Lakeland District holds parent brainstorming session on shifting about 100 Garwood elementary students to Twin Lakes

Lakeland District staff met with parents at a district-hosted community meeting to begin brainstorming elementary school boundary changes that could move about 100 students from Garwood Elementary to Twin Lakes Elementary as part of efforts to reduce costs and ease enrollment pressure at Garwood. District staff said the session was an early-stage listening and mapping exercise; no formal decisions were made.

District staff framed the boundary work as a response to sustained budget cuts and enrollment imbalances. “We really started this conversation ... looking at ways to reduce costs,” Lisa, a district staff member, told attendees, adding the district is rerunning a levy in May at a reduced rate after a November defeat. Lisa said the district has reduced its budget roughly $2,000,000 a year over the past three years and is seeking further efficiencies even if the levy passes.

Transportation staff warned that some current bus routes…