Attendance Area Boundary Committee Work
The Attendance Area Boundary Committee is working to review and analyze relevant school enrollment data to propose a revised attendance boundary area recommendation to the Board of Education in June 2022. This work is to develop attendance areas for our four elementaries (Barry, Compass, Pathfinder, and Siegrist) and two middle schools (Platte City Middle School and Platte Purchase Middle School) for the start of the 2023-24 school year.
Timeline and Process
The Attendance Area Boundary Committee began meeting in January 2022 for a series of monthly work sessions to review and analyze data and develop boundary concepts based upon our boundary criteria and community guiding principles. To start this work, the District's third-party demographer, RSP and Associates, provided a summary of the District's most recent enrollment projections, development trends, and various maps highlighting current attendance areas, planning areas, student density, home values, and growth areas. The planning team from Incite Design Studio, has also worked with the District to update our educational capacities for our buildings based on building programming and future use of our buildings (Pathfinder Elementary and Barry School becoming Kindergarten-5th grade buildings).
Boundary Criteria
The Committee is using the following Boundary Criteria when developing attendance area concepts:
- Balance projected enrollment/building utilization
- Maintain or consider adjustments to feeder system
- Consider demographics
- Limit number of future boundary changes and provide room for growth within boundaries
- Keep neighborhoods intact
- Consider operational costs, transportation challenges, and capital costs
- Maintain contiguous attendance areas
- Consider the number of students impacted by boundary change
Key Items About the District from the Enrollment Study
- Building activity in our District continues to increase signaling future student growth. Almost 7,000 units could be built within the next 10 years.
- Enrollment is projected to increase over the next five years by nearly 500 students (majority at elementary level).
- There is considerable opportunity for future growth in the District, especially in the southern feeder of our District.
Public Feedback
Two Public Feedback Sessions were held to gather feedback from District residents:
- April 13 at 6:00pm in the gymnasium at Barry School, and
- April 14, 2022, at 6:00pm in the Wilson Auditorium at Platte County High School.
Committee members and the District's third-party demographer, RSP and Associates, will be present to explain the process and listen to community input. Attendees will have the opportunity to document feedback. Feedback forms and the presentation will also be available on the District's website following the Public Feedback Sessions.
District residents were asked to review the following information and share feedback by May 3, 2022.
Approved Attendance Boundaries Starting 2023-24 School Year
At the June meeting, the Board of Education approved the recommended attendance boundary which would take effect in the 2023-24 school year as presented by the Attendance Area Boundary Committee. This boundary adjustment was completed to develop attendance areas for our four elementaries (Barry, Compass, Pathfinder, and Siegrist) and two middle schools (Platte City Middle School and Platte Purchase Middle School) for the start of the 2023-24 school year.
The proposed concept was developed considering the following criteria: balancing projected enrollment/building utilization, maintaining our feeder system, considering demographics, limiting number of future boundary changes, providing room for growth within boundaries, and keeping neighborhoods intact. See attached presentation which outlines the boundary adjustment process.
Compass Elementary students impacted by the boundary change (Running Horse and Fox Creek subdivisions) have grandfathering options available. The District is contacting these families to present these options and gather their desires.