School Board Approves Elementary Boundary Changes

The Grain Valley School Board approved proposed changes to the elementary school boundaries during a workshop on December 6 th at district offices. The vote was unanimous by those in attendance; board members Jeff Coleman and Julie Groff were not in attendance at the December 6 th meeting.

Following a presentation to the Board of Education on September 20 th 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 will provide the district 5-10 years of time before needing to consider adding a 5th elementary school.

The boundary adjustments will result in approximately 90 students each transferring 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 boundary adjustment also addresses concerns that Matthews Elementary students are split between North and South Middle Schools. Under the changes, all Matthews students will transition to North Middle School.

Matthews neighborhoods currently within the boundary for South Middle School will attend Stony Point or Sni-A- Bar under the proposed changes and attend South Middle Schools.

The District will initiate a process to reallocate personnel within the four elementary schools as needed in January, and elementary schools will develop transition plans for affected students and their families.