Members of Battle Ground Public Schools' overcrowding committee analyze building floorplans in the library at Maple Grove K-8 School.
After six weeks of visiting schools, brainstorming ideas and producing an eight-page report, the 29-member Battle Ground Public Schools Overcrowding Advisory Committee presented four recommendations to the Board of Directors during the Nov. 5 school board meeting.
Option A: Southern shift
Redistribute students in the overcrowded southern schools to less crowded, neighboring facilities. Some students from the Pleasant Valley, Glenwood and Laurin schools would shift to Tukes Valley schools, Daybreak schools and Maple Grove K-8.
Considerations:
• Student travel will be minimized.
• It will allow for the immediate reduction of students in the overcrowded schools but only provides for future growth in the Pleasant Valley primary and middle schools.
• Boundary changes along major thoroughfares are clear and easy to understand.
• This would allow for multiple scenarios for the board to consider and/or modify based on student population and enrollment projections
• Maple Grove remains a K-8 school.
Option B: K-4 conversion
Maple Grove becomes a K-4 school. Current Maple Grove 5-8 students would move to neighboring schools.
Considerations:
• This would significantly relieve overcrowding at Glenwood Heights but does not reduce the population at Laurin Middle School or Pleasant Valley schools.
• Laurin would gain classroom space by using the Glenwood Heights 10-plexes that become available.
• This would create a need for overlapping bus routes.
• This option splits siblings between multiple campuses.
• This would allow Maple Grove K-8 to align with the other K-4 schools throughout the district.
Option C: “NEW” boundaries
Redraw school boundaries by spreading students throughout the entire district. The district would be reorganized into north, east and west (NEW) zones to take advantage of the north, south transportation corridors. Boundary changes would occur at all primary and middle schools. High School boundaries would remain unchanged.
Considerations:
• This would simplify transportation by utilizing main arterials.
• This would lead to a balanced distribution of students while allowing for future growth at Pleasant Valley and Glenwood/Laurin Schools.
• This would take into account enrollment projections and takes advantage of available space in all primary and middle schools across the district.
• Maple Grove would remain a K-8 school.
• This option would impact the largest number of students.
• This could lead to more requests for out of boundary exceptions.
Option D: Move out, move in
Utilize Maple Grove to relieve pressure from Glenwood Heights Primary and Laurin Middle School. Students who currently attend Maple Grove would shift to Glenwood, Laurin, Daybreak and Tukes Valley schools.
Create a new school community out of the densely populated southeast corner of the district with a current student population of 594. Pleasant Valley will also be relieved of overcrowding pressure by shifting some students to Daybreak schools.
Considerations:
• This would allow students in the neighborhood to remain together and creates a “neighborhood school” in the area of the district most likely impacted by building of a new K-8 campus.
• The school district currently owns a large piece of property slated for a future school in the area.
• This option allows for future growth.
• This most closely aligns with the district’s long-range facility plan.
• Balances the student count across a large percentage of the district
• This option will impact a significant number of students.
• This would retain the K-8 model at Maple Grove.
• This is a better utilization of newer, more secure schools.
• The distance between students’ homes in the southeast and the school they attend (Maple Grove) would be over 4.7 miles.
The board will discuss these recommendations during a work session at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19, at the Lewisville Campus. Members of the public are welcome to attend this session, but public comments will not be taken at that time.
The public will be able to comment on these options at the Nov. 26 and Dec. 10 school board meetings, which start at 6 p.m. at the Lewisville Campus. Board members hope to make a final decision in January.
To read the full Battle Ground Public Schools Overcrowding Advisory Committee report and see maps for each recommendation, visit battlegroundps.org/over
crowding
