Battle brews over newly drawn boundary lines for SJSD bond

For the st joseph school district's proposed school bond....detailing it's hopes to build a new high school... drawing a clear line in the sand for some on voting yes or no.

We found out why some say the boundary isn't fair.

<<with a $107 million dollar school bond up for vote lines have been drawn over new proposed boundaries for the district's 2 high school model sot: southside student-"they need to just keep it the way it is because it's working and you don't want to ruin something that's already working."sot: tami pasley, st joseph board of edu president-"we definitely have to move to a two high school model.

We don't have the population."

With a potential new high school comes new boundaries education handing off the duties to a demographer who split the district in half north and south.

Sot: pasley-"we considered, do we divide the town east and west?

Do we divide them north and south?

So, we used east and west first with i-29 and found out that on the east side of i-29, there's not near enough kids to fill a high school."

If the bond passes in april- southend students and some midtown students will go to a renovated central state-of-the art facility proposed for the now empty american family insurance building sot: southside student- "i just don't think it's right for them to be doing what they say they're going to be doing."

Raising economic disparities between students drafted to the new school versus central as a district facing 71% free and reduced lunch-the board says the draft is as balanced as possible sot: pasley- "while it's important to be as equitable as we can in free and reduced lunch, they're some constraints there that we can't control which is where our neighborhoods are and where we have pockets of poverty and wealth.

But what we can control is the equity in education the kids are offered."

Priority number two...drawing lines to fill schools to capacity...giving high school students the same educational opportunities to take advanced courses sot: pasley- "the student population at central, it's not hard to get 20-25 kids to take a class.

At lafayette and benton, made 3-4 students will sign up."

But for some students on track to attend benton-which would be converted to a middle school along with lafayette-its less about opportunities and more about traditionsot: southside student-"i don't want to have to go to benton as my middle school.

It wouldn't feel right."

Some community members asking the board to flip the boundaries-where southend attends the new school and northside goes to central.

Board president says the board could do that...but it's unlikely.

Sot: pasley- "why would we not flip it?

Well, i guess my question is, why would we if the professional said, 'here's how i would do it if this were my school district.'"reporting in st joseph, kilee thomas kq2 news if the bond doesn't pass on april 6th- the board of education has plan b.

Board officials saying they'll move towards a two high school system regardless central and lafayette there would be no new school and benton... still be converted to a