“Looking at the (current) district map, you’ll see some ‘enclaves,’ or satellite zones, that are a little bit unique,” Enix said, noting a handful of anomalies in attendance zones.
“One of those areas in particular is out on the very western side of the district where there’s a Monticello Elementary area that is completely surrounded by Valley Forge attendance zones,” he said. “In another instance, there’s an apartment complex on the northern side that’s an enclave by itself within the Charles Huber Elementary zone; it’s a single bus stop that gets bussed to Monticello currently.”
As part of the redistricting, these anomalies will be incorporated into the district within which they’re surrounded.
The change will begin with the 2025-2026 school year and will affect approximately 35 students, documents show.
“These minor differences will alleviate a little bit of the strain, not a whole lot, but it brings some transportation efficiencies to our boundary maps,” Enix said.
The district hired Cropper GIS in December 2023 to analyze multiple options for redistricting in accordance with the district’s current strategic plan, initially in an attempt to address a contrast in size between each of the district’s five elementary schools.
The Cropper study process included two public meetings and a survey of community input with 98 responses.
Cropper proposed 14 potential redistricting options. Those were narrowed down to two options.
Option A was a comprehensive option that attempted to balance utilization as much as possible, while not upsetting the demographic balance, documents state. Under this option, a total of 584 students, from kindergarten to sixth grade, would be impacted.
Option B looked to minimize student impact while improving utilization and maintaining demographic balance. This option would affect 281 students.
A public advisory committee of about 30 community members was created and reviewed the options, taking into consideration effects on transportation and staffing and determining whether the potential benefits would outweigh any negative effect of shifting that many students and faculty around.
Ultimately, the committee, along with Cropper, drafted a third and fourth option (C and C.1), both of which have more minimal impacts on students and staff.
“(Option C) avoids disruptions to a lot of individuals, families, and our staff for what I will say was not a very compelling reason to do so; what we would have likely found is there were some unintended consequences of redistricting (with options A and B), particularly with building utilization and some of the ways in which our special education units are currently housed in buildings around the district,” Enix said at the January board meeting.
During that same meeting, the board voted to place a $7.8 million, 6.9-mill operating levy on the May ballot. If approved, the levy will cost taxpayers annually $241.50 per $100,000 in appraised property value, according to the district.
Enix said it has been almost 20 years since the last time the district asked for and got approval for a new operating levy, which is money that would go toward general operations of the district — items like keeping the lights on in the buildings, paying teachers, and other everyday funds.
In 2023, voters rejected an 8.12-mill operating levy, with 33.1% of votes in favor and 66.9% against.
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