Center Grove parents said they felt misled by previous discussions about redrawing school residential boundaries after they got mail this week showing a recommendation that was different than the earlier scenarios.
Currently, the district is proposing redrawing boundaries for its five elementary schools to prepare for the opening of a sixth, Walnut Grove, which is set to open for the upcoming school year.
In January, after two redistricting committee meetings, the district conducted a community meeting during which educational consulting firm Cooperative Strategies presented two scenarios and asked for community feedback. After receiving that feedback, the district conducted another committee meeting, using that feedback to expand to 10 scenarios before an internal committee picked one recommendation, according to the firm’s presentation.
Certain parents, however, said the neighborhood they live in was originally going to be moved to a new school under previous scenarios, and is now staying put. Additionally, they say the plan was something they never saw during the community meeting.
Redistricting committee member Cayce Stoneburner of Greenwood lives in the Calvert Farms neighborhood, and said throughout the process, she never saw her neighborhood going anywhere other than Center Grove Elementary School. With the final recommendation, however, her residence would be assigned to Pleasant Grove. Being a part of the redistricting committee and not knowing of this plan makes the recommendation frustrating, she said.
“It’s very disturbing going into the meeting and the current plan looks like nothing the committee or the public has seen,” Stoneburner said. “It makes it seem like there was already a plan in place. It feels like deceit. I had committee members call and say ‘this doesn’t make any sense.’ It doesn’t feel real at this point. I ask the board to reject the current recommendation. I ask they take it back to the committee and look only at the options presented to the committee and not go to a plan that none of us have seen.”
Jennifer Dummett of Greenwood said her residence at the Estate of Harrison Crossing was recommended to be moved to Sugar Grove under previous scenarios. Her neighbors transferred to the school under the assumption they would be moved, she said. Under the latest recommendation, however, her neighborhood is staying within North Grove boundaries.
“It’s just a little hard to understand why we were given two options and then none came true for us,” Dummett said. “I wanted to say the firm was a little unprofessional to present two options and then not follow through. We are a very small neighborhood but we’re very close to Sugar Grove. It’s very disappointing to hear we won’t be going back there.”
Students who transferred to new schools last year under the assumption their neighborhood would change schools will be allowed to stay at those schools as long as they file the correct paperwork, spokesperson Stacy Conrad said. Additionally, those who are going into fifth or eighth grade will be able to stay at their current school, although those who live outside the redrawn boundaries will have to find their own transportation.
The school board did not vote on the plans presented Thursday. The district will conduct another redistricting committee meeting before a special school board meeting on March 13 at 7 p.m., during which the board will vote on a recommendation for new school boundaries.
During the presentation, Cooperative Strategies CEO Tracy Richter said the final recommended plan was reached with a number of goals in mind: to reduce the total number of students moved, which he said they achieved by moving 10 neighborhoods back to their current assigned boundaries, to reduce the number of students attending Sugar Grove Elementary School, which is currently utilizing portable classrooms to account for being 21 percent over capacity, to create more balance between schools in terms of the percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch and to keep all of Bargersville together, as the town will be assigned solely to Walnut Grove, Richter said.
The new recommendation puts all schools under capacity, moves 1,218 elementary students compared to more than 1,350 in the two previous scenarios and gives the most room for growth in the Walnut Grove area, which would be at 76 percent utilization and is expected to grow at a greater rate than the rest of the district, Richter said. If the current recommendation is approved, 141 middle school students will switch schools.
“A lot of work and time went into this,” school board and redistricting committee member Rob Daniels said. “We can’t make everybody happy but we need to do what’s best for our kids. This was not predetermined. I would not have wasted five nights of my life determining what’s best for the schools. I look forward to the next committee meeting and I appreciate the feedback from various people from the start of the process to now.”
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Center Grove will conduct a special school board meeting to vote on new school boundaries.
When: 7 p.m. March 13
Where: Center Grove Schools administration building, 4800 W. Stones Crossing Road, Greenwood
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