Middle School Boundary Work To Begin All Over Trustees Direct Committee To Consider Alternative Plan
The Coeur d’Alene School Board voted Monday to ask its reluctant boundaries committee to go back to the drawing table again.
Independent of one another, two school district patrons presented the same alternative boundaries proposal at Monday night’s board meeting. Board members felt the option was good enough to warrant further investigation.
The board directed the committee to consider the new plan, which ties middle school boundaries to existing elementary school boundaries rather than along geographic lines.
Patron Brad Compton admitted the plan sacrifices the wishes of his family, but insisted the proposal was better for the whole because fewer kids would be affected.
The district committee’s supposedly final proposal would have split small groups at five different elementary schools away from their classmates. Compton’s alternative would not split any schools other than Bryan Elementary, which currently splits classes as children enter middle school.
“I felt kind of bad, because I’ve been on committees and I know what they go through,” Compton said after the meeting. “But I’m not here to be the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. I’m not pushing for what I would like for my kids. The committees’ proposal affects 406 kids, compared to zero under this one.”
Under Compton’s plan, middle school boundaries would mirror elementary boundaries. All Borah Elementary School students would go to Lakes Middle School and then to Coeur d’Alene High School. All Hayden Lake students would go to Woodland Junior High and then to CHS as well.
Compton said he felt children would suffer less if moved as a large peer group (entire school classes) rather than having many small groups of children siphoned away from several schools.
Phillip Cooper agreed. The Cougar Gulch resident came to the meeting with the same proposal in hand without having ever met Compton.
Tying boundaries to existing elementary schools protects student and parent friendships and minimizes cross-town busing, Cooper said.
But it’s unclear whether the district committee - which worked for nearly six months to come up with a final proposal - will be willing to go back to the drawing table.
Committee Chairman Jack Smetana, visibly peeved by the development, said he would not be happy about reconvening after so much work went into the final proposal.
The ultimate recommendation could rest in the administration’s hands. Monday’s testimony included pleas from residents from the “Borah triangle,” neighborhood, who claimed they’ve taken the brunt of the impact from boundary shifting to accommodate growth.
The alternative boundary proposal uses U.S. Highway 95 as a divider. Residents between Highway 95 and 15th, as far north as Kathleen, all would attend Lakes Middle School under the plan. Copies of the alternative proposal and the committee’s final proposal are available at the district’s administrative offices at 311 N. 10th.
, DataTimes