Lindbergh School Board Approves New Boundaries

The Lindbergh School District changed the boundary lines for its elementary and middle schools by unanimously approving a redistricting plan Tuesday.

The school board voted 7-0 to approve the boundary changes in order to relieve overcrowding in the schools. The new boundaries take effect with the 2011-12 school year.

Currently, Lindbergh has five elementary schools and one middle school. Beginning in the 2011-2012 school year, Truman Elementary School will become the district’s second middle school and the old Concord Early Childhood Center will open as Concord Elementary School to replace Truman. A new early childhood center opened recently on the Lindbergh High School campus.

A 10-member parent committee was charged with redrawing the district’s boundaries. One of the biggest issues it faced was how to divide the boundaries currently associated with Truman Elementary. Of the 800 students who attend Truman, about 500 will attend Concord elementary and the remaining 300 will be assigned to either Crestwood, Long or Sappington elementary schools. Kennerly elementary currently is at its full capacity.

“It was frustrating because we knew it (the plan) wouldn’t make everyone happy,” said Gary Barkowski, a parent who served on the committee. “We agonized over it, but feel it’s best for the good of the general district.”

Two residents spoke in opposition to the plan at the board meeting. Both Steve Cox and Jim Gebken have children who currently attend Truman and with the new plan, will be attending Sappington next year. They told the board they were disappointed the committee only offered one recommendation and claimed the committee turned a deaf ear on their comments at previous meetings.

“They (the committee) completely ignored what some parents had to say,” Cox said. “They are not presenting you with a choice.”

Gebkin added: “We were told if we live in Concord, our children would go to school at Concord, and that’s not what is happening. Trust me, you failed us, the kids and the community miserably.”

Kenneth Fey, board president, said he understood how Cox and Gebkin felt because he was in the same position in 1990 when the district changed the attendance boundaries when his child was in elementary school.

“I’ve been on the other side of the table on this and we (the board members) were not in the dark on this at all,” he said, noting that several board members were present at the committee meetings. “Committees have worked well in the past, and they will continue to work well in the future.”

Assistant Superintendent Pat Lanane, who worked closely with the parent committee, said the goal of redistricting the elementary schools was to make the schools equal in terms of student occupancy as it was related to the capacity of each school.

He added that all elementary schools in the district have a process in which parents can request their children be transferred to a specific school. He said there are currently at least 35 slots available for students to transfer to the new Concord Elementary School.