Waukee Committee Recommends Elementary Boundary Changes for 2013-14 School Year

Editor's Note: This story originally ran on Oct. 23. We're featuring it again for our weekend readers.

Parents of more than 300 current students in the Waukee Community School District will either be thrilled or very unhappy with what they're about to read.

The Waukee school board's Elementary Boundary Committee made its recommendation for boundary changes for the 2013-14 school year. The changes will coincide with the opening of Woodland Hills Elementary, the district's seventh elementary school, and the old Waukee Elementary - renamed the Vince Meyer Learning Center, both in the fall of 2013.

According to Wendy Liskey, a representative from the committee, the bulk of Woodland Hills' student population will come from two other area elementary schools: Brookview and Maple Grove. Woodland Hills is expected to have about 423 students in its first year.

The committee's recommendations were outlined as follows (letters match up with the attached boundary map):

1. Move open-enrolled students assigned to Eason to Woodland Hills Elementary.
2. Assign students currently south of I-80 attending Maple Grove to Woodland Hills (A).
3. Assign students south of Bridgewood Blvd. (current Brookview) to Woodland Hills (C).
4. Assign students South of E.P. True (Brookview) to Woodland Hills (B)
5. Assign Maple Grove Villas, Silver Oaks area and then south of Westown Pkwy. to 98th St. (D) to Woodland Hills
6. Assign area north of I-80, south of Ashworth to Woodland Hills (E)
7. Assign area south of Ashworth from 60th Street west to include The Enclave, south to the railroad tracks and including Polo Club (G) to Woodland Hills.

Liskey said the committee, made up of 18 district parents and staff members, understood that not everyone would be happy with the decision to move a student out of their current school.

"We realize that each number is not just a number, it’s a kid, it’s a family, it’s someone we know," she told the board. 

Due to overcrowding, the following suggestions were made affecting both Eason and Waukee Elementary schools:

1. Assign Waukee Elementary fifth grade to the 1917 building.
2. Determine by April 15 whether to assign Eason fifth grade to the 1917 building, dependent upon kindergarten numbers.

The committee's recommendations will be voted on at the Nov. 24 meeting of the Waukee school board.