North Thurston Public Schools to consider altering elementary school boundaries
New elementary school boundaries could be drawn for the North Thurston Public Schools after the board voted Tuesday to launch the review process.
The board did not discuss the review, but approved it as part of its consent calendar.
Driving the process is a desire to balance elementary school populations, which are large at some schools but much smaller at others, said Assistant Superintendent of Operations Troy Oliver.
Over the last five or more years, growth in certain parts of the district has increased student populations at Pleasant Glade and Meadows elementary schools. Meanwhile, enrollment at Horizons Elementary School, which used to be one of the district’s biggest schools, has shrunk, Oliver said.
Pleasant Glade is in northern Lacey, just east of Sleater Kinney Road, and Meadows is east of the Regional Athletic Complex — two areas near a lot of recent residential development. Horizons is in southeast Lacey, off Rainier Road.
The district’s K-5 student enrollment at its schools ranges from a high of 656 to a low of 384, according to district information.
Although the district is embarking on this process, the answer isn’t to bus students across the district, Oliver said. The process will follow some key principles: to keep students together throughout the K-12 experience, to make sure there are efficient and effective transportation and staffing practices, and to maintain socio-economic diversity, according to the district.
A committee is being formed as part of the process, and that committee ultimately will make a recommendation to the school board, which is expected in May.
The committee will consist of a staff member and parent/community member from most of the district’s K-12 schools. The district wants that broad representation because a change in an elementary school boundary could mean the student attends a different middle school and high school, Oliver said.
The committee is about 85 percent full, he said. A parent who is interested in joining the committee should reach out to their child’s school principal, Oliver said. The committee’s first meeting is set for Jan. 23, followed by meetings in February, March and April.
The wider community also will get a chance to provide feedback because the district intends to have at least two community forums. Those dates are still to be determined, Oliver said.
The district has created a boundary review webpage.
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
