Brookings superintendent says district narrowed elementary-boundary plans; public feedback sought before March 23 vote

Superintendent Summer Schultz told Brookings Radio the Brookings School District has narrowed proposals for elementary-school boundary changes to two final maps and is asking families to provide feedback before the board chooses on March 23.

Schultz said the district completed a data-analysis phase that produced the two options and posted an interactive webpage with the two proposed maps and the current map for reference. "There's also input questions that we'd like them to answer as well," Schultz said, adding the survey is intended to capture household-specific concerns — from safe routes to school to program access — that the committee analysis might not identify.

The need for boundary changes, Schultz said, stems from capacity shifts after two elementary schools were rebuilt in the past decade. "The capacity at Hillcrest and Midairie facilities increased tremendously with the new facilities," she said, and the goal is to "more equalize the elementary students within the three elementary buildings."

Transportation effects were central to the committee's review. Schultz said the district's transportation director, Nate, ran route and cost scenarios for each map. "Nate has also then evaluated from a transportation perspective," Schultz said, noting rural routing, school-to-school transfers and winter-weather considerations can change the feasibility and cost of busing.

Schultz said survey input and web responses would be open through midnight on the 20th and that the board will meet on March 23 to select either option A or B; she invited families to attend that meeting to offer public input. (The transcript contained ambiguous phrasing about the exact survey deadline; the district's website should be checked for the confirmed date.)

If the board approves a new map, Schultz said the boundaries would take effect in the 2026-27 school year. She said the district will quickly communicate with affected families about where students should register for next year and that the two final drafts were designed so a future partner-school configuration could be adopted later without moving students twice.

The partner-school model, Schultz said, remains only a possibility under further board review: it would pair buildings so two serve preschool–second grade and two serve grades three–five, a change she said could increase staffing efficiencies and improve special-education programming. "Because that came into discussion so late, we really needed to make decisions for the '26 now," Schultz said, adding the current drafts were developed to allow a future transition if the board chooses.

The district requested public input and has provided online interactive maps for review; the board's March 23 meeting is the next formal step. The district did not provide a vote tally or further procedural details in the interview.