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Beginning in 2011-12, Elkhorn middle school students who live south of West Dodge Road will be divided between two schools based on whether they live east or west of 192nd Street.
Those to the east will attend Elkhorn Ridge Middle School, near 178th and Marcy Streets, and those to the west will attend the new Elkhorn Valley View Middle School, slated to open in 2011 at 1313 S. 208th St.
The Elkhorn school board voted 6-0 to adopt the new boundaries Monday night.
West Dodge already is the boundary between attendance zones for Elkhorn’s high schools, with students to the north being sent to the existing Elkhorn High School and students to the south to attend the new Elkhorn South High School. Elkhorn South opens this fall. Middle school students who live north of West Dodge will continue to attend Elkhorn Middle School.
Under the new boundaries, Elkhorn Ridge Middle School will receive students from Spring Ridge Elementary School and from the portion of West Dodge Station Elementary’s attendance area south of West Dodge Road. That school also opens this fall.
Students from Fire Ridge and Skyline elementary schools will funnel to Elkhorn Valley View.
Superintendent Steve Baker said drawing such boundaries is difficult because it can result in students attending different schools than their friends.
“These are tough decisions, but they’re decisions a growing district is faced with,” he said.
Lisa Woodford, a parent who lives just east of 192nd Street, asked the board to allow children in her neighborhood who now attend Fire Ridge to go on to Elkhorn Valley View together. Her neighborhood was placed in the Fire Ridge attendance area five years ago, during an earlier boundary change.
But Baker said making the exception would not only take students out of Elkhorn Ridge, it would add them to Elkhorn Valley View. Elkhorn Valley View’s student population is expected to grow more quickly than that of Elkhorn Ridge.
“You want to keep those buildings as close as possible,” he said.
Several board members said they understood the concerns of Woodford and her neighbors. They said their own children had seen similar moves as the district has grown.
Still, board members said they had concerns about making exceptions, particularly at a time when the district has received dozens of requests.
“What are the ripple effects of making one exception?” said board member John Marasco.
Contact the writer:
444-1223, julie.anderson@owh.com
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