Boundary adjustment at Renton School District

RSD found a “gray area” in the proposed boundary that affected 19 families for the next school year.

While gearing up for next school year, Renton School District found a gray area in the new proposed boundary that affected 19 families in the district.

With the new Vera Risdon Middle School opening in 2017, Student Information Services was preparing for next year’s enrollment projections when they noticed one boundary line that split Risdon and McKnight Middle Schools did not follow any street, rather cut across a neighborhood, and in some cases cut across backyards.

A boundary adjustment, which follows existing streets and the current Honey Dew and Highlands Elementary School boundaries, was presented at the Dec. 14 school board meeting and was approved.

This awkward split impacted 19 families and 22 students in the district for the 2017-2018 school year, and an additional six families between 2018 and 2021 based on age and housing.

The new proposal will reassign 22 students from McKnight Middle School to Vera Risdon Middle School. This means McKnight will drop 828 to 806 projected students, while Risdon will increase from 740 to 762.

According to Vickie Damon, chief of Secondary Schools, all 19 families were contacted. Of the 10 families who were successfully contacted, five chose to remain at McKnight and five chose to switch to Risdon.

The initial boundary assessment was made in 2013, and a reassessment was made and approved by the school board in 2015.

Risdon Middle School was initially projected to open in 2016, however due to construction delays, the opening of the 119,000 square-foot school and $46 million dollar project was pushed to September 2017.