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Peoria Unified board approves boundary realignment affecting about 746 students
Summary
After seven committee meetings and two public forums, the Peoria Unified School District board approved a boundary realignment for the north–northwest sector that administration says reduces the number of impacted active students from 1,338 to 746. The plan includes transition supports and transportation for affected families.
The Peoria Unified School District governing board on Wednesday approved a package of elementary boundary changes intended to ease overcrowding in the north–northwest sector of the district.
Mr. Savoy, the district presenter and lead of the citizen boundary committee, told the board the panel met seven times, hosted two public forums and used city building‑permit data to project three years of growth. “From the March 28 meeting into our presentation tonight, our impact changed. Initially there was an impact on 1,334 students. That new number is 746,” he said, adding the committee worked to reduce the number of families affected.
The plan shifts portions of several elementary attendance areas (including parts of Zuni Hills, Sunset Heights, Coyote Hills, Frontier, Park Ridge and others) so that current and projected enrollments better match school capacity. The committee also recommended that when an elementary assignment changes, students feed to the high school aligned with that elementary assignment; it asked the board to consider identifying a separate site for the district’s Traditional (PTS) program and recommended the board consider calling a bond election to fund longer‑term space solutions.
During public comment, Tierra Del Rio resident Brandon Price urged the board to reject the reassignment of his neighborhood to Lake Pleasant Elementary, saying Lake Pleasant is “7½ miles from my house” and is neither convenient nor what he regarded as a neighborhood school. Committee members and other parents said they understood the disruption but defended the committee’s process, noting many of the students counted in the projections are tied to homes not yet built.
Board members asked detailed questions about transportation, special‑education continuity and open‑enrollment variances. Administration said the district would provide transition supports, including one year of transportation for eligible families and opportunities to apply for open‑enrollment variances where capacity exists. The district also said IEP services could be met at receiving campuses and recommended convening IEP teams when families raise concerns.
Board Member Seija Martinez moved to approve the committee’s recommendation; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote, recorded 5–0. The board directed administration to begin communications to affected communities and to implement the transition measures described by staff.
What’s next: families in affected neighborhoods will receive district communications and posted maps; transportation provisions and variance eligibility will be handled during the transition year, and the board may revisit high‑school alignments or bond proposals if elected funding becomes available.
