By Clay LePard
clepard@cbs4qc.com
The Davenport School Board will try to address an overcrowding issue by looking at changes to the boundary lines.
Tonight is a Committee of the Whole meeting and the board wants to take a closer look at proposed changes. Even though no decision will be made until the spring, it's been a hotly contested issue.
"Some of our schools are too crowded and some are not because of the way the population has shifted over the years," says Patt Zamora, Davenport School Board member.
In fact, in some cases new students moving into the district can't even go to the right school because the one closest to their home is over populated. That means the district ends up paying for them to be bussed to another school.
The proposed changes would shift populations and place less of a burden on schools like Washington, Harrison and Garfield Elementary.
The new boundary lines wouldn't move students out of their current schools but rather plan for the future.
"They can stay - they'll be grandfathered in," Zamora adds. "They'll be able to stay there until they complete whatever level of school that is. There won't be changing anybody from the school they're in. But siblings and others will not be allowed to enroll in that school."
That committee of the whole meeting takes place tonight at 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public. The School Board also plans to hold several open forums starting in January to hear from parents about the proposed boundaries.
"Nothing is cast in stone at this point," Zamora emphasizes. "We want to hear and we want the people to accept that this has to happen but we'd be glad to have their input in how to do it."
