Rochester Public Schools is currently designing and constructing four new schools. The schools are being funded by the voter-approved bond referendum that passed on November 5, 2019. The new NW elementary school will be located on Overland Drive NW, the new NW middle school will be located on 65th Street NW, the new Longfellow elementary school will be located a couple blocks southeast of the current Longfellow elementary school, and the new Bishop elementary school will be reconstructed on the same site after the current Bishop elementary school is demolished.
As part of the construction process, the District must redraw attendance areas (boundary lines) to include the new schools. The result of the process means most schools should have less students than they do today. In an ideal situation, schools will be balanced so they are approximately 90-95% at capacity, which allows for fluctuations in students over time and allows the new boundary lines to stay in place longer. The District last made significant boundary adjustments in 2008, effective for the 2009-2010 school year which coincided with opening the District’s then newest elementary school (Gibbs.)
The boundary adjustment process begins on November 10, 2020, with a public discussion about the School Board’s role in the process. The boundary adjustment process will be led by Cooperative Strategies, a national consulting firm already familiar with the District. As part of the process, Cooperative Strategies will work with a representative committee and will provide opportunities for public comment and feedback about the proposals as they are being developed by the committee. The first opportunity for the public to hear more about the boundary adjustment process and ask questions of Cooperative Strategies will be at an online meeting scheduled for December 3, 2020 at 6:00 PM.
The timeline for the boundary adjustment process has the School Board making a final decision on boundary adjustments by September 2021, effective for the 2022-2023 school year.
