Plan approved by Board of Directors to begin with 2019-2020 school year
WOODLAND — Woodland Primary and Woodland Intermediate Schools will be reconfigured to join Yale Elementary in serving grades K-4 beginning with the 2019-2020 school year and all three schools will have attendance area boundaries.
Reconfiguration boundary plan
In order to develop the optimal boundary plan for the new neighborhood schools, the district reached out to parents and guardians of current students attending WPS and WIS for insights into the community’s most-desired priorities for reconfiguration.
Parents and guardians provided feedback, ranking three issues as the most important when creating the reconfigured elementary school boundaries:
- Similar Student Populations
- Childcare Concerns
- After-School Activities
The district’s reconfiguration planning committee used the community feedback to create eight boundary proposals for the Board of Directors to review and consider. Each proposal was designed with consideration to geographic limitations, neighborhood communities, current capacity of each building, transportation routes, and the likelihood of future growth in the attendance areas.
“The planning team developed options taking the top three priorities into consideration without creating awkward boundary lines that might divide neighborhoods or otherwise substantially inconvenience parents or students,” explained Superintendent Michael Green.
On Dec. 17, the school board approved a school boundary plan that will address these many considerations and will provide substantially reduced school bus transportation times for many students. Spending less time on buses helps students and families accommodate childcare needs and after-school activities and reduces stress for students.
Next steps for reconfiguration planning
The planning team will now work on a recommendation to the board regarding in-district choice transfer options. As the district realizes families may wish to have the option to have their children attend a school outside of their assigned boundary area, a plan for choice transfer is being developed.
Additionally, the KWRL transportation cooperative is developing bussing models to provide the safest and most efficient rides for students within these new boundaries.
Bell schedules, along with start/end times, staffing assignments, and school names will also be created in the coming months for determination and/or ratification by the board of directors.
Information provided by Woodland School District.
Stay current on reconfiguration with regular updates
Parents and community members are invited to stay current on reconfiguration planning with regular updates available in the “K-4 School Reconfiguration” section located in the drop-down menu of the district website at www.woodlandschools.org.
