Updated Iowa City School Redistricting Drafts Released; New Forums Scheduled

The Iowa City School District sent out an announcement Wednesday night indicating they are ready for the next phase of redistricting talks.

The school district announced it will be hosting two new redistricting forums next week on Draft Boundary Changes for the 2013-14 school year. The next forums are scheduled for Wednesday, April 18 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Van Allen Elementary Gymnasium in North Liberty and Thursday, April 19 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the gymnasium.

The district also released an updated draft with new proposed plans for redistricting for the junior high and elementary schools. The PDF of this new draft is attached to this story.

The new elementary draft proposal appears similar , with slight changes to numbers shifted between Wood and Longfellow Elementary schools and what neighborhoods those students are being moved from. The shifts proposed in draft two are:

1. 91 students out of Wood to Longfellow (Living along Taylor, Davis, and Bancroft)

2. 104 students out of Longfellow to Twain (Windsor Ridge and Redwing Estates)

3. 69 students out of Twain to Hills (Lake Ridge)

The junior high school plan part two proposes a difference from the first plan that moved a full cohort Wickam Elementary School students to Northwest Junior High School to relieve crowding at North Central Junior High. In draft two, students from Wickam Elementary and Van Allen Elementary attendance areas who live south of Oakdale Boulevard would go to Northwest in Coralville instead of North Central in North Liberty.

A team of administrators has been tasked with providing recommendations for elementary and junior high redistricting changes to the school board in May.This draft and these two new forums come in the wake of two previous forums at and Northwest Junior High School where the original  redistricting drafts received a somewhat chilly reception from parents. You can read about those two forums and respectively.

If you don't want to attend the forum, you can also provide input via emails and input forms. Updated information can be found on the district website at www.iowacityschools.org.