Schools

Wheatlands Parents Waiting for Answers on Boundaries

Final decision could come next week.

Parents in the subdivisions with students attending The Wheatlands Elementary School are still unsure of where their children will attend classes next year.

The  School Board discussed Monday night the options for the school that could be over its enrollment capacity in the next two to three years.

One option being considered for The Wheatlands is to move students from the Four Pointes or Amber Fields North subdivisions to Wolf’s Crossing Elementary School. The special education Life Skills program also could be moved to Wolf’s Crossing or Homestead Elementary School. The board also discussed the possibility of removing kindergarten from The Wheatlands to ease enrollment. 

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Monica Kelly, a resident of the Four Pointes subdivision, urged the board to keep the current boundaries intact.

“I encourage you to look at the numbers again to determine whether anyone needs to be moved out of the Wheatlands,” she said.

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John Petzke, the district’s executive director of technical services and a boundary committee facilitator, said it was his recommendation and that of the boundary committee to leave The Wheatlands boundaries as is for the 2012-13 school year and allow administration some flexibility in the following years to allow for more students at the school when enrollment increases.

Some options discussed that would allow for more class space would be to teach art and music classes on a cart, freeing up another classroom by moving the school’s READ 180 program into a large hall space and slightly increasing class sizes.

Board member Brent Lightfoot said in an email Tuesday that he wants a long-term solution for The Wheatlands.

“I would prefer that the boundaries be set for as long as possible, that was and should continue to be the goal and is best for all kids,” he wrote. “The most recent recommendation could turn out to be just a one year fix as we try to keep the numbers at or under watch levels.”

A vote on the boundaries for The Wheatlands could come at the board's meeting set for Monday.

The board also heard from Homestead parent Steve Keca who said parents of students being moved to Murphy Junior High from Bednarcik are still upset.  He said parents deserve more of an explanation as to why the decision was made.

"We don’t feel like we can go on and accept it without some questions being answered," he said "There is anger and disgust in the way the process was slanted (against Homestead) from the very beginning."


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