On April 10, at the regular Board of Directors meeting, the Ridgefield School District school board approved the proposal to change the district’s elementary school boundaries and school start times to take effect in the 2018-2019 school year.
The proposal for these changes was submitted to the school board on February 27 by the Boundary & Start Time Committee, which was formed by the district in Fall 2017. The committee was tasked to determine adjustments to boundaries and school start times necessary to serve the district’s continued rapid growth and opening of new schools.
The committee ran a deliberative and inclusive process. In early March, the district shared the committee’s proposal with school staff, parents and the community. View it on the district’s website at http://www.ridgefieldsd.org/article/41661?org=district.
New School Start Times
Effective school year 2018-19, school start times will be as follows:
9:05 – 3:35 South Ridge Elementary and Union Ridge Elementary (both K-4)
8:05 – 2:35 Sunset Ridge Intermediate (5-6) and View Ridge Middle School (7-8)
8:00 – 2:45 Ridgefield High School (9-12)
Boundary Shifts
The district’s current boundaries are impacted as follows:
- Students residing in the carve-out in the Pioneer Canyon subdivision area previously in the South Ridge boundary area will return to the Union Ridge boundary area to adhere to neighborhood school attendance and to increase transportation efficiency.
The boundary between South Ridge and Union Ridge will shift northward to move newer developments from the Union Ridge boundary area into the South Ridge boundary area to balance out school attendance zones. Without this adjustment, expanding enrollment from new subdivisions would add to the rapidly-expanding student enrollment at Union Ridge, already one of the state’s ten largest elementary schools.
The district realizes the challenges associated with boundary adjustments and the impact they have on students. To prevent current third graders from moving to a new elementary school for their final year, the district will automatically approve boundary exceptions. This will allow next year’s fourth grade students to remain in their current school if they so choose.
The district will also continue to allow all students to apply for in-district boundary exceptions. To ensure operational efficiencies and create greater equity, the district will adhere to the expectation that student transportation is the responsibility of parents and guardians for all in-district boundary exceptions.
The district is grateful to the members of the Boundary & Start Time Committee for their time and dedicated efforts in their work during this process.