District planners presented four preliminary boundary concepts July 24 for the new Ophelia Valdez Yeager Eastside Elementary School and asked the board to solicit public input at two upcoming sessions.

Assistant Superintendent Williams said staff had prepared multiple scenarios to balance walkability, existing school enrollments and the district’s goal of reducing busing. Staff noted about 740 students from the portion of the East Side currently served by district busing and showed projected enrollments for the new school under different options: roughly 856 in one scenario, 899 in another and about 711 in a combined option; doing nothing staff projected a population near 1,007, which the presenters said could exceed the school’s design capacity.

Williams said ParentSquare will host a survey and the district has scheduled two public meetings—Aug. 5 and Aug. 14—and a groundbreaking ceremony for Sept. 25. He also said staff intends to bring a final boundary recommendation back to the board before the end of the calendar year and to follow with middle‑school boundary adjustments later.

Board members emphasized clear communications to families, including virtual participation options, PTA outreach and targeted online outreach. Trustee Kinnear asked staff to ensure principals and PTAs notify neighborhood families who will be affected; Trustee Doctor Tweed asked staff to include educational‑impact research in future materials. Communications Director Perez (on camera) said staff will use ParentSquare, media advertising and targeted phone calls.

Why this matters: boundary decisions determine where children attend and can affect daily transportation, school enrollments, staffing and sibling placements. Staff said one of the goals of the new school is to eliminate routine busing for most neighborhood students.

What the board did: received the report, approved the schedule for community meetings and asked staff to return with refined proposals after public input. No boundary change was adopted at the July 24 meeting.

Ending: staff asked families to use the online survey and attend meetings; the board set a study session for boundary decisions later in the year.