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On Jan. 10, the School Board will vote on the plan aimed at easing crowding at Citrus middle schools.
By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published December 8, 2005
School officials have returned to the drawing board, this time to change the attendance boundaries for all four middle schools.
The recommendations would affect 285 students who would switch schools next school year to ease crowding mostly at Citrus Springs Middle.
Citrus Springs, which has 904 students in a school built for 867, would lose 231 students, mostly to Crystal River Middle. Fifty-four students from other campuses would transfer to Inverness Middle.
School Board member Bill Murray said the changes are necessary because the Pine Ridge area is growing faster than other parts of the county. State law also requires school districts to even student populations with the least expense to transportation each year.
"We're getting 220 students more every year," Murray said. "That has an impact."
Administrators, including all four middle school principals, have been meeting behind closed doors since early November to discuss how to alleviate crowding districtwide. The School Board ultimately will rule on the proposed change.
Last month, the district announced that about 130 freshmen and sophomores would transfer high schools under a proposed rezoning plan that aims to lower the student population at Lecanto High. The School Board will vote on that plan after a public hearing Jan. 10.
In recent years, Citrus Springs Middle, like Lecanto High, has taken in a significant number of students from the fast-growing Pine Ridge area. The proposed changes would lower the student population at all four middle schools to near or below capacity.
"The situation is not as dire as at Lecanto High, but in a year or two it could be (if no changes are made)," said Murray, who serves on the rezoning committee.
Murray and other school officials acknowledge that shifting students to other schools to ease crowding is never a popular move. But the district must consider changes to even student populations every year to ensure student safety and compliance with the class-size requirements, they say.
Murray said the growth that has hit Citrus has not forced the district to consider making changes as dramatic as those facing larger school districts. But he notes that as the population continues to grow in Citrus, school attendance boundaries may change more frequently.
The district plans to send letters to parents affected by the proposed rezoning of the middle schools on Jan. 4. It has scheduled a community meeting for that same month to receive feedback about the plan from parents.
Eddy Ramirez can be reached at eramirez@sptimes.com or 860-7305.
[Last modified December 8, 2005, 00:49:13]
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