Agua Fria board approves revised attendance boundaries after public hearing

The Agua Fria Union High School District governing board approved revised attendance boundaries for the 2526 school year after a public hearing in which parents urged the district to preserve current school assignments.

The proposal, presented by district staff as the result of a months-long boundary review process, was approved on a 4-0 vote. President DeCoste called for the vote after board discussion; Board Members Terry, Colton and Acton joined DeCoste in voting yes.

The vote followed public comment from two residents who said the proposed lines would move their children from Canyon View High School to Agua Fria High School. Celeste Evans, who identified herself as a parent of children affected by the change, said, “I will not send my children to Agua Fria High School,” and said the change would split siblings between different high schools and could lower their property value. Another resident, who was introduced as Dana Coleman and who stated her name as Diana during remarks, voiced similar concerns about distance to the reassigned schools and the effect on middle-school cohorts.

District staff responded in public session that current students at Canyon View would be grandfathered and that incoming siblings who are freshmen would receive transportation and grandfathering through their senior year. Superintendent Eastless (as identified in the meeting) and staff emphasized open enrollment and academy program options as avenues for families who wish to attend other schools, noting that transportation for cross-school academy participation remains an issue the district is working to address.

Board members discussed the trade-offs that come with growth and new schools. Members said the boundary lines were drawn using demographic projections and consultant analysis to accommodate growth and to minimize the frequency of future boundary revisions. Staff told the board the district used an outside firm (referred to in the meeting as Applied Economics) to model growth and housing-unit projections that informed the map.

The board adopted the revised boundaries with no recorded abstentions or no votes. The board will implement the changes for the 2526 school year, and district staff said they will continue to process open-enrollment requests and program-based exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

Board members and staff noted that transportation logistics and availability influenced the final map and that the district intends to continue evaluating transportation options as academies and program-based school choices expand.

The approval completes the district’s required boundary review following recent enrollment growth; affected families were encouraged to follow district communications for enrollment and transportation details.