EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK: Why I'm Not a Fan of the Elementary Boundary Changes

There's been a lot of talk lately about the boundary changes recommended at the Waukee Board of Education meeting a couple weeks ago. And you know what? I'm not very happy about them myself.

You see, I'm the parent of one of those students being moved. My daughter, a first-grader, attends Brookview Elementary and nearly 40 students in our neighborhood are being uprooted next year, bound for the new Woodland Hills Elementary school.

I know, I should be thrilled, right? New school, fresh perspective, new faces, new friends. Honestly, I'm not. On paper, yes, it looks like we won the elementary school lottery. We'll be at a school where kids aren't packed in due  to overcrowding. Awesome.

When it comes right down to it, the logical side of me has no say in this. To me, it's entirely emotional. I can't really explain it, though I suspect other moms will understand. Brookview is where my little girl started her school experience. It's where she made good friends, learned her ABCs and 123s, along with some really valuable life lessons.

The teachers and staff there are phenomenal people and not because of the job they, do but because I know how they make my daughter feel when they're in her presence. She lights up when she talks about them, she makes plans to tell them hello and good-bye at the end of the day and she is always very eager to please them with what she's learned while she's away from the classroom.

This point really got to me last weekend when my husband texted me a letter my daughter intended to give her teacher. In it she wrote:

"Dera Mrs. Selr I will mis you wen I mam at a new scool."

I was crushed. Sure, we had explained to her that she would probably be switching schools but I had no idea she was already planning her exit strategy.

The upside to all of this is that next year, Woodland Hills will be where my now 4-year-old twins will start kindergarten. They will be a part of the inaugural class of students who will have first dibs on calling that school their own. And yes, they'll make new friends and memories and they'll take full advantage of the experience, no doubt.

My fear is that two years down the line, the boundaries will change and we'll go through this all over again times three. Let's just hope - for the sake of my heart - that this doesn't happen again. I don't know if I can bear it.