At last night’s School Board meeting, the School Board voted 4 – 2 to approve a boundary change to the Mustang and Hawk feeder systems. The change is effective for the 2022 – 2023 school year.

EFFECTS OF THE ADJUSTMENT

Under the adjustment, current middle school students living within the Aurora Elementary School attendance area, west of the Sheyenne River, will attend Heritage Middle School and Horace High School in the fall. Current Aurora Elementary School students will attend Heritage Middle School for grades six through eight and Horace High School for grades nine through twelve. Current high school students are not impacted by this change.

IN-DISTRICT TRANSFER REQUESTS

Families currently within the Aurora Elementary School attendance area who wish to remain in the Mustang feeder system may submit a request via an in-district transfer form that has been created specific for this situation. In the event a family has multiple students wishing to remain in the Mustang feeder system, one request form per student must be submitted.

Alternately, families currently within the Aurora Elementary School attendance area who wish to have a current Sheyenne High School student transfer with their younger sibling(s) to the Hawk feeder system may submit a request via an in-district transfer form that has been created specific for this situation. In the event a family has multiple students wishing to transfer to the Hawk feeder system, one request form per student must be submitted. Note: Students who transfer to Horace High School are ineligible for varsity level activities for one year.

Both request forms are available online through 11:45PM on Sunday, February 6, 2022. Once the forms close, administration will review all requests and communicate with families by Friday, February 11.

Last spring, amidst a worldwide pandemic, the district leaders grappled with staffing needs for the 2021-22 school year. The district began the 2020 school year significantly below enrollment projections. Learners were in hybrid model attending school two days a week, and by the end of the year transitioned to five days a week. Many families opted for a virtual learning program or home schooling, creating more uncertainty about enrollment numbers for the fall. The Board took action in June 2021 to move four sections of learners from Freedom, which was over capacity, to Deer Creek, where numbers were lower than anticipated. That alleviated the concern for the immediate future, but in July of 2021, administration brought forward concerns regarding Independence, Freedom, Liberty, and Sheyenne to the Planning and Development Committee (P&D) for discussion. A timeline is provided below:

• July 19, 2021: Planning and Development Committee discusses elementary growth and potential feeder system changes due to higher than anticipated growth in Mustang feeder system.
• August 16, 2021: Board Workshop - board members and administration discussed elementary growth in Mustang feeder system and reviewed several options including additions to Freedom and Independence, as well as securing land to build a new school.
• September 20, 2021: Planning and Development Committee discussed pros and cons to possible solutions to elementary overcrowding at Freedom and Independence. The Board asked the administration to engage YHR Architects and the full board for further discussion.
• November 15, 2021: Board workshop - board members and administration discussed the options for overcrowding, including additions to current schools and consideration to build a new school to address overcrowding at Independence and Freedom with YHR architects.
• November 22, 2021: School Board approves purchasing of land for and designing of an elementary school in the Rocking Horse Farm development.
• December 20, 2021: Planning & Development Committee discussed options for boundary adjustments to accommodate continued growth in the Mustang feeder system.
• January 6, 2022: District administration distributed a public video explaining the proposed boundary adjustment.
• January 11, 2022: District administration conducted an information and feedback session with Aurora Elementary School families.
• January 20, 2022: Horace High School and Heritage Middle School conduct open houses to provide families the opportunity to tour the facilities, meet the staff, ask questions, and connect with other families. 
• January 24, 2022: Planning & Development Committee brings recommendation for a boundary adjustment to the School Board for a vote.

District administration explored all options. We first needed to identify where there would be room for additional learners. The decision to recommend moving learners to the Hawk feeder system was made because they had space for the learners in the short term, and there is a planned expansion when enrollment indicates the need. Currently, Cheney Middle School is near preferred capacity and West Fargo High School has exceeded preferred capacity. Projections show sustained enrollment for the next five years, so moving Brooks Harbor to the Packer feeder system was not a viable option. 

The second question we asked was who would move? The recommendation for moving learners in the Aurora attendance area was based on several considerations: 

• The number of learners that needed to be moved out of the Mustang feeder system. The area west of the Sheyenne River is home to approximately 280 learners (about 70 learners X 4 grades) which met our criteria.
• Logical boundaries, such as geographical features or major roads (Sheyenne River and 40th Ave). 
• Proximity to current feeder system (Aurora has no boundaries adjacent to SHS or LMS; families would not drive by SHS or LMS to get to HHS or HMS)
• Longevity of boundary (the boundary will last into the foreseeable future)
• Neighborhood schools (Neighborhoods west of the river would be kept together, so children would not be attending a different school than their friends across the street or in the neighborhood)
• Bussing: Aurora has fewer bus riders and is not considered a high walkability school, especially when considering other schools such as Osgood.

District administration considered moving other schools such as Osgood and the new school in the Rocking Horse development to the Hawk feeder system. They are not our first choice for the following reasons:

• Osgood is very dense with the majority of learners living within 0.9 miles of the school. The vast majority of learners are in the walk zone and their boundary touches Sheyenne. Moving these learners would mean a learner could see a school across the street but they would travel to HMS or HHS. 
• Rocking Horse was also not an option because we could not get enough learners to alleviate the overcrowding without having a boundary adjacent to SHS or LMS. 
• Both Freedom and Independence have boundaries adjacent to either Sheyenne or Liberty. 
• Regardless of how you draw the lines on the map, in order to get enough learners moved out of the Mustang feeder system, you will always have one boarder adjacent to a school in the Mustang feeder system. The only school where this is not the case is Aurora or Brooks Harbor. 

Below are the options that have been generated with the pros and cons for each:

Option One: Do Nothing

Option Two: Move Grades 5, 6, and 7 Aurora Learners West of Sheyenne River from the Mustang Feeder System to the Hawk Feeder System

Option Three: Move Grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 Aurora Learners West of Sheyenne River from the Mustang Feeder System to the Hawk Feeder System

RECOMMENDATION

District administration has studied projected enrollment and boundaries for five months and have determined Option Three puts the district in the best position to serve our learners with equitable class sizes and opportunities while providing space for additional growth. 

Administrative Recommendation to the School Board on January 24, 2022

Approve the boundary adjustment to the Mustang Feeder System as presented in Option Three.