North Thurston School Board adopts boundary changes

The North Thurston School Board voted 5-0 Tuesday night to implement a new set of boundaries that will shift students in some neighborhoods to different schools.

“I’ve been on the board a long time, and this is probably the most eventful decision we’ve made,” said School Board vice president Chuck Namit, who is in his sixth four-year term. “But we’re making it for the future.”

District officials say the boundary changes are needed to help manage growth, while also populating the new Salish Middle School that will open next fall, and a new, still-to-be-named elementary school that’s scheduled to open in the fall of 2017.

But some parents say the new boundaries don’t make sense, especially for families in several neighborhoods that are walking distance to Komachin Middle School. Many of those students will be bused to Chinook Middle School when the new boundaries take effect.

“It makes me angry, and I have to say ‘shame on you’ for not planning in the past to know what sort of improvements needed to be made here in order to service the neighborhoods around the school,” parent Bill Frare told the School Board.

An estimated 300 to 350 people attended town hall forums on the boundary changes in September, and about 130 people submitted feedback on the proposals through the district’s website. Many parents spoke against the boundary proposals at recent School Board meetings.

After Tuesday’s meeting, parent Colminton Allen said he was disappointed in the process and the outcome.

“They made the decision long before anything,” he said.

The new boundaries were drawn by the Boundary Review Committee, which was charged with creating a plan that kept students together throughout their K-12 experience. Under the current system, some elementary schools split into different middle schools, which feed into different high schools.

The committee also tried to balance out enrollment and diversity at the schools, officials said.

Details are still being worked out for a waiver system that will allow some students to continue attending schools in their current zones. However, their families will need to provide transportation to and from school, officials say.

“Within the guidelines and within the policies, we have a process where people can apply for a transfer system,” superintendent Raj Manhas said at the meeting. “…We will be very sensitive and supportive, wherever possible.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 6:48 AM with the headline "North Thurston School Board adopts boundary changes."