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School Boundary Revisions Anger Parents; Redistricting Would Make Some Camas Kids Travel to Distant Classrooms

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 18:00 CST

By HOWARD BUCK, Columbian staff writer

Over the hill and through the woods may be a fine way to grandmother's house.

It's just not how Megan Kjelden wants to send her two young children to school each day. Several more west Camas parents agree. But that's what they face next year if the latest Camas School District plan for student enrollment boundaries is adopted.

"I'm not going to put a kindergartner on a bus for 45 minutes," Kjelden said.

She's stewing over proposed redistricting that would push her children out of Prune Hill Elementary School, barely one mile distant, to reconfigured J.D. Zellerbach Elementary School near downtown Camas, at least six miles away over twisting, congested roads.

"It just doesn't make sense. We're the farthest neighborhood from JDZ (Zellerbach)," said Kjelden, who lives on Southeast 194th Court on the Camas district's westernmost fringe.

Kjelden and several more antsy parents plan to crowd tonight's school board meeting at Skyridge Middle School. They'll object to the draft plan submitted by an advisory border committee, making a final board decision due Dec. 12 that much more stressful. Tonight's meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Skyridge commons.

The border committee will submit its second version, after its first drew a wave of objections. School board members must then decide whether to reopen parts of the plan, sure to raise anxiety in households potentially affected.

District leaders acknowledge some hard feelings persist, but say redistricting realities and the calendar work against many more late changes.

"We've pushed this out two weeks already," said Tanis Knight, assistant superintendent. The district had once hoped to seal its final plan by Monday. The sooner borders are settled, the better to make needed budget, staffing, curriculum materials and busing moves well before they take effect, she noted.

Kjelden and other critics won't relent quietly, however. They're unhappy with longer-than-advertised commutes from west Camas.

Some feel they've been abruptly sliced from close-knit neighborhoods. Others worry that JDZ's library, playground and other amenities won't be equipped for all grade levels come September.

School rezoning was forced by the opening of Liberty Middle School next summer, plus conversion of JDZ into a full-range elementary school to serve grades kindergarten through five. Collecting a full load of K-5 students for JDZ meant carving new enrollment zones out of existing territories.

Invariably, some families feel wronged by the revisions, which also take into account household income levels (measured by student eligibility for discounted school lunches) to lessen the divide between "have" and "have-not" schools.

That's what Kjelden and other parents were told had bumped about 20 children in The Terrace subdivision, where she lives, from Prune Hill Elementary, in favor of another neighborhood nearer to downtown.

"I understand they need to balance the numbers; I agree with it," Prune Hill school parent Stephanie Finney said of the district policy.

But not at the expense of shuttling students in opposite directions, counter to common sense, she said. "I feel like our neighborhood is being penalized."

Farther north, Anna Smith's two boys and other children near Dahlia Drive were bounced from Dorothy Fox Elementary, under the first border proposal.

At least her neighbors could form a cohesive presence at their new school, Smith figured until the second border plan chopped the Holly Hills development in half.

The committee erred by using a greenbelt park to split up residents who, in fact, flock there to bond, she said.

Such are the pitfalls of continuing to tinker further with the lines, Knight noted.

"It's sort of a zero-sum game," she said.

"Any change you make now is likely going to have ramifications on everyone else."

Howard Buck writes about schools and education. Reach him at 360- 759-8015 or e-mail howard.buck@columbian.com.

Update

Previously: A Camas School District advisory committee modified its plan for new elementary and middle school enrollment zones for 2006-07, revising its original proposal.

What's new: Tonight, the school board will consider the draft plan and accept public comment. Its meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Skyridge Middle School commons, 5220 N.W. Parker St.

What's next: The school board plans to approve a final boundary plan at its Dec. 12 meeting.

Source: Columbian

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