Board revisits elementary school boundary changes

Chuck Kajer, Managing Editor

The New Prague Area School Board discussed its proposal to redraw the boundaries for the district's three elementary schools during a Monday, Nov. 8, workshop.

The topic had come up several months ago and the board recently surveyed elementary school parents about their thoughts on a proposal. Under the plan, all three K-5 schools would see their boundaries altered. The biggest change being see students from the Lonsdale area - both district residents and open enrolled students - attending Falcon Ridge Elementary in New Prague instead of Eagle View Elementary in Elko New Market. Falcon Ridge is currently the least crowded of the district's three elementaries, while Eagle View is the closest to capacity. Some Raven Stream Elementary students would also be switched to Falcon Ridge, with a small group of Falcon Ridge students moved to Eagle View.

Out of 392 elementary parents who responded to the survey, about 20 percent would have their students transferred to another building under the proposal. Nearly 16 percent said the change would have a positive or very positive effect on their children and family, while 23 percent said it would have a negative or very negative effect. Fourteen percent said they would seek an intra-district transfer back to their current school, while 2.7 percent said they would enroll their children in another district.

Board member Larry Pint said that the district has explored other options, such as changing grade configuration at some of the schools, but that the proposal they came up with addresses the district's problems. He said even if the district closed Eagle View Elementary to open enrollment, that would only delay by a year the time it would take that school to reach capacity.

What we have isn't a perfect plan. We haven't found the perfect plan