Input wanted from parents, South Bend schools redrawing boundaries

NOW: Input wanted from parents, South Bend schools redrawing boundaries
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The 2024-2025 school year for South Bend Schools was already going to be one with big changes, but now it will be impacting nearly everyone in the district.

“The driver for this process is to specify, get into the details of where those boundary lines are going to be,” says Scott Leopold, Director of Planning at HPM, the consulting firm.

The proposed attendance boundaries will better align structurally with feeder patterns and transportation but will also limit some students from bus access to outside their district.

“Some schools that are those whole school magnet programs; Lasalle, Clay IA, Marquette, and Kennedy, those would continue to have district wide transportation to those programs,” Leopold explains.

Although the goal is to stabilize enrollment and make bus routes more efficient, some parents and community members worry the change is too much too soon.

“I think a lot of parents, because this is happening so quickly, I’m not sure they are really understanding what is happening and how quickly it’s happening,” worries Michelle Niedbalski, a South Bend Schools parent.

That’s why the consulting firm and school leaders say voicing concerns and opinions on the boundary alignment is very important at this point in the process because it is not set in stone yet.

“Final recommendations will be with some adjustments based on some feedback from the community in this process,” Leopold assures.

Wednesday will be parents’ last chance to get their questions answered in person at four community meetings:

  • 2-4pm at La Casa de Amistad (translator available)
  • 5-6pm at Monroe Elementary
  • 5-6pm at Clay Intermediate Academy
  • 7-8pm at Muessel Elementary

If you can’t make it out there is also an online survey as well as opportunities for virtual focus groups happening later in the month. 

They want as much parent feedback they can get before they present their recommendation to the school board on October 16th.

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