Batavia wants study of boundary options

Batavia school board members Tuesday seemed to accept, albeit reluctantly, that they will need to make some changes in the district's elementary school attendance boundaries.

However, they also made clear that they want the district staff to conduct a study to determine where elementary school boundary lines should be drawn on a long-term basis.

The board is expected to vote March 18 on a plan that would move some students from McWayne Elementary School to Gustafson Elementary School and some students from White Elementary School to Nelson Elementary School.

"This will buy us time for a facilities study," said school board President Ron Link, who has expressed strong reservations about the administration's plan to make the changes.

Al McCloud, the district's assistant superintendent for elementary education, said the plan will make the best use of the available space in the district's six elementary schools.

"We are not in a situation where we have too many classrooms," McCloud said.

One of the goals of the boundary-change plan is to ensure that each of the elementary schools has dedicated rooms for art and music instruction, McCloud said.

The plan includes moving students living in the Amli Apartments east of Kirk Road from White to Nelson and students living between Main and Wilson streets east of Randall Road from McWayne to Gustafson.

"We have to move the boundaries once in awhile," Link said. "But we need a comprehensive plan, a long-term study, that will tell us where we're going."

Board member Matt Winkle agreed, saying the district should minimize any boundary changes, and embark on an evaluation of the district's classroom capacity and enrollment projections.

"I don't want to move anymore students than we have to," Winkle said. "We need a long-term study facilitywise. We need to make it comprehensive."

White School Principal Sherry Whyte said the plan will reduce crowding at the northeast side facility.