BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Broken Arrow Public Schools is redistricting its middle schools, causing concerns for parents.
2 News is going in-depth into what the district said is the reasoning behind the boundary shifts.
On Oct. 24, 2 News attended a parent forum held by the district. BAPS Executive Director of Enrollment Services Bridget Powell explained why one aspect of the shift was decided on at the state level.
"In July of this year, this summer, Governor Stitt signed a bill into law that changes how inter-district transfers are handled. Basically, it takes away local control from the districts," said Powell.
After talking with parents, it is clear that the main issue with the proposed changes is the shifting of schools.
This all stems from the district not allowing students to be grandfathered in or transfer back to their original school if under a new boundary.
Some students could switch schools every year until high school, depending on where they live.
"Now, in this redistricting, you’re going to multiple schools in a short period of time," said Jonathan McCullough, the parent of a sixth grader.
His daughter recently moved to sixth grade and is now facing another move next year.
His daughter will also face more school transitions over the next few years with BAPS. She will go to the freshman academy and then the high school, all this transferring is worrying McCullough.
"Just a couple of years, they go to the ninth-grade center and then on to a new school, so three school changes in four years is a lot," said McCullough.
2 News looked into Oklahoma’s new law stopping transfers between schools.
The law does allow transfers, but only if the school receiving the student has capacity. It also has specific guidelines regarding siblings and students whose parents work at the school.
For BAPS families, the rapid growth of Broken Arrows already made the schools full.
"We just don’t have the capacity in our middle schools even when we do the redistricting. We are not going to have that open capacity, so our hands are really tied," said Powell.
The district released a series of maps outlining the new proposed boundaries.
It factored in the new 8th-grade academy and a goal to balance enrollment among middle schools.
"We have a lot of growth happening in Broken Arrow and a lot of new developments," said Assistant Superintendent of Information and Technology Ashley Bowser.
Broken Arrow is also growing fast, forcing the district to consider redistricting every 2 to 3 years. Some BA community members still find this concerning.
"I’m not too favorable for it because I see families being separated because of things like this. I see neighborhoods being torn apart. I see the idea of bringing neighborhoods and communities together being separated more and more," said former BAPS substitute teacher Miriam Flanagan.
After the parent forum, the redistricting committee may change the proposed boundaries.
If the committee changes any of the boundaries ahead of the next school board meeting they will have to represent at that meeting on November 11, if not their current submission will go up for final approval.
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