Boundary changes presented to board

BENTONVILLE — The School Board heard a presentation from representatives of demographer RSP & Associates during a work session Tuesday about possible boundary and attendance adjustments as the School District plans for enrollment growth.

It’s early in the process, and no decisions or recommendations have been made. The public will have opportunities to provide feedback at meetings later this month.

The changes would take effect at the start of the 202425 school year, the board said in a memorandum before the meeting. The goal is to alleviate crowding that’s expected to occur that year in some schools in the western section of the district, according to the memo.

“We’re trying to put something up on the wall,” RSP CEO Robert Schwarz said. “How well is it going to stick?”

District-wide enrollment is expected to increase by about 1,200 students to about 20,000 by the 2027-28 school year, according to RSP’s presentation, and the district is predicted to experience capacity challenges in the next five years at Centerton Gamble and Vaughn elementary schools, Bright Field and Creekside middle schools and Bentonville West High School. Most growth is in the Bentonville West boundary toward the southwest portion of the district, according to RSP.

Schwarz said key goals were to resolve capacity challenges and improve distribution of students in the district.

Schwarz pointed out he and RSP planner Ginna Wallace, who teamed up to address the board, were presenting information and concepts — essentially drafts — and using data to help make decisions for down the road.

The boundary adjustment proposal formally goes before the School Board at its regular monthly meeting May 16, according to Leslee Wright, district director of communications.

There will be community forums for parents and patrons to voice opinions — one at Fulbright Junior High School at 5:30 p.m. May 22 and another at Old High Middle School at 5:30 p.m. May 23, Wright said.

Administrators will ask for a final vote on the proposal at the board’s July 18 meeting, according to a schedule in the memorandum.

The district approved RSP as the demographer for the project, and RSP conducted two enrollment analyses for the district, starting in the spring of 2022, according to information provided by the board. Those studies focused on growth projections for individual schools, grade levels and the district as a whole, the district said.

This spring, RSP analyzed the attendance zones for kindergarten through eighth grade to align the zones with community and district priorities, according to the board. The results will guide district administrators and the board about zone adjustments for the 2024-25 school year, the memo states.