Woodridge parents win uncommon victory

LAND O'LAKES -- Parents of children in the Woodridge community did something Tuesday that many before have tried, but few have accomplished: They persuaded the School Board to change an elementary school attendance boundary, just for them.

The board reviewed several proposed boundary changes at a meeting Tuesday, as it prepared for the opening of Pine View Elementary School in August. About 20 Woodridge children were to be moved from Denham Oaks Elementary to Lake Myrtle Elementary.

The children were among about 1,000 who would be shuffled to new schools as part of a bigger school boundary shift needed to fill up Pine View. The parents, though, thought they had a strong argument for staying put.

For starters, their 20 children would make an "insignificant" impact on school crowding said Woodridge parent George Furlong. Plus, Denham Oaks is their "neighborhood" school.

"We have a strong association with Denham Oaks," he said. "We volunteer there on a daily basis."

With the school district having opened 14 schools in the past 10 years, the board has altered attendance boundaries every year since 1993. The process is never perfect; the board regularly hears from parents who are upset with their new school assignments. Rarely, however, does it change those boundaries to appease one group. On Tuesday, it did just that after district administrators said that the change would have little to no impact on school crowding.

The vote to leave Woodridge kids at Denham Oaks was unanimous. But while Woodridge won a rare victory on Tuesday, another group of families lost.

Cindy Kelly spoke on behalf of families in the Heron Cove subdivision. They also attend Denham Oaks, but, under the proposal, would switch to Sanders Memorial more than 5 miles away.

"We're the only subdivision being pulled away from our community," Kelly said. "We had no idea that we would be pushed so far north."

School administrators said they tried to keep the estimated 80 Heron Cove kids at a school closer to their neighborhood but couldn't work out a feasible plan.

"We explored every option they came up with," said Mike Rapp, the district's director of planning. "The (crowding) numbers never came close."

The boundaries still face a final approval by the School Board. That vote is scheduled to take place at the Feb. 18 board meeting.

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