School district rezoning proposed

About 350 elementary school students in the Rathdrum and Spirit Lake area may switch schools next fall to fill the new school being built in Twin Lakes and ease overcrowding in others.

Under proposed attendance boundary changes from the Lakeland School District, about 160 elementary school students from Garwood, 50 from John Brown, 80 from Betty Kiefer, 35 from Spirit Lake and 25 from Athol would move to Twin Lakes Elementary School, expected to open in the fall. The school was built to handle overcrowding in the booming district, which has seen enrollment increases for the past few years.

The attendance boundaries for each of the district’s five elementary schools would change under the proposal, and all will see a drop in enrollment.

“We’re taking input now as to what people think of it,” said Ron Schmidt, assistant superintendent of the Lakeland School District.

Detailed maps of the proposed boundaries are available at the district’s Web site, www.lakeland272.org. The district’s board of trustees must approve the boundary changes. A public forum is scheduled for Jan. 25, and Schmidt said board members will likely vote on the proposal in February or March.

Changes to school attendance zones typically provoke strong opposition from students and parents affected by the move, but Schmidt said the district hasn’t had too much of that.

“I think right now, based on what we’ve seen, people are pretty supportive,” Schmidt said. “There’s been one or two comments made that made some sense, and the board may want to make some adjustments.”

The proposal calls for:

“Students living in the southern area of the current attendance zone for Spirit Lake Elementary School – south of Seasons Road – to attend Twin Lakes.

“Students in the northern area of the John Brown attendance zone – including Diagonal Road – to attend Twin Lakes.

“Students in the western area of the Garwood attendance zone – including Twin Lakes and Scarcello Road – to attend Twin Lakes.

“Students in the southern area of the Athol attendance zone – west of U.S. Highway 95 – to move to Twin Lakes.

“Students in the northern edge of the Betty Kiefer zone – including Fourth Street – to move to John Brown.

“Students in the southern edge of the Betty Kiefer Zone – including parts of Wyoming Avenue and parts of the city of Hayden – to move to Garwood Elementary.

“Students in the western edge of the John Brown zone – including Trails End Road – to move to Garwood.

Stacy Whitesitt’s son, Gavin, a John Brown fourth-grader, would move to the new school under the proposal.

“Right now, from what I know about it, I’m pleased with it,” Whitesitt said. “Considering the condition that some of our elementary schools are in, it is something nice for my child to look forward to.”

Gavin’s “a little bummed” he’ll be leaving his friends at John Brown, but Whitesitt said she reminds him it will only be another two years before he joins them all at Lakeland Junior High School. The attendance zones for the district’s secondary schools remain the same.

Whitesitt said she has questions about what additional safety precautions, such as traffic lights and turn lanes, might need to be added to state Highway 41 to make getting to and from the new school easier. Twin Lakes is being built near the intersection of Highway 41 and Rice Road.

The new school is one of the projects funded by a $14.2 million levy voters approved in October 2005. Construction costs stayed within budget, Schmidt said, and the new school should be completed using the $6.2 million originally proposed.

The rest of the money went to expanding Garwood Elementary School’s lunchroom and the office and main entry at Spirit Lake Elementary School, and updating the heating and ventilation system at Lakeland High, among other projects. That work was completed last summer, and a $6.3 million remodel and expansion at Lakeland High in Rathdrum is expected to begin this year.

The expansion will add 10 classrooms, enabling the district to move ninth-graders there from the junior high school across the street and ease overcrowding.