EVERETT — New elementary school boundaries are being drawn in preparation for the fall 2019 opening of the Everett School District’s 18th elementary.
Recommended changes have been drafted by a committee of staff and parents. An estimated 1,350 students from schools in the south end of the district would be shifted around under the proposal. More than 500 of them would be bound for the new school, to be built on 180th Street SE in the North Creek area.
The group started working in November. It includes representatives from the nine elementary schools in the southern portion of the district.
The recommendations are based on enrollment, school capacities and balancing free and reduced lunch percentages, according to the committee’s report. The proposed boundary revisions and a map are available online.
Public comment is being accepted until May 25. Superintendent Gary Cohn is tasked with reviewing the committee’s recommendation and the public feedback before submitting his recommendation to the school board for a vote.
New boundaries are expected to take effect for the 2019-20 school year.
The proposed changes would affect students at Cedar Wood, Forest View, Mill Creek, Penny Creek, Woodside and Silver Lake elementary schools. The new school would have 309 students from Forest View, 155 from Cedar Wood and 39 from Woodside.
Students also will be moved among the other schools.
The percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch at the schools would range from 8 percent at Forest View and the new school to more than 40 percent at Silver Lake and Monroe elementaries, according to the report.
There are 5,685 elementary school students in Everett, and that’s expected to grow to 6,095 by 2022.
Voters in April 2016 approved a $150 million bond that included money to build a new elementary school to ease crowding.
Designs for the 78,000-square-foot, two-story campus call for 28 classrooms along with a library, gym, cafeteria, covered play area and playfields. A protected wetland on the site is expected to be used for outdoor education.
A comment form is available online at https://bit.ly/2I4VRJm.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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