winton Concerned Parents.”
About 68 students who attend Winton Elementary would be moved to Sorensen Elementary under the draft plan. The parents at Tuesday’s meeting live south of the Spokane River off Upriver Drive, an area that includes 35 of those students.
The parents have several concerns, including the possible loss of a number of highly involved parents. Some estimated that more than 90 percent of Winton’s parent volunteers live south of the river.
Maps of proposed elementary school attendance zones will be posted in all Coeur d’Alene elementary schools so parents can see if their children could be transferred to another school. A public forum is planned for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 10 at Coeur d’Alene High School.
The attendance zone committee will consider the public comments from the forum and may make further changes to the proposal. Another public forum then will be scheduled.
Members of the committee include parents, school principals and district administrators. The parents on the committee are the only voting members.
Chairman Russ Hansen said he wanted parents to understand that a great deal of time was spent on the draft proposal – and that each school has a parent representative and possibly a principal on the committee.
“This is not just three people sitting in a room drawing lines on a map,” Hansen said.