Crane Board to Vote on Boundary Guidelines

By Sarah Reynolds, The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.

Jan. 9–The Crane Elementary School District will set the guidelines for the redivision of its students at tonight’s regular governing board meeting.

The board will vote on the criteria the district will use when it redraws its attendance elementary boundaries for the 2007-2008 school year.

The boundaries need to be adjusted to account for Crane’s newest school, Mesquite Elementary, at 4451 W. 28th St.

Middle schools will not be impacted. Crane Superintendent Cindy Didway said the changes will apply to the elementary schools only.

Preliminary attendance boundaries were drawn up by a boundary committee last spring. However, Didway said those are likely to shift.

Mesquite will open its doors to its own students in the fall of 2007. Preliminary estimates suggest it will draw mostly from Gary Knox, Valley Horizon and H.L. Suverkrup schools.

“We know that we’re going to have to make some changes,” Didway said. She said the district wants to implement all-day kindergarten at Gary Knox and Ronald Reagan schools, which will affect the placement of some students.

The boundary committee will also take another look at the population growth areas in the district and adjust for new information.

The committee also will consider factors such as efficient bus routes and student pedestrian safety.

The Crane Attendance Boundary Committee is made up of parents, principals and other officials of the district. Didway said it is composed of at least two individuals from each campus. They will confer and make a recommendation to the board no later than April.

The new attendance boundaries will be voted on at that time.

Construction on Mesquite was completed in October. This year it is serving as a temporary home for Pueblo Elementary students, whose school was demolished.

Pueblo is being rebuilt at 2803 W. 20th St. Its students will return to that location when it is completed.

The governing board meets at 6:00 p.m. today in the board room of the Crane Education Center, 4250 W. 16th St.

The preliminary 2007-2008 attendance boundaries are posted online at http://www.craneschools.org/documents/Elementary%20Boundaries.pdf.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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