Batavia Highlands left alone in school boundary changes
Children in the Batavia Highlands neighborhood in northeast Batavia won't be moved to a new school next year, when the Geneva school district changes its elementary school boundaries.
They will continue to attend Williamsburg Elementary School, even though it is farther away from them than Western Avenue Elementary School, which was an option.
The moves are being made as the district prepares to open Fabyan Elementary School next fall. Boundaries for Fabyan, Williamsburg, Western Avenue, Mill Creek and Heartland elementary schools were in play. The district is divided into 27 areas for attendance purposes.
"I feel very strongly about Area 20 (the Highlands). They live in a town that bleeds red and gold (Batavia High School's colors) instead of Viking blue," said Trustee Leslie Juby, saying that she thought the neighborhood should be allowed to stay in a school where it has some sense of continuity and history. She made the motion to remove Area 20 from the boundary changes.
Board President Mary Stith was the sole vote against removing Area 20 from the options, saying the board is charged with considering the district as a whole, and not giving special treatment to any neighborhood.
"It sets a precedent," she said,
Juby then proposed allowing fourth-graders to continue attending their present school as fifth-graders, even if their younger siblings are transferred to a different school. Parents would have to pay for busing that child to the school, or make other transportation arrangements.
The district did allow that the last time it changed boundaries, four years ago.
But Trustee Bill Wilson, who made the motion to adopt Option 3, declined to amend his motion to include that. Stith pointed out that four years ago, the option was offered after the fact, when spring enrollment figures were in and it knew whether it would have the space at those schools to accommodate the kids.
"These kids are not going to die if they change buildings. Let's vote on this!" said Trustee Autumn Burns.
It passed 5-2, with Juby and Trustee Susan Shivers voting against.
Students from areas 1, 2, 3, 6 and 8B will attend Fabyan, which is at Fabyan Parkway and Mill Creek Drive. Those students presently attend Western Avenue, Heartland and Mill Creek elementary schools. The district expects there will be 325 students at Fabyan, 290 at Western Avenue, 395 at Mill Creek and 425 at Heartland in the fall.
Area 8B is south of Carney Lane, north of Hughes Road and mostly west of Herrington Drive, except for Sheldon Lane, Mathewson Lane and Bealer Circle.
Area 6 is south of Fabyan Parkway, from Randall Road west to Wenmoth Road.
Area 3 is east of Bunker Road and south of Hughes Road.
Area 2 is South Mill Creek Drive, Preston Circle, Preston Court, Brannoon Lane, Branford Lane, some of Grengs Lane, some of Ellithorpe Lane and Crego Place.
Area 1 is bounded on the south Newton and Shannon boulevards, on the west by Newton Square, the north by Halladay Lane and the east by Shannon Square.
Maps of the areas are available on the district's Web site, www.geneva304.org.
Trustee Kelly Nowak called boundary decisions a "necessary evil." As a private citizen, she served on a boundary advisory committee the last time they were changed, a move that sent 140 kids from Western Avenue to Coultrap.
"How your child adjusts is largely going to depend on how you handle it in your home," she said.