Moses Lake schools to redistrict

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District members are making plans to redistrict middle schools for next fall.

“We previously assigned students to a middle school based on their enrollment at an elementary feeder school,” said superintendent Michelle Price. “With Sage Point added to the mix, we do not have a middle school large enough for us to use this same strategy.”

The district is holding three meetings to gather information needed to draft a redistricting proposal the community needs. The first meeting is today from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Moses Lake High School theater.

“We are trying to invite the public to be a part of the things we do,” Price said. “The community is a part of the school district and their input is really important to us.”

At the meeting, school district members are outlining the redistricting process and moving attendees to small-group input sessions. Staff is reviewing public comments and opinions to take to the next meetings.

“This is to make sure we have our neighborhoods aligned and students are going to the middle schools that make sense for where they live,” Price said.

The next meetings are scheduled for January and February. District members are acting on the new middle school attendance zones in March 2010 for the next school year.

“Our goal is to inform families (of the decision) before spring break,” Price said. “We are hoping the result of this redistricting process will be to move as few students as possible, but to assign neighborhoods currently at Sage Point to one or the other middle school.”

The district is experiencing growth at the elementary schools, middle schools and the high school. To prevent overcrowding, Sage Point Elementary was built and another new elementary school is expected to open in that fall of 2011.

“I would anticipate the large movement of middle school students will take place when we are able to build a new secondary school,” Price said.

The district doesn’t have enough funds to build a new high school without receiving matching funds from the state. The state provides matching funds only if the district provides proof of overcrowding in the current school, Price said.

“We are hoping we can build more secondary schools in the future,” Price said.

The district members are forming a committee to develop a long-term plan for additional growth in middle schools and the high school.

“We are working on short-term solutions for next year as we know we will have more kids moving up to the middle school and high school levels than what we have had before,” Price said. “We are getting our long range facility planning committee back together in January to work on a plan.”

Moses Lake High School is located at 803 E. Sharon.

For more information, call 509-766-2650.