Parents and Guardians in the Bellview, Helman, and Walker attendance zones -
Ashland School District is in the process of assessing school enrollment zone boundaries for Bellview, Helman and Walker Elementary schools to adjust for changing school populations and assure equitable resources to all students.
Most are aware that the enrollment is uneven across Bellview, Helman, and Walker. Two factors have created the change in enrollment:
- Changes in the local community, the housing crunch and the COVID economy have shifted demographics.
- The Oregon legislature ended the Open Enrollment statute in the 2018-2019 school year. Walker had been the destination for students on open enrollment transfers from school districts outside Ashland. As students get older, they move to Ashland Middle School. While traditional transfers to Ashland are still allowed, the number of students transferring is much smaller.
An ASD enrollment rebalancing committee comprised of parents, guardians, staff, and community members will assess our school boundaries and make recommendations about revisions to the Superintendent and the Ashland School Board of Directors.
To support the committee, the District has contracted with FloAnalytics to complete a thorough enrollment forecast, or Demographer’s Report. The report incorporates a host of data sources to predict enrollment over a ten-year period.
The committee will analyze that report data, draft an initial recommendation, and present it to the community for input. The committee will incorporate community input into a final recommendation to the Superintendent for a decision by the Ashland School Board in February 2023. Changes will go into effect for Fall 2023.
What’s important to you when making new attendance zones? Be on the lookout for a parent-guardian survey in this newsletter next week. We need your voice!
Who can be on the committee? Committee membership will be limited to two parent-guardians for each of Bellview, Helman, and Walker. Additional members will include principals, a central office administrator and two staff from each site.
Committee members must work by values that serve all children and be willing to commit to 12-15 hours of meeting time between now and February 27.
Interested in being part of the committee?
SUBMIT A COMMITTEE APPLICATION
COMPLETE UNA SOLICITUD PARA EL COMITE
Don’t have time for the committee but want to know what’s going on? We have developed a District Enrollment Balancing web page with details of the process. We will also keep you apprised in your school newsletters.
The web page has answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Please take a moment to review them and understand how they may affect your family.
As always, if you have specific concerns or questions relevant to your child, please reach out to their building principal.
Thank you for all you do to keep our community a great place for kids
Samuel
Samuel Bogdanove
Superintendent
Ashland Public Schools
Pronouns: He, Him, His
Excellence ~ Equity ~ Connection ~ Together
