By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
MALTBY — In the end, the boundaries changed but not the enrollments.
Sixteen students will be able to remain in the Snohomish School District despite a turf battle that ended in December with a regional board transferring a neighborhood near Maltby from the Snohomish School District to Monroe School District.
"I couldn’t be happier," said Linda Schumacher, a parent with three children who will remain in Snohomish schools even though their home was transferred to the Monroe district.
Parents in the Echo Falls and Valley Ridge Trails communities were divided about what school districts they wanted their children to attend. Some wanted Monroe, others Snohomish.
In both cases, parents were forced to play a kind of variance roulette. Neither side wanted to risk not being able to get an annual variance that allows their children to attend a school in their preferred district.
One group that wanted to be in the Monroe district discovered a little-used state law that allows boundaries to be redrawn by a Regional Committee on School District Organization. In August, the panel agreed to move the area into the Monroe district. It was the first time since 1992 it had been asked to resolve a territorial dispute.
Other neighbors who wanted to remain in the Snohomish district said they weren’t aware of the hearing and started a petition to return to the Snohomish district. They were unable to dissuade the regional committee.
Many were upset because they had bought their property because it was in the Snohomish district.
The Snohomish School Board decided last week to grandfather in students whose district boundaries had changed. They range from third-grade to high school students. The families will need to provide their own transportation, however.
"It’s really wonderful that they were willing to step up and do that," said Schumacher, whose children attend three different schools in Snohomish. "It may not work for all families, but it at least gives them an option."
"It is a unique circumstance," said Betty Robertson, assistant superintendent of the Snohomish district. "Because it is a number that is reasonable, we felt we were able to accommodate it."
The Monroe School District has no objection.
"We want their children to be happy wherever they go," said Rosemary O’Neil, a Monroe district spokeswoman.
You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446
or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.
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