Long-Range Boundary Planning and Enrollment Management
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Policy and Decision Principles
Per FC(Local), school attendance boundaries will be established by the Board upon recommendation of the Superintendent with advisory input for the Board by the School Boundary Advisory Committee (SBAC). The scope of the committee is to study the information provided by the boundary planner, seek clarification of any questions they may have, and review for alignment of the boundary recommendation with the Decision Principles (see below) detailed in policy.
Decision Principles
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Community Integrity
Attendance boundaries shall:
- Safely house students and professional staff; and align student transitions within the District's designated feeder patterns.
- Where feasible and practical, attendance boundaries shall support the neighborhood school concept by combining geographically proximate neighborhoods, subdivisions, multifamily dwellings, and developments.
- Where feasible and practical, entire neighborhoods shall be assigned to the same school(s). Notably, the size and location of large neighborhoods may require deviation from this principle.
- Where feasible and practical, major thoroughfares, creeks, drainage ditches, utility easements, and similar elements will be utilized as boundaries.
- Where feasible and practical, utilize safe and reasonable walking distances to encourage healthier students and minimize use of and need for student transportation resources.
- NOTE: Master-planned communities are not considered neighborhoods.
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Growth Projections
Efficient use of existing facilities as well as effective and equitable delivery of academic programs, curriculum, and extracurricular opportunities are equally important factors in attendance boundary design. Utilization shall be balanced among campuses to:
- Avoid penalizing schools experiencing growth;
- Manage overutilization or underutilization; and
- Minimize long-term reliance on portable classrooms.
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Program Accommodation/Student Needs
Attention should be given to unique needs of student populations at a given campus that may not be reflected in numbers alone.
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Frequency of Changes
To the extent possible, design boundaries to withstand time so students in a given area shall not be required to change schools because of an attendance boundary change more than once at a given level (elementary, middle school, or high school).
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Cost Effectiveness
Recommendations shall consider financial impact lessening future capital and operational budget costs. The costs of portable classrooms, transportation, additional staffing requirements, and other costs related to attendance boundary options shall be considered.
