Gresham-Barlow School District Boundary Review Process

Update: December 6, 2019

The Gresham-Barlow School District’s Board of Directors approved boundary changes for fall 2020 at its December 5 meeting.

Elementary and middle school boundaries will change, high school boundaries will remain the same.

Approved Boundary Maps (pdf)

You can also view the new boundaries using the School Locator Map

Watch this tutorial video to learn how to use the Interactive Map

Reminder: 

Here are the elementary, middle school, and high school boundaries currently in effect (pdf)

How the new boundaries were created

The district’s Boundary Committee, composed of parents and district staff, met several times this fall to review existing boundaries and explore possible changes due to the construction of new classrooms and the planned closing of West Gresham Elementary School in June of 2020. 

 In October and November, the district held two Community Open Houses, giving families a chance to look over the preliminary proposals and to offer feedback, both in-person and online. The committee considered and discussed this feedback in forming their proposals and their recommendation to the Superintendent. The committee's recommendation was presented to the superintendent on November 19. The school board reviewed the proposal at its November 21 work session and approved the proposal at its December 5 business meeting.

News Release on approval of boundary changes

December 6, 2019

Gresham-Barlow School Board approves boundary changes

Changes to take effect fall of 2020, transition plan under development

The Gresham-Barlow School District’s Board of Directors approved boundary changes for fall 2020 at its December 5 meeting. Elementary and middle school boundaries will change, high school boundaries will remain the same. The boundary changes can be viewed on the District website.

The Boundary Review Process began this fall. Recent construction resulting from the 2016 school bond has expanded capacity at multiple schools. The boundary shifts were necessary due to the construction of new classrooms combined with the planned closing of West Gresham Elementary School in June of 2020.

Boundary review committee made up of parents from across the district

A committee made up of parent representatives from each school and school principals met nine times over the course of eleven weeks to come up with the recommendation which was presented to the superintendent of schools in November.

Community feedback on proposals collected and carefully reviewed

In addition, the committee held two open houses to gather community feedback and obtained input online.  Hundreds of individuals weighed in on the committee’s proposals during the process. The feedback was carefully reviewed by committee members.

“Everything was taken wholeheartedly, but we really did try to sit back and take a look at what was best, as we believed, for the district and for schools,” said committee member Garet Wood.

“We did everything we could to try and make it feasible to manage those concerns and what we came up with seems to be the best balance,” said committee member Logan Rosenstiel.

District polices, parent surveys used to create committee’s guiding principles

The committee was charged with creating a recommendation on attendance boundaries to support long-term balanced enrollment and facility capacity. The committee considered the following guiding principles in creating their recommendation. The guiding principles were based on district policies and insights gained from parent surveys, land use studies, and student enrollment forecasting.

Committee’s Guiding Principles 

-Take a District-wide perspective by considering growth trends and enrollment projections

-Work to balance enrollment across schools

-Minimize disruption and impacts to special programs or special populations (e.g., free and reduced lunch programs, special education)

-Make efforts to maintain neighborhood schools and the feeder system

-Consider transportation impacts, and work towards limiting the amount of time required to bus

-Maximize proximity to home/walkability (e.g. not having to cross busy streets, railroad tracks, and consider natural boundaries

Committee uses data in decision making process

During the boundary review process, the committee reviewed a variety of data including enrollment projections, economic development data, land use studies, demographic information, and school capacity.

“I was really impressed with the way it was data driven,” said committee member Brianna Bigham.

 Transition plan under development

District administration will create a transition plan and timeline which will be presented to the school board. Once this is completed, information will be shared with families. Principals of schools affected by the boundary changes are also creating a plan to assist students in getting comfortable with their new schools.

About the Boundary Review Process

The Gresham-Barlow School District has started a boundary review process. Recent construction resulting from the 2016 school bond has expanded capacity at multiple Gresham-Barlow Schools. The construction of new classrooms combined with the planned closing of West Gresham Elementary School in June of 2020 means school boundary shifts are necessary. During the Boundary Review Process, middle school and high school boundaries will also be reviewed.

Process Timeline

September

-Committee of community members convenes

September – November

-Committee meets weekly to review enrollment, capacity, housing population density and other data

-Open houses held for community to review proposals, share feedback

-Committee makes recommendation to superintendent of schools

December

-Superintendent makes recommendation to school board

-School board makes final decision on school boundary shifts

January

-Information on boundary changes shared with parents, community

Committee Charge

Working to identify, refine and review proposed updates to elementary, middle, and high school attendance area boundaries to support long-term balanced enrollment and facility capacity for the 2020-21 school year and beyond. The committee will engage with the public during two open houses (October 8 and November 5, 2019) to receive feedback on their proposed updates. The committee will provide a recommendation to the Superintendent on, or before the last committee meeting (November 19, 2019). The Superintendent will be responsible for evaluating the Committee’s recommendations and bringing a proposal forward to the Gresham-Barlow District Board of Directors. Committee members may be asked to participate in the Board Meeting.

Guiding Principles

Key values serve as guiding principles for the committee throughout the boundary review process. These are developed from District Policies and insights gained from parent surveys, land use studies, and student enrollment forecasting. A student is expected to attend the school serving his/her place of residence. (Board Policy JECC) Exceptions to this policy are also listed in Board Policy JECC-AR.

When considering boundary revisions, the committee will consider, to the extent possible, the following guiding principles. They are not prioritized.

-Take a District-wide perspective by considering growth trends and enrollment projections.

-Work to balance enrollment across schools.

-Minimize disruption and impacts to special programs or special populations (e.g., free-and-reduced lunch programs, special education).

-Make efforts to maintain neighborhood schools and the feeder system.

-Consider transportation impacts, and work towards limiting the amount of time required o a bus.

-Maximize proximity to home/walkability (e.g., not having to cross busy streets, railroad tracks, and consider natural boundaries.)

Read the Enrollment Report (pdf)

Committee Makeup

The committee is made up of parent representatives from each school and school principals.

How can I stay informed?

Information presented at committee meetings along with meeting minutes will be posted regularly in the "Boundary Review Meetings" section of this webpage.

Follow the committee's progress, view interactive boundary map

Follow along with the Boundary Review Committee's progress by using this interactive map.

You can view existing boundaries, as well as the starting proposal for the committee (Springboard Proposal), and each of the committee's proposals (i.e. Committee Proposal 1, 2, etc.). There will be several committee proposals as the committee works iteratively to vet different boundary configurations and incorporate feedback from the community during two open houses. 

To learn how to use the interactive map, watch this tutorial video.

You can also view static boundary maps. You will find these maps in the Boundary Review Meetings section of this webpage. (Right side of page)

Questions?

Email your questions or comments to:

gbsd@gresham.k12.or.us