USD 383 gives final approval for redrawn attendance boundaries

Feb. 18—Redrawn attendance boundaries for the Manhattan-Ogden school district will take effect for the 2021-22 school year.

The USD 383 school board on Wednesday adopted the new attendance boundary map selected at its Feb. 3 meeting. The board voted 6-1 in favor, with board member Brandy Santos once again voting against the measure. Santos voted against the measure at the board meeting Feb. 3. At that meeting she said she preferred a different boundary map option but did not elaborate. She did not elaborate on her vote at this meeting as well.

The new boundaries would remove the previously proposed "island" in the Miller Parkway area, which means students living along Scenic Drive, Ledgestone Drive, and Stone Pointe would stay in Manhattan and not be bused to Ogden. It also maintains more of a true east/west split for the middle schools, with students on the east side of Manhattan going to Eisenhower and students in the west going to Anthony.

District officials have said there will still be some neighborhoods which will see changes in their school boundaries, while other neighborhoods will stay the same. The residents on the west side of Tuttle Creek Lake will move to Bergman Elementary. Parts of the Miller Ranch area will be zoned into Bergman, as well as Amanda Arnold Elementary. Boundary shifts also can be found south of Fort Riley Boulevard, with students living in that area now going to Theodore Roosevelt Elementary. Additionally, some students on the east side of Manhattan will move from Marlatt Elementary to Bergman.

Assistant superintendent Eric Reid said redistricting is an extremely difficult thing to do.

"I appreciate the board's guidance when it came down to make a selection," Reid said. "I'm grateful for the team. ... I don't know if you're ever happy with something like this, but I know we did the best we could."

The board began their evening with a final public comment period on redistricting efforts. Jeremy Deitz said he lives in the Whispering Meadows neighborhood, which is east of Manhattan along Highway 24 near the Big Blue River and Elbo Creek. It is one of the neighborhoods which would see a change in their school boundary, with students in that neighborhood going to Oliver Brown. Deitz shared concerns over property values in the area under the boundary changes.

"You should consider the community, because it's who you serve," Deitz said.

District officials are altering attendance boundaries ahead of opening Oliver Brown Elementary, the district's newest school building, in August. The school board's goal was to choose a map that keeps class sizes small while not overpopulating any school. The decision Wednesday came after a district-formed committee led several months of public meetings and held comment periods online, along with consulting firm RSP & Associates which drew up several options.

COVID-19 data

Superintendent Marvin Wade said there is an opportunity to vaccinate another 450 teachers and staffers against COVID-19 this Friday. As many as 500 district employees have already been inoculated, and district officials have said about 1,200 employees have expressed interest in receiving the vaccine. The Riley County Health Department is giving shots to school employees as a part of the second phase of the vaccine rollout.

Wade also discussed the district's change to the definition of "close contact" regarding COVID-19 and in-person schooling. As approved by the county health department and the district medical advisory committee, "close contact" is less than three feet "for an extended period" in a classroom where people are wearing masks. People are still recommended to stay at least six feet apart when not wearing masks. Wade said if the district sees a problem resulting from that change, they will return to the standard six feet of distance for every situation.

In addition, Wade mentioned attendance rates in the district. For the week of Feb. 7-13, USD 383 saw a 93.9% attendance rate among students, and a 90% rate among staff. Only eight students tested positive for the coronavirus during that timeframe out of about 6,300. Five staff members tested positive during that same period, out of 1,400 staff members, respectively.

Other business

Dustin Avey, managing director of financial firm Piper Sandler, presented an option for the district to refinance the $129.5 million bond initiative approved by voters in 2018. The board approved the option to refinance under a lower interest rate of around 2%, which is projected to bring in a net savings of $5.9 million for the district. The average interest rate noted by Piper Sandler is around 5%.

Brook Blanck, director of the Manhattan Virtual Academy, also spoke to the board about an opportunity to expand Manhattan Virtual Academy to include students from kindergarten through fifth grade. She said MVA has had sixth-grade students for three years; 24 sixth-grade students are currently enrolled. Blanck and board members discussed the logistics of bringing on more grade levels, which would require more staff members and additional technology to meet the needs.

"We're statewide, so we can't even project how many staff members we would need at this time," Blanck said.

Board president Jurdene Coleman said she has attended an MVA graduation ceremony, both in person and virtually, and that she is excited for this opportunity.

"I know there are so many different kinds of families that thrive in MVA. ... Families with new or different needs because of COVID," Coleman said.

The board didn't take any action as this was just an informational report.

To wrap up the meeting, the board also approved several purchases, including:

— Cisco networking equipment from K12itc of Kansas City for $468,820.

— New iPads and MacBooks from Apple for $179,725.

— Projectors, plus associated equipment and installation, from Cytek for Anthony and Eisenhower middle schools; total cost for Eisenhower is $62,852, while the cost to equip Anthony is $69,468.

— Removal of asbestos-filled popcorn ceilings and old chalk boards in Eugene Field Early Learning Center for $56,962.

— New playground equipment and synthetic turf for Amanda Arnold Elementary School by ABCreative of Desoto, Kan., for $331,056.

— New bleacher seating at Eisenhower and Anthony middle schools from Heartland Seating of Shawnee, Kan., for $54,392.