Moscow School District adjusting school map to get rid of gray zone

The Moscow School District is planning to get rid of the gray zone policy affecting elementary attendance zones for schools in the district.

Superintendent Greg Bailey said families in the gray zone - an area in which families live between two elementary school zones - have been asked if they want to move to their neighborhood school or be "grandfathered" in to the school their children currently attend.

"We are trying to make it less painful than what the gray zone was. We think this will be much better than what we had in place," Bailey said.

The gray zone affects the central part of town, with approximately 100 students residing in the area. Around 50 of those students may be forced to go to another school as the district works to keep class sizes at desired levels. Bailey said if students have to be moved they will be transferred in late summer, and the following year they would be allowed to move to their neighborhood school.

In previous years, families could have been asked to move their children at any point the child was going through school. The school district determined this wasn't fair to the families and wanted to give them the option of staying at their desired school.

"It is a punishment to be in the gray zone," Bailey said. "It is looking good at placing all kids in the current schools they were at last year. We are excited about that."

Bailey said the district addressed these problems because parents had been vocal about their frustrations with the zoning. Many parents did not want to move their children around because students were comfortable and had made friends in the school.

Parents were able to respond to a postcard sent out by the district asking if they wanted to stay at their current location or move to the neighborhood school. Bailey said the district has received positive comments from parents about the change.

"We have been looking at consistency and making the lines as straight as possible. There are pockets of where kids are currently going to school and we are trying to fit them in so they are in the schools they wanted to be at," he said.

He said they looked at the typography of the area, squaring off the lines a bit, putting West Park Elementary and J. Russell Elementary on the west side of town, McDonald Elementary on the east and Lena Whitmore Elementary in the center. Out-of-district students will be the last placed.

Bailey said the supervisor for the bus system felt the changes were minimal enough to be accommodated.

The school district will finalize the policy change at its next board meeting 7 p.m. June 24 at the district office. For more information regarding the line changes, contact Bailey at the district office.

Sunny Browning can be reached at (208) 883-4639, or by email to sbrowning@dnews.com.