| Because the District will be building two new elementary schools on Aldrich Road and Yew St. Road, the School Board authorized the formation of the Elementary Boundary Task Force and charged them with the following:
- Review existing elementary boundaries, demographic data, policy, and consideration factors.
- Formulate, analyze, and evaluate alternatives using GIS data and consideration factors.
- Work in an advisory capacity to recommend revised elementary attendance boundaries for the existing and new elementary schools and to relieve current overcrowding.
The Task Force used the following consideration factors in evaluating various boundary proposals:
- Minimizing disruption of students' established learning programs.
- Whenever possible, keep siblings in the same elementary school.
- Provide overall balance of student numbers that relates to facility size and taking into account future growth patterns.
- Provide a reasonably balanced socio-economic relationship in all schools.
- Provide the most efficient and feasible means for student transportation to and from schools, minimizing travel time and transportation costs.
- Whenever possible, keep neighborhoods together.
- Where possible, maintain feeder school networks so elementary/middle/high school boundaries coincide.
- Where possible, follow natural boundaries and utilize existing physical boundaries such as major roadways.
To create a representative group, the Task Force was comprised of parents, community members, certificated, classified, and administrative staff. Consensus was used for internal decisions during the work of the Task Force. The Task Force presented its recommendations to the Superintendent and School Board. Public input was gathered through May 1, 2007. The School Board adopted new elementary boundaries on May 10, 2007, for implementation beginning in fall 2008 for southside Bellingham and in the fall of the year the Aldrich Road elementary opens for the northside of Bellingham.
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