Oct 19, 2006 7:08 pm US/Central
New Mansfield School Boundaries Frustrate Parents
by Mark Johnson
MANSFIELD (CBS 11 News) ―
People who live in the Willowstone Estate subdivision is North Mansfield expect their children to attend Summit High School. It's just a few hundred yards away.
"I can see Summit from my upstairs window, "said Christy Bloch, whose daughter is a freshman at Summit. Next year she'll be attending Mansfield High School, which is several miles away. "It's very upsetting to know my child can walk to school, it takes her five minutes. If she takes the bus (to Mansfield) it will take an hour there and an hour back," Bloch said.
Tuesday, the Mansfield School District Board finalized new boundaries to accommodate its newest school, Legacy High School, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2007.
"It's a challenge, it's difficult," says Mansfield Superintendent Vernon Newsom. "Parents and students get attached to those schools, but the reality is, we're going to continue to do it."
Board members are allowing students who are junior and seniors at Summit to make the choice of they want to stay. Sophomores and freshmen will have to make the move.
The Mansfield School District adds an average of 2,600 new students every year, a number which forces boundary changes of some sort at least once a year.
Over the past six years, the district has added three new high schools, Summit H. S. in 2001, Timberview H. S. in 2004, and now Legacy H. S. in 2007. At least two more high schools are on the drawing board.
Newsom says he'd like to make every parent happy with the new boundary lines, but knows that's not going to happen.
With a district that has seen record growth, Newsom tries to look at the bright side. "The reality of kids in our world today is change is going to happen, many different types of changes, so learning how to cope is an added benefit."
So far, Bloch hasn't seen that bright side. All she sees is Summit High School so close to her house, yet now so far away. "We purchased here to be within (school) walking distance for our children."
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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