Boundary changes school by school:
The Los Altos School District Board of Trustees approved a plan Oct. 19 to redistribute the attendance areas among its seven elementary schools. The plan will keep district schools small and equitable while allowing some students the choice to remain at their current schools under a special provision.
Parents have shown mixed reactions over the past year as the district has grappled with boundary changes and how to redistribute student populations. The district aims to keep enrollment below 500 at each of its schools and keep neighborhoods intact.
The approved plan is a revision of the proposal the board first presented to the public Sept. 21. That plan drew criticism from some parents who said the boundaries would divide neighborhoods and impact their children's daily commutes.
The plan draws boundaries along major streets and redistributes about 480 children to their first- or second-closest schools. The changes take place in fall 2001 when Covington School is reopened as the district's seventh elementary school.
The new boundaries will leave the attendance areas at Bullis, Oak and Santa Rita schools unchanged.
Approximately 230 students from Springer, 97 students from Loyola and 55 students from Almond will be educated within the new Covington boundary. Some Springer students will move to Almond, while some Almond students will transfer to Springer.
The plan includes a grandfather clause which would allow 2001-2002 sixth grade students to choose to remain at their current schools when the new boundaries go into effect.
The plan includes another grandfather clause allowing current Almond students and their siblings who live in the neighborhood east of Springer Road bounded by Hollingsworth and Todd to remain at Almond rather than move to Springer. Almond families living in the neighborhood bounded by Marvin and Hawthorne have the opportunity to remain at Almond rather than move to Covington after the boundaries shift. Similarly, Springer students and their siblings living in The Crossings subdivision will have the choice of remaining at Springer or moving to Almond. About 153 students currently fall under this clause.
Officials say that small and equitable schools are key in maintaining the district's quality programs. They agree that the grandfather clauses allow an easier transition period.
"I can be patient to get the numbers down," said board member Terri Sachs.
Board members questioned whether grandfathering could temporarily lead to disproportionately populated schools if a large number of families decide to remain at their current schools.
Superintendent Marge Gratiot said the grandfathering should phase out over a period of six years. The maximum discrepancy among schools - if all grandfathered students stay at their current schools - will be about 100 students, with Almond having 519 students and Springer having 421, she said.
"Grandfathering has been very effective in the past," Gratiot said.
" ... When a large group of homes was moved from Loyola to Oak, it only took about three years for almost all of the students to be at Oak."
In order to keep Almond as small as possible during the transition, the board also agreed that new transfers from other schools in the district will not be permitted to enroll at Almond.