Boundary plan opposed

Two Delray neighborhoods may get priority at popular Morikami Park Elementary

Some parents who complained about being forced out of overcrowded Calusa Elementary School in Boca Raton may get some good news: Their children may be among the first in line if they apply to another popular school, Morikami Park Elementary in Delray Beach.

The School Board next week will consider allowing residents of Casa Bella and Addison Reserve to get priority status in the annual lottery to enter Morikami Park Elementary, a pre-International Baccalaureate magnet school that is even closer to their homes than Calusa.

Residents of Casa Bella came out in force in November to criticize the school district’s decision to move their community out of Calusa’s boundaries.

At that hearing, Casa Bella parents asked if their children could get priority at Morikami Park if they could no longer attend Calusa.

Students who live in a designated area near a magnet program are often admitted before the general public, along with children of faculty.

Some parents said Wednesday they still want to remain in the Calusa attendance boundary, even if they get priority status at Morikami Park next year.

“Casa Bella wants both,” said Ron Kaniuk, a Casa Bella board member.

“It makes sense because we’re right around the corner,” Casa Bella resident Andrew Marcus said. “But it’s not a total solution for the neighborhood.”

Sixty-five students who live in Casa Bella and Addison Reserve attend public schools, said Jason Link, the school district’s enrollment manager.

He said Morikami Park, at 96 percent of its capacity, has room for the students.

In its supporting documents, school district staff pointed out that Casa Bella and Addison Reserve had not been built when Morikami Park opened in 1998.

At the workshop next Wednesday, School Board members also will discuss the new boundaries proposed for Calusa, the most crowded elementary school in the county. More than 1,200 students are expected next year in buildings designed for 836.

The proposed plan calls for Calusa students to move to four Boca Raton-area schools: Whispering Pines, Addison Mizner, J.C. Mitchell and Boca Raton Elementary.

The board discussion begins at 3:30 p.m. at School Board headquarters, 3300 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach.