Boundary proposal on display tonight

COEUR d’ALENE — The second public open house in the boundary review process for Coeur d'Alene School District will be held from 6 to 8 tonight at Woodland Middle School.

The open house will include the latest proposal and attendance zones maps. Changes to attendance zones are expected to be implemented next school year to help balance student enrollment and ease classrooms that are at or over capacity as well as prepare the district for the population growth that is anticipated in the next five to 10 years. This is an issue that the Coeur d'Alene School District Boundary Review Committee has been examining since late last fall.

Guiding principles for the committee include accommodating growth trends, considering where future schools may be built, maintaining the function of neighborhood schools, improving the balance of socio-economic status across schools, and creating a feeder system with elementary school zones wholly within the zones of secondary schools.

The committee is also seeking walkable routes, limiting the number of families impacted by zone changes, avoiding long bus routes and minimizing disruptions to special programs and populations.

“The committee has put in long hours with these maps and hopes to finish with a proposal that will enable us to meet the challenges of steady enrollment growth in this community,” district spokesman Scott Maben said Monday.

This session follows the initial open house that took place Jan. 21.

At this open house, grandfathering listening sessions with board trustees will be held from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. and 7:45 to 8:30 p.m.

This is the second proposal from the committee. The first proposal generated more than 300 comments from the public during and after the first open house. Comments will be taken during tonight’s open house. They can also be submitted at cdaschools.org/boundaries. Maps and details of the proposal are available on that page. The online comment form will remain active through noon Thursday. The committee is scheduled to meet a final time on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

“We would expect to see a few areas of adjustment to the boundary lines between schools next week as the committee works toward the final maps,” Maben said.

Superintendent Steve Cook and FLO Analytics, the consultant hired by the district to lead the boundary review process, will present the final proposal to the school board on March 2. The public will then have just more than two weeks to review it and provide further comments.

The board is scheduled to vote on the proposed new zones at a special meeting at 5 p.m. March 18 at the Midtown Meeting Center.

- • •

School locator tool: bit.ly/2P21om8