Drawing new boundaries Columbia Public Schools is proposing new attendance boundaries for elementary schools in northeast Columbia. The plan includes a new school east of Highway 63.

Source: Columbia Public Schools

Lora Wegman graphic

The opening of a new elementary school in 2009 would change the use of Field Elementary, significantly reduce enrollment at Derby Ridge Elementary and ease overcrowding at four other schools under a proposed new boundary map.

Before the plan is complete, members of Columbia Public Schools’ elementary redistricting committee are taking their recommendations to families for feedback. The group kicked off a series of meetings last week at Lee Elementary and plans to present the map to parents at each school affected by the changes, said Jack Jensen, assistant superintendent of elementary education.

The new elementary building, located off a future extension of Waco Road in northeast Columbia, is expected to open in the fall of 2009. The school’s enrollment and enrollment changes at other schools are based on September 2007 data but will be updated with current numbers before the plan goes to the Columbia Board of Education in May, committee chairman Don Ludwig said.

"The target for the new school, 575 would be the upper limit," Ludwig said. "I would be more comfortable at 550. … When you have an unstable housing market, it’s hard to predict."

Here’s a glance at the committee’s boundary recommendations:

● The redistricting committee is recommending that Field Elementary close to K-5 students and be used for another district purpose, such as an early education center.

The committee is recommending that students attending Field on the last day of the 2008-09 school year be allowed to transfer as a group to the new school the following fall and that the district provide transportation. That would not apply to families who have transferred to Field from another attendance area.

Future families living in Field’s current attendance zone would be split into three schools: The northwestern portion of Field boundaries becomes part of Blue Ridge Elementary; the eastern section of Field would be absorbed by the new school; and Field’s southwest section would become part of Benton.

● Derby Ridge’s northwestern chunk and the Prathersville area due north of the school would become part of the new school’s boundaries under the proposal. That would drop Derby Ridge’s enrollment by about 200 students, Ludwig said. Derby Ridge was designed to handle 600 students but currently has about 725.

● The new school would absorb all of Blue Ridge’s attendance area east of Highway 63 and north of Interstate 70. Under the proposal, Blue Ridge would lose about 30 of its 511 students.

● Benton Elementary’s attendance area north of I-70 would become part of Blue Ridge under the plan. Benton also picks up Field’s southwestern area under the proposed map. Benton’s total enrollment, 262 this year, would decrease by roughly 40 students.

● Lee Elementary School’s northeastern island, located in the Lake of the Woods area, would become part of the new school’s boundaries. That would drop Lee’s enrollment by about 40 students. Lee was designed for 250 but has more than 330 students this year.

● The proposal calls for Shepard Elementary’s northern boundaries to end at I-70, resulting in a drop of about 75 students. Shepard has 545 students this year, well above the building’s 300-student capacity.

● Parkade Elementary would gain about 30 students under the plan. The school would pick up an Elleta Boulevard neighborhood now in the Blue Ridge attendance zone. Parkade has about 470, slightly above its capacity of 450.

● The committee is recommending that the district allow fifth-graders to remain in their home schools when the new elementary opens, regardless of where the boundaries are drawn. However, like the current transfer policies, the district would not provide busing for those students.

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