Parents urge the board to reexamine elementary feeder patterns, citing social-emotional concerns

Amanda Schwiege and Nicole Fulton spoke during public comment to request the district reexamine elementary school boundary splits that funnel students from some neighborhoods to different high schools.

Schwiege introduced herself as the parent of an East Ward second grader and said she and Fulton were "bringing up today is the breakdown of the elementary schools." She said most children from East Ward funnel to Downingtown East while some neighborhoods feed to Downingtown West and that the split worries parents because children who have built relationships in elementary school could be separated when moving on to middle and high school.

Schwiege said the concern is heightened because her child is on the autism spectrum and has established peer relationships and supports at East Ward. "I can't speak highly enough about East Ward and how much we love the school," she said, then added: "But just looking ahead beyond the sixth grade center, I'm very concerned about what that will look like for him when he doesn't have most of the peers he's come to know at his school."

She and Fulton asked whether zones have been reassessed in light of new housing developments and requested clearer data on how many students from each elementary school feed to each secondary school. They said some families did not realize their elementary school was split until their children began participating in sports and activities.

The board did not provide a response in the provided transcript excerpt. The speakers asked the board to spotlight the issue and consider changes that would keep neighborhood cohorts together where feasible to support continuity and social-emotional stability.