Advisory committee recommends boundary Scenario E; board hears maps showing 679 students moved under that option

Staff presented two elementary attendance boundary scenarios and the committee’s analysis at the Oct. 27 Prior Lake‑Savage Area Schools study session. Director Powers outlined map changes and enrollment impacts for the two scenarios and explained how open enrollment and future housing growth factored into the analysis.

Staff summary of scenarios: Scenario C would directly impact about 580 students (including 343 at Westwood and 156 at Hamilton Ridge) and would require swapping start‑time assignments for some elementary schools, affecting an estimated additional ~990 students when start times are combined; staff described Scenario C as less future proof because Hamilton Ridge would carry higher enrollment. Scenario E would directly impact about 679 students and, according to staff, "seems to be more future proof considering where the growth patterns are" and does not require a start‑time change. Staff reported average projected capacities for either scenario between roughly 62% and 80% across schools; the district’s operational target is to keep individual schools at or below roughly 80–85% capacity to allow flexibility and manage open enrollment.

Committee recommendation and board reaction: The advisory committee voted by consensus to move Scenario E forward as the preferred option for consideration. Director Powers said the committee’s discussion emphasized growth patterns and flexibility: "The consensus was clearly around E." Board members asked follow‑up questions about transportation routing (staff said routes would be more efficient routing some neighborhoods to 5 Hawks for busing), impacts on the district’s nature‑based pre‑K program at Jeffers Pond, and how open enrollment would be managed if a school neared an 80–85% cap.

Clarifications and next steps: Staff emphasized the numbers shown were before open‑enrollment impacts and that transportation averages would remain under 30 minutes in both scenarios. Administration said more detailed staffing and facility adjustments would be developed once the board provides direction; no vote was taken. Directors asked that the maps be posted online and offered in lobbies for public review, and asked staff to return with implementation details, a timeline and staffing implications.

Why it matters: The boundary decision will reassign families and alter school capacities, bus routes and, potentially, staff allocations. Directors said they prioritized minimizing disruption to resident students, balancing capacity and preserving specialty programs such as the nature‑based preschool.