Sylvan Union parents, students talk about shifting school boundaries

MODESTO -- Sylvan Union parents headed to the Sherwood Elementary cafeteria Monday to weigh in on school boundary shifts proposed for the 2013-14 school year.

By the numbers, the two moves would shift 68 Sherwood Elementary students to Woodrow and 214 middle schoolers from Savage to Somerset.

But for parent Ricardo Zavaleta, it came down to one guy who plays in the Savage Middle School band. "That's the thing. He's a shy kid, and he's always one grade away from straight A's," Zavaleta said. He doesn't want to mess with success.

Zavaleta lives in the C.F. Brown Elementary attendance area, which could switch to Somerset Middle School. A grandfather clause, however, could allow students attending Savage now to stay — but would there be busing? That's a critical question for the Zavaletas. It's more than a two-mile walk to Savage. Somerset is far closer.

For third-grader Leah O'Brian, busing is not a problem. But she lives in a rabbit's foot-shaped area jutting west from McHenry Avenue. People in the area could end up at Woodrow Elementary, which sits half empty.

"I won't get to be with a lot of my friends," she told members of the Boundary Study Committee. The grandfather clause as proposed for the pocket applies only to 11 fourth-graders, who could stay for their last grade before moving on to middle school.

Those are the conundrums and concerns committee members hope to address before putting a draft final proposal online in January and taking it to the board for review Feb. 5. The board's final decision is expected Feb. 28, said committee chairman Matthew Shipley.

A town hall meeting will be held tonight from 7 to 8 in the C.F. Brown Elementary School multipurpose room, 2025 Vera Cruz Drive. See a video on proposed boundary changes at http://bit.ly/ SylvanBoundaryDraft.