Lacey Elementary would grow by 100 students under proposed boundary change, district says
About 20 North Thurston parents attended a boundary review community forum on Tuesday, getting a chance to provide feedback on proposed boundary changes to the district’s elementary schools.
The district is trying to re-balance elementary school enrollment sizes, some of which have more than 600 students, while some others are closer to 400 students in total enrollment, district data show.
Lacey Elementary on Homann Drive is one of the smallest schools in the district with 400 students, although it would see enrollment grow by more than 100 students under one proposal.
Assistant Superintendent of Operations Troy Oliver, who led the hourlong meeting at Timberline High School, said the district is proposing these changes with some key considerations in mind, including socio-economic diversity, continuity for students and efficiency, adding that the district has no desire, for example, to bus students from Pleasant Glade in northeast Lacey to Horizons in southeast Lacey.
However, Pleasant Glade has close to 600 students now and is facing more growth in the area. Eighty homes have been proposed at the Bradley Park subdivision near North Thurston High School and multifamily construction continues to sprout on 15th Avenue Northeast.
Meadows Elementary School has more than 650 students, district data show.
A boundary review committee also was formed as part of the process and their work was on display at Tuesday’s meeting, including three proposed options for boundary adjustments and the impact it would have on enrollment.
Option A
Under this proposal, some students at Meadows would go to Olympic View, some Olympic View students would be divided between Lacey and Lydia Hawk, some Lydia Hawk students would go to Seven Oaks and some Mountain View students would go to Lacey elementary.
Under this option, student enrollment would look like this:
▪ Meadows: Enrollment would fall to 563 from 654.
▪ Olympic View: Enrollment would fall to 593 from 614.
▪ Lydia Hawk: Enrollment would fall to 496 from 515.
▪ Lacey: Enrollment would rise to 528 from 400.
▪ Seven Oaks: Enrollment would rise to 493 from 431.
▪ Mountain View: Enrollment would fall to 472 from 531.
Option B
Under this proposal, some Pleasant Glade students would go to Mountain View and some Mountain View students would go to Horizons. Here’s how enrollment would change:
▪ Pleasant Glade: Enrollment would fall to 489 from 579.
▪ Mountain View: Enrollment would largely remain unchanged, rising to 533 students from 531 students.
▪ Horizons: Enrollment would rise to 556 from 468.
Option C
Under this option, the district is proposing either to eliminate all transfers for nonresident students at its largest elementary schools, or eliminate all new transfers to its largest elementary schools.
Under this proposal, enrollment looks like this:
▪ Meadows: Enrollment would fall to 601 from 654.
▪ Olympic View: Enrollment would fall to 598 from 614.
▪ Pleasant Glade: Enrollment would fall to 568 from 579.
▪ South Bay: Enrollment would fall to 528 from 561.
Oliver made clear at the meeting that nothing is set in stone.
“All the options are not exclusive of one another and there could be mixing and matching of some of the different options,” he said.
The goal right now is to make a recommendation to the school board in May, although they could recommend that the district pause the process for a year, he added.
Parent Joseph Young was supportive of Option B, saying if his son went to Horizons instead of Mountain View it would keep him closer to home and he wouldn’t have to ride the school bus so much.
Parent Case Bettendorf said his daughter attends Meadows and loves her school, her teachers and her friends. They moved into the area a year ago and wanted to be close to the school. Bettendorf says he gets to walk his daughter to school.
“When you hear that might change, I got interested and wanted to make sure I got involved and have a voice,” he said.
Boundary review committee member Angeline Ames asked Oliver whether there was any consideration to move Woodland Elementary students from Nisqually Middle School to Komachin Middle School.
Oliver said that was not on the table, partly because that would create enrollment problems at Komachin.
After the meeting, Ames said if the district feels continuity is important, they should make that change because some students at Nisqually Middle School go on to River Ridge High School and some go to Timberline High School and those social connections are lost.
“It’s a critical time in their life with social development and it kind of creates a problem,” she said.
The proximity between Woodland and Komachin also makes more sense for a lot of parents, Ames said.
She also expressed disappointment in the meeting turnount on Tuesday, saying if parents want to be heard on this topic they need to show up.
The next boundary review community forum is 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at Salish Middle School, 8605 Campus Glen Drive NE, Lacey.
For more about the boundary review process, go to the North Thurston Public Schools website.
