High school attendance boundary changes on hold in Modesto City Schools. Here’s why
Modesto City Schools has paused its move toward high school boundary changes, and staff will recommend the Board of Education defer any adjustments for the time being.
The reason: Improvements to be made on high school campuses as the result of the passage of bond Measure L in November could change students’ attendance patterns, district spokeswoman Linda Mumma Solorio said.
“Over the next several years, bond Measure L’s facility improvements at each high school campus will impact a variety of facilities including classrooms, athletic facilities, safety enhancements and other facility upgrades,” said Solorio. “Each high school has different needs, thus there will be different levels of facilities upgrades. Given these changes, parents may decide to enroll their students in a school with upgraded facilities and specific career technical education programs.”
This is the beginning of what will be a six- to eight-year bond program, Solorio added. Major facilities improvements decisions will not be decided on until later in the 2023-24 school year.
Earlier this year, Modesto City Schools staff and trustees discussed “quick strike” projects for all eight high schools (including Elliott Alternative Education Center) that begin within the next two years. The school district has held staff input sessions for Davis, Downey, Beyer and Modesto high schools. Staff input sessions for the remaining schools will take place this upcoming school year.
On the fall ballot, residents of the school district voted 56.4% to 43.6% in favor of Measure L, authorizing the Modesto City High School District to issue $198 million in bonds, with revenue going to fund school improvements. The bonds will be paid off with a property tax levy estimated at $29 per $100,000 in assessed value. The bond projects are to include career training classrooms, lab equipment, repairs to leaking roofs and deteriorating plumbing and updates to classrooms for STEM and liberal arts courses.
The school board is expected to resume its discussion of high school boundaries at its Aug. 14 meeting, Solorio said.
During March and April, school district leadership held community meetings with parents, teachers, students and other stakeholders to hear opinions on which of three remapping options to go with. During this process, the district’s Boundary Study Committee found the renovations would alter the distribution of the student population.
Three samples district staff proposed that utilized district data were shown to community members of how the boundaries could potentially change. The last time the district changed its boundaries was in 2012.
At the March and April community meetings, parents were asked which options they preferred. In a poll conducted by Survey Monkey, 82.5% viewed option A favorably and 92.5% viewed option B favorably, but only 25% said they looked favorably on option C.
▪ Option A increases Gregori, Downey and Modesto High School boundary territory and decreases Johansen and Davis. Enochs’ current boundary would remain the same.
▪ In option B, Modesto and Downey gain territory while Johansen and Beyer lose some. Enochs and Gregori remain the same.
▪ Finally, in option C, Gregori’s territory is greatly increased while Downey and Modesto take smaller territory from Davis and Johansen. Beyer and Enochs would remain the same.
The second and third options greatly reduce the part of south Modesto that is in the Downey attendance area, moving more of those students into Modesto or Johansen territory.
This story was originally published July 17, 2023 at 7:30 AM.
