Bend-La Pine Schools start work on new boundaries

If you have kids in the Bend-La Pine Schools, changes are coming for your family. During meetings this week, officials are working on redrawing new boundary lines.

“What brings us here is we’re growing — Bend is growing” Assistant Superintendent Jay Mathisen said Wednesday.

It’s a budding community, with nearly 30 schools and thanks to voters, a new elementary school and middle school are on the way.

“The main reason we are redrawing boundary lines is we have to figure out who enrolls as students in those two new schools,” Mathisen said.

A boundary advisory committee is now in charge of coming up with where exactly to draw the lines, which could affect every school on the High Desert.

“I got involved originally when my son was at High Lakes Elementary years ago,” said Tina Ficher, who has been a part of the committee for three years.

“This is about transportation and demographics and economics,” Ficher said. “It’s kind of a really big picture, so it’s not quite so straightforward. Sometimes people think, ‘Well, just draw the line there.’ It’s not always quite so simple.”

With half of the district’s schools at or over capacity, these new lines should help change those numbers. But it won’t come without some concern and opposition.

“This is personal stuff, when you start redrawing lines and you start letting parents know this is where your kiddos are going to go, or where we recommend they go,” Mathisen said. “To assume we know how to do that without talking to parents would be arrogant of us, so we are not going to do that.”

That’s why it’s in the hands of the community.

“Community input is so important, that’s why the committee is made up of 30 different members from all across the community,” Ficher said.

The third and final community meeting will be held Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Ponderosa Elementary Library.

You can also submit comments and questions to http://www.bend.k12.or.us/boundary2014

Here is the district’s original press release:

The Bend-La Pine Schools’ Boundary Advisory Committee, charged with helping redraw the attendance areas for district schools, is hosting a series of public information sessions at local schools next week.

The community is invited to attend the sessions to meet committee members, learn about the process, understand the challenges involved and offer input.

“We welcome community members to these informal open house-style events,” said Chief Operations and Financial Officer Brad Henry. “We hope the public will walk away understanding the process and feeling confident that their input is valued.”

The public information sessions will take place 5 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 27 in the gym at Cascade Middle School, Oct. 29 in the library at Jewell Elementary School and Oct. 30 in the library at Ponderosa Elementary School.

The sessions will consist of four stations – one introductory, one middle school, one elementary and one closing – which will each be manned by committee members, who will provide information, answer questions and collect feedback.

More public sessions will take place as additional information becomes available. The 30-member committee, with 19 community members and 11 school staff, is slated to make boundary recommendations to Superintendent Ron Wilkinson by February.

Boundaries are being redrawn because of the addition of two new schools, which will open in fall 2015. The process is also designed to balance enrollment at area schools as 11 of 14 elementary schools and three of four middle schools in Bend are at or over capacity.

Community members seeking more information about the process can visit a new boundary related web page at www.bend.k12.or.us/boundary2014. It includes upcoming events, FAQ, maps, a list of committee members and more.