Columbia Board of Education approves new attendance zones; high school boundaries will not be affected

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

After months of planning, the Columbia Board of Education unanimously approved the last of its new school boundaries at a meeting on Monday night.

The district presented its final recommendation with adjustments that were made based on feedback from previous discussions. Phase 2 of the plan will be implemented at the start of the 2025-26 school year and Phase 3 that would go into effect for the 2026-27 school year.

New high school boundaries were originally on the table, but Board President Suzette Waters said on Monday that after the Board received feedback from the community and did more research, the Board determined it was not necessary to change boundaries for the district's high schools.

Waters said Rock Bridge is over capacity, but students are given a free period and some students can take classes at the Career Center. Waters said those options help with overcrowding issues.

The district has presented multiple ideas for new boundaries over the past several months. During a May 29 meeting with parents, the Board of Education said it received a lot of feedback on high school boundary changes and some for elementary school changes but did not hear much about possible attendance changes to middle schools. 

Phase 1 of the plan was approved in April, it addressed the expansions at Russell Boulevard Elementary.

This final recommendation will move 1,179 elementary school students and 277 middle school students after the completion of Phase 3.

Phase 2

Phase 2 will move affect the neighborhoods and areas of:

• Cross Creek
• Ewing
• Forest Ridge
• Mordica
• Shalimar Gardens
• Summerfield

Those areas will move from Derby Ridge Elementary School to Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School, according to information from the Board of Education's website.

A small part of North Creasy Road, north of West Country Squire Court and south of North Roemer Road on the west side of the street will be moved from Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School to West Boulevard Elementary School.

Empty lots south of Brown School Road will be redistricted from Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School to Parkade Elementary School.

Christiansen Deline and Rangeline Crossing will be moved from Derby Ridge Elementary School to Parkade Elementary School.

Five parcels on the northwest corner of Creasy Springs Road and Proctor Drive will be moved from West Boulevard Elementary School to Parkade Elementary School.

Phase 2 will also move residents in the neighborhoods and areas of:

• Graceland
• Jerry Morris
• Spring Dale Estates
• Spring Dale Estates Condominiums
• E.A.’s Acre
• Haden Park
• Northland Acres
• Northland Acres Estates

Those areas will be moved from Blue Ridge Elementary School to Derby Ridge Elementary School and from Oakland Middle School to Lange Middle School.

• Baker
• Centerstate
• Eastwood Manor
• Eastwood Meadows
• Gateway
• Greentree Condominiums
• Hendrix
• Lambeth
• Loveall
• Oliver Calvert Survey
• Paris Road Village
• Todd
• White Gate
• White Gate Community
• White Gate South
• White Gate Village Condominiums

Those areas will go from Blue Ridge Elementary School to Shepard Boulevard Elementary School.

• Alumni Heights
• Casey
• Dannerville
• Emerald Ridge
• Meadow Vale
• Pleasant Gardens
• Rice Murrell Wilson
• RTW
• Twin Acres
• Wee Acres
• Whispering Meadows
• Windmill Corners
• Zaring Acres

Residents will move from Lange Middle School to Oakland Middle School.

Southern View Acres and Wyatt Lane Acres will go from Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School to Two Mile Prairie Elementary School.

• Aztec
• Dakota Ridge
• Haden Estates
• Gerau Farms
• Indian Hills
• Knowles
• Lakeshire Estates
• Manchester Heights
• Martins Crossing
• Maupin Acres
• McCubbin Acres
• Roseview
• Wingate Estates

Those areas will move from Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School to Battle Elementary School.

Students living in the Cottages at Evergreen Place will go from Shepard Boulevard Elementary School to Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School.

• Alan Place
• Charlemagne
• Hamilton Acres
• Lamplight Square
• Leora
• Mataora
• Maxwell Manor
• McKee Estates
• McKee Park
• Praise Assembly
• Pennell
• Renaissance
  Meadows
• Shaw
• Sidra East
• Walter Crump
• Zaring Acres
• Zaring Hills

Those areas will be rezoned from Shepard Boulevard Elementary School to Battle Elementary School.

Maxwell Manor and Praise Assembly will move from Oakland Middle School to Lange Middle School.

• American Legion

• Anson Acres
• Avalon
• Carmel Creek
• Cedaredge Condominiums
• Chateau on St. Charles
• DeCrouch Estates
• East Ridge Park
• Eastland Hills
• Eastland Hills Estates
• Gobblers Knob
• Harris Estates
• Havelka
• Hawks Ridge
• Keene’s Edge
• Keene Estates
• Keeneland Downs Condominiums
• McGary Subdivision
• Sarrazin Estate
• Seifert
• St. Charles Landing
• St. Charles Place
• St. Charles Village
• The Terebinths
• Walden
• Wellington Manor
• Wilkinson
• Woodsong

Those areas will all be moved from Shepard Boulevard Elementary School to Cedar Ridge Elementary School.

• Concorde South
• Ponderosa
• Prairie Meadow Estates
• Simon Steel
• Triple B Doors

Those areas would be rezoned from New Haven Elementary School to Rock Bridge Elementary School.

Phase 3

Neighborhoods and areas moving from Gentry Middle School to John Warner Middle School will include:

• Cedarbrook
• Cedarbrook Two
• Eagle Nest Estates
• Farrar Subdivision
• Frog’s Leap
• Gateway South
• Heatherhill Estates
• Lazar
• Leatherwood Hills
• Maple Meadows
• New Providence
• New Town
• Oak Park
• Old Plank Estates
• Old Plan Village
• Rose Subdivision
• Rose Subdivision
• Scenic Heights
• Sinclair Road
• Stone Well Estates
• The Cascades
• Victoria South
• Yanis Estates

These neighborhoods will also be rezoned from Rock Bridge Elementary School to New Southwest Elementary school as a part of Phase 3 that would be implemented in the fall of 2026.

Students living in Hawthorne Heights Condominiums, Maple Centre Condominiums and Woodrail Meadows will be moved from John Warner Middle School to Gentry Middle School.

Ashby West and Spring Creek will be rezoned from Gentry Middle School to John Warner Middle School.

For areas including:

• Columbia Plaza North
• Lourdes
• Machens
• Reichman
• Ross Dickerson
• Tiger Village Condominiums
• Worley Street
• Shelter North
• Shelter Place
• Stadium Plaza

Those students will move from Fairview Elementary School to Russell Boulevard Elementary School.

Also moving to Russell Boulevard Elementary from West Boulevard Elementary is students in the areas of:

• A.J. Estates
• Backus
• Charleston Court
• Groshong Place
• Henninger
• Medavista
• R.W. Moore
• Tracy Hills
• Westwood

Moving from West Middle School to Smithton Middle School will be students living in:

• Dimitrios Acres
• Primrose Townhomes
• Rock Haven
• Rosecliff Gardens
• Rosecliff
• Scheulen Acres
• Sidra
• Timber Creek
• Valley View Gardens
• Valley View North
• Valley View South
• Valley View West
• Valley View Place

Banks and Poindexter would be moved from West Boulevard Elementary School to Benton Elementary School and from West Middle School to Jefferson Middle School.

Students living on West O.B. Brown Road to West Sweringen Road along North Nature Lane will be rezoned from West Boulevard Elementary School to Midway Heights Elementary School and from West Middle School to Smithton Middle School.

Phase 3 would move students located in the neighborhoods and areas of:

• Big Timber
• The Woodlands
• Vedic Gardens

Those students would move from Cedar Ridge Elementary to New Haven Elementary School.

• Cambridge Place
• Cambridge Place Condominiums
• Forest Park South
• Highland Estates Mobile Home Park
• Juniper Ridge
• Longwood
• Rock Quarry Village
• The Pointe at Rock Quarry Park
• Village at Bearfield

Those students would move from New Haven Elementary School to Rock Bridge Elementary School.

Moving from Grant Elementary School to Mill Creek Elementary School would include to neighborhoods and areas of:

• Country Club Meadows
• Shalom Subdivision
• Stonebridge Park
• Stonebridge Park Condominiums
• Westchester
• Westchester Village
• Woodrail Meadows

Also included in Phase 3 rezoning: moving from Russell Boulevard Elementary School to Mill Creek Elementary School is:

• Country Club Villas
• Country Club Village
• Sedona Villas
• Village Square
• Woodrail

Those students would move from Russell Boulevard Elementary School to Mill Creek Elementary School.

The students residing in the areas of:

• Arrowhead Lake Estates
• Cunningham Quality Estates
• Heritage Estates
• Heritage Meadows
• Heritage Village
• Heritage Woods
• The Highlands
• Highland Ridge
• Highland Circle
• Legacy Farms
• Red Bird Run
• Rory Point
• Sinclair Estates

Those students would move from Mill Creek Elementary School to New Southwest Elementary School.

Moving from Beulah Ralph Elementary School to New Southwest Elementary School would include the neighborhoods and areas of:

• Arrowhead Lake Estates
• Barcus Ridge
• Boone’s Pointe
• Cobblestone Cottages
• Cobblestone Cottages Common
• Deerfield Ridge
• Di Dan Subdivision
• Grassland Hills
• Nursery Heights
• Providence and Parkers
• The Elms at Martin Ridge
• The Gates Park
• The Gates
• Toalson Estates
• University Estates
• Wayland (Planned Residential)

The Kurzejeski Subdivision and Timberbrook will be rezoned from Beulah Ralph Elementary to Mill Creek Elementary.

Creeks Edge students will move from Mill Creek Elementary to Beulah Ralph Elementary. Atkins Estates and Chapel Hill Estates would be rezoned to Russell Boulevard Elementary from Fairview Elementary School.

Also included are:

• Biscayne Heights
• Crossroads West
• Holiday House Apartments
• Off Broadway
• Off Broadway Condominiums
• Worley Street

Students in those areas would be moved from Mary Paxton Keeley Elementary School to Fairview Elementary.

Waters said she hopes to see these new attendance areas stick around.

"We're kind of we're kind of flat with enrollment growth," Waters said. "You know, we have no plans to build another school at this point. So hopefully these hopefully these boundaries will stick for a while."

As a part of the board's "Attendance Area Change Guidelines" the Board will also be considering a transfer policy that allows incoming fifth-, eighth- and 12th-graders to remain at their current schools and policies that allow siblings to remain as well.

Nothing in regards to the transfer policy was decided on Monday night, but the Board noted it as an important and urgent topic for its next meeting.