K-5 Boundaries Design
At the August 28, 2023, meeting of the Owatonna Public Schools school board, the board approved a proposal by TeamWorks Education Leadership Solutions to begin a K-5 boundaries design process.
With the current imbalance of attendance between the four elementary schools, other space limitations in buildings, and disparity in neighborhood growth, the design process will determine what the next steps for the school district should be.
Goals of the K-5 boundaries design process are:
- Balanced enrollment
- Allow for growth at sites
- Equitable facility utilization
- Options should serve both current and future needs of the district
- Balanced specialized programming and space
- Shortest bus routes possible
- Equitable access to opportunities across all schools
- Minimize disruption of boundary changes with clear communication about why changes are needed, benefits of aligning boundaries to students
Elementary boundaries approved
At their March 18 meeting, the School Board approved the recommendation from the Design Team.
As implementation details are finalized, emails/letters will be sent to all families who will move schools for 2024-2025, during the week of March 25.
Please note: Families who will have a fifth grader next year will have the option for that student to continue at their current school or make the switch to the new boundary school. Younger siblings will attend the new boundary school.
Process
A guiding change document was created by school administrators and reviewed by the School Board at their November 27 meeting. The document includes the current reality facing Owatonna Public Schools, a definition of unacceptable means of achieving the ends, and the desired results.
Design Phase
The Design Team is composed of Owatonna Public Schools administrators, principals and staff, and Owatonna Bus Company staff who will assess the current situation and create concepts based on the guiding change document.
The Input Team is composed of Owatonna Public Schools staff and parents/guardians from each elementary school and the early learning program. The Input Team meetings were open to the public to attend, to listen and learn.
Staff, families, and community members were welcomed to provide comments through online feedback twice during the process.
Finalization and Implementation Phase
On March 18, the School Board reviewed and voted on the final option and timeline recommended by the Design and Input Teams. The district will implement the changes for 2024-2025.