BROOKINGS — A few Brookings students may find themselves enrolled in a different school next year.
The Brookings School District Board of Education passed an elementary school boundary change at its March 23 meeting.
Prior to the meeting the board presented the public with two options prior to the meeting and conducted an online survey of area residents. Those options were created by a stakeholder committee that has been studying the issue since last fall.
After receiving public input and crunching the survey data, the board came with a third option that the board ultimately passed.
“We also took some of the survey and perceptions data and tried to answer those questions and use it for information just for ourselves,” Brookings Superintendent Summer Schultz said.
She said the public input as well as updated enrollment information helped shape the new plan.
“As a district and as an administrative team it’s our duty to balance the class sizes and balance the buildings we have to run efficiently,” she said. She said the new boundary plan goes a long way toward achieving that balance.
She said the construction of the two new schools brought about the need for new boundaries to balance the use of the school buildings.
Shultz said the new boundaries affect families living east of 22nd Avenue, including the city of Aurora. Those families are currently in the area served by Dakota Prairie Elementary. That will now be changed and they will be going to the recently rebuilt Hillcrest Elementary. She also said that moving those students to Hiillcrest will result in shorter bus routes that take less time.
Board President Deb Debates said with the savings with the shorter bus routes could grow even more as fuel prices go up.
Schultz said the area east of 22nd Avenue was placed in Dakota Prairie because the old Hillcrest School could not handle the added student population, but the new Hillcrest building can now easily handle those students.
She added that Aurora has a better chance of growth for the area served by the Hillcrest School.
She said the new plan eliminates some current irregular boundary issues.
Committee members are:
• Schultz, superintendent
• Deb DeBates, Brookings School Board president
• Chris Gruenhagen, principal at Medary Elementary
• Tanna Stadler, PK-5 director of academic services and special programs for the district
• Nate Loer transportation director for the district
• Shannon Smith director of special services
• Dana Martens, social worker
• Amy Nielson, early childhood coordinator
• Laura Hove, teacher at Dakota Prairie Elementary
• Trish Matson Buus, parent and community member
• Ryan Krogman, prominent Brookings Realtor
• Mike Struck, community development director for the City of Brookings
Board member Teri Johnson said she was glad so many school patrons stepped up to make their voices heard and it was nice to have the public voices help shape the policy.
Board member Wes Tschetter noted there were 26 pages of comments and data that helped shape the decision and added the fact that Dakota Prairie was at or near capacitiy and that needed to change to balance enrollments in the schools. “I think many people will end up liking the plan,” he said.
DeBates said “I hope the public recognizes that we’re carefully examininng what the public shared with us and using that to make our decision.”
Schultz said the district will consider exemptions for families with special circumstances. “We want to talk about those because — just because maybe some areas aren’t going to have to worry about it, others will. And we want to make sure the process is respectful to those families who are really nervous about those service opportunities, if they’re comfortable where they are.”
— Contact Doug Kott at [email protected].
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