CPS leaders one step closer to making boundary changes for several elementary schools

Many elementary students in Columbia may soon be moved to different schools.

Thursday, Columbia Public School leaders met to talk about the final recommendation for boundary changes because of a new elementary school being built in southwest Columbia.

The Beulah Ralph Elementary School on Scott Boulevard and Highway KK is expected to be completed by August 2016. And CPS estimates about 540 students will go to the school the first year.

A committee made up of 25 members has been working the last four months to come up with boundary changes for the new elementary school. Rock Bridge, Mill Creek, Russell Boulevard, Mary Paxton Keeley, Grant and Fairview elementary schools are all included in the boundary work.

According to CPS officials, the recommended redistricting plan will not reduce class sizes. But it will bring down the number of trailers at the elementary schools.

Steve Hollis, a member of the boundary committee and a CPS parent, said the biggest challenge was trying not to move families that were affected by boundary changes last year.

“Our hands were very much tied by the redistricting from Mill Creek to Russell and Grant last year,” Hollis said. “And this plan represents the committee’s best effort to deal with that 800 pound gorilla. And I’ve said publicly before I thought that was an ill-gotten move. And it created havoc, actually, for this boundary committee.”

With the recommendation, families that moved to Grand last year can choose to keep their children at the school or move back to Russell Boulevard or Mill Creek.

The committee also recommended to expand the boundary for Russell Boulevard to make up for a decreasing number of students.

“We want to expand it all the way down to Cherry Hill that way because it’s a diminishing school,” committee member Kristen Hanson said. “The kids are getting older, there’s no room for expansion, there’s no new development, so we want to be able to keep Russell vibrant.”

Thursday, the school board chose to make one change to the committee’s map. That is to take a small portion out of the Russell Boulevard area and add it to Fairview’s district. Several families living in the area said it did not make sense to take their children to another school when they can walk to Fairview.

CPS leader said the biggest challenge moving forward will be growth in the south part of town which will impact Rock Bridge and Beulah Ralph. But the superintendent can make needed adjustments to the boundaries each year.

The school board is set to vote on the final boundary changes next month.

You can see a map of the committee’s recommendation here.