Cedar Rapids superintendent outlines transition plan

What happens to students if Cedar Rapids school board members vote to shift boundary lines?

That's the question Superintendent Dave Benson addressed Monday night as he presented the administrative transition plan during the district's school board meeting.

“There are lots of issues around changing boundaries,” Benson said. “We will try to address them as they come up.”

For now, however, parents of high school juniors don't need to worry that their child's senior year will be at a different high school. Benson adamantly said he doesn't support, and won't support, any recommendations that require students to attend a new high school for their final year. Likewise, he does not plan to ask families to split up siblings to accommodate new boundaries.

“You have to migrate your student through the system,” Benson said.

For instance, this year's fourth-grade students affected by a boundary change for the 2012-13 school year will have a choice – remain in their current elementary school for fifth grade or choose to attend their new elementary school.

The district's current eighth graders and high school freshman through juniors have the same decision – remain in their current middle or high school, or opt to attend the new middle or high school.

A sibling-only permit option is also available to students affected by attendance area changes. This permit would allow siblings to attend the same school their older sibling attends.

Benson also said the deadline for the permit application will be extended to March 15, 2012, to accommodate potential changes in attendance areas.

This is preemptive information, though. Benson stressed last night that nothing has been decided.

“I want to emphasize that no decision has been made to close a school,” Benson told board members and the 75 or so people sitting in the audience.

Benson said he has not made any recommendations regarding closures or boundary changes, and that all discussions about both have been part of the district's enrollment and facility study process.

The process began last spring, with the completion of two independent studies. One focused on enrollment – the district's current enrollment figure hovers around 16,000 students, a record low – and the other on facilities. School board members used that information to establish a criteria to determine the focus of an enrollment study.

The superintendent's enrollment stakeholder committee lunched twice-a-month meetings in August. The last meeting, held in late December, resulted in proposals that could close as many as three elementary schools – Harrison, Madison, Monroe and Polk are on the list for possible closure – and change boundary lines for other schools.

The committee's report was presented to the school board Monday night. The information is available on the district's Web site and also will be shared with the public at two open house sessions Feb. 2 and Feb. 9. Benson said he will use the input from these sessions, along with the committee's works, to determine his recommendations.

Benson expects to make his recommendations to the school board on Feb. 13. It is not known when the board will vote on these recommendations, but Benson said Monday a decision must be made by the March 12 school board meeting to give the district time to implement any changes for the 2012-13 school year.

“The board knows that this is a critical time for the administration,” Benson said.

If a decision isn't made by March 12, Benson said he will recommend that the board do nothing so not to rush the process.