Cda School Boundaries Determined Many Elementary, Middle School Students To Be Affected By New Configuration This Fall

To the dismay of some patrons and one trustee, the Coeur d’Alene School Board made on Monday one of the hardest decisions it has to face.

Board members set geographical boundaries that dictate where elementary and middle school students will attend school.

In a 3-1 decision, the board approved a new configuration that will affect the populations of most elementary and middle schools. Some children from Bryan Elementary will be moved to Fernan. Some from Hayden Meadows will be switched to Hayden Lake. Some from Dalton Gardens will go to Hayden Meadows.

“The toughest thing we have to do on the school board is tear kids away from where their parents think is best,” said trustee Vern Newby, who cast the dissenting vote after an alternate plan he had proposed was rejected.

The district has been forced to make changes because it will open its 10th elementary school in the fall. Skyway Elementary is being built west of Lake City High School.

A committee of parents, teachers and principals has been working for eight months to come up with a plan. Among the factors considered were class size, future growth and the safety of children who walk to school.

“It’s unfortunate a decision has to be made at all because there’s no good one,” said Steve Briggs, the district’s business manager and a committee member. “There is no solution that is going to leave everyone happy.”

The district held two public forums to discuss proposed plans. Hundreds of parents attended.

One of the most vocal groups was from two Hayden-area subdivisions, Emerald Estates and Pineview Estates. The plan calls for Emerald children to remain at Hayden Meadows, but Pineview students to switch to Hayden Lake. Residents protested the splitting of their neighborhood in two.

Monday night, about 50 parents attended. Most who spoke were from the same two subdivisions. They pleaded with trustees to keep their children together and to instead move children from the Woodland Meadows subdivision to Hayden Lake. Those children currently attend Dalton Gardens Elementary and were scheduled to be moved to Hayden Meadows.

“By drawing this line, you are dividing Cub Scouts, carpools and day cares,” said Dorene Carney, a Pineview resident who has children at Hayden Meadows. “I urge you to reconsider any attempt to disrupt this neighborhood for our children’s lives.”

That also was the basis of Newby’s plan. He said it would affect fewer children and accomplish the same goals as the other plan.

But Briggs argued that the committee members already considered that idea. He said safety issues and a desire to keep children together as they move into middle schools prevented the committee from adopting that plan.

“We’re now down to trading neighborhoods,” Briggs said. “There can be logic made for almost any configuration. I would argue that the board not be swayed simply by which neighborhood has been the most vocal.

“I feel that the committee decision is prudent,” he said.

In the end, the board agreed.

Chairwoman Wanda Quinn thanked parents for their input and tried to ease their concerns.

“We know this is an emotional issue,” she said. “We feel very confident that the quality of education will be the same in all of our schools.”