District Releases Proposed Elementary Boundary Adjustments

Grain Valley Schools has released a map outlining the proposed elementary boundary adjustments recommended to addressed overcrowding at Prairie Branch and Matthews. Parents of 286 current elementary students who live in neighborhoods directly impacted by the proposed elementary boundary adjustments were notified by the district via email last week.

A Community Engagement meeting will be held at 6:00pm on Wednesday, October 17th at North Middle School, 31608 NE Pink Hill Road, to provide information on the need for adjusting boundaries, the proposed changes, and to address concerns. The meeting is open to the public.

Attendees will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed changes. Those who are unable to attend the October 17th meeting will have the opportunity to provide feedback via an online feedback option beginning October 18th .

Following a presentation to the Board of Education on September 20th in which district administration outlined the need for both an addition at North Middle School and redistricting at the elementary to address overcrowding, a steering committee of residents convened to come up with a redistricting plan at the elementary level. Redistricting could allow the district 5-10 years of time before the district would need to consider adding a 5th elementary school.

According to district provided numbers, class sizes are on the rise at Prairie Branch Elementary and Matthews Elementary as enrollment at these two schools increases. Neither have the space for continued growth. Both Sni-A-Bar Elementary and Stony Point Elementary have classroom space and downward trending enrollment.

The proposed boundary adjustments call for approximately 90 students each to transfer from Matthews to Stony Point, from Matthews to Sni-A- Bar, and from Prairie Branch to Matthews effective with the start of the 2019-2020 school year. The result will provide Matthews and Prairie Branch with room to grow roughly 90 students each over the next 6-10 years.

The proposed elementary boundary adjustment also addresses concerns that Matthews Elementary students are split between North and South Middle Schools. Under the proposed elementary boundary changes, all Matthews students would transition to North Middle School.

Matthews neighborhoods currently within the boundary for South Middle School would attend Stony Point or Sni -A-Bar under the proposed changes and attend South Middle Schools. There are no proposed changes to middle school boundaries at this time.

The Board is not expected to act on any proposal until at least the November 15 School Board meeting.

The map above illustrates the proposed elementary boundary adjustments. Illustration courtesy of Grain Valley Schools.