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Coeur D'Alene Schools Shuffle OK'D: 380 Students, Five Schools Affected

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 June 2006, 12:01 CDT

By Meghann M. Cuniff, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Jun. 6--About 380 middle school and elementary school students will switch schools next year under attendance zone changes unanimously approved by the Coeur d'Alene School Board on Monday evening.

About 100 students will move from Skyway Elementary School to the remodeled Ramsey Elementary School, 150 students will move from Woodland Middle School to Canfield Middle School, and 129 Canfield students will move to Lakes Middle School. The remodeling at Ramsey will increase its capacity, allowing the district to help solve the overcrowding problem at Skyway.

"The new square footage matched up with zone changes that made sense," district Superintendent Harry Amend said.

At the middle school level, Woodland is currently packed with 859 students and Canfield with 783 while Lakes is only at 583. The new attendance boundaries will leave Woodland with 742 students, Canfield with 739 and Lakes with 706.

The committee charged with drafting the boundary proposals for the school board fielded heated comments from parents about the changes at a public hearing two weeks ago.

Steve Briggs, the district's chief financial officer, said the committee carefully considered all comments but did not change the proposal.

"It's really easy to say just make the change so it doesn't affect me, and in essence that's a lot of it," Briggs said of the comments.

Current fourth- and seventh-graders affected by the changes can stay at their current school for their final year, but that doesn't include siblings, and transportation is not provided.

The district's volunteer transfer program will be available for other students, but Briggs warns that the district is not granting transfers as freely as before.

"There have to be some limitations, and unfortunately that's what happens when the facts don't add up to allowing open choice," Briggs said. "If all eighth-graders want to stay in their school ... we think we can handle that. But that's about all we can handle."

Though some parents worry that their child's new school will lack the academic attributes of the current school, Briggs said, the only major problems facing students are social ones.

Students and parents have the opportunity to tour their new school and meet with teachers, which Briggs said helps mitigate the anxiety "but it doesn't take it away."

Past zone changes, though controversial at the time, have always worked out in the end, Briggs said.

Trustees praised the work of the committee members, many of whom have children who will be affected.

"Clearly, the committee's done its homework," trustee Christie Wood said.

Also at the meeting, trustees were briefed on a proposed policy regarding parental permission for students to participate in school-sponsored extracurricular activities. The board will discuss the policy at a future meeting.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Spokesman-Review

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