Document text
Cities try to untie boundary knot By VICKI GUARINO Medford and Central Point school officials are trying to untangle a confusing set of knots in the boundary line separating the county's two largest districts. In some neighborhoods the line cuts through homes, making school assignment a cumbersome and frustrating process. Under the new proposal, some students would be reassigned to new schools in new districts, but they would have the option of staying put. "This is actually to straighten boundaries so it's not so confusing to us, to parents and to kids," Central Point Superintendent Mike McClain said Tuesday. McClain will present proposed boundary adjustments to the Central Point School Board on Thursday for discussion. The meeting will be at noon in the district administration office, 451 N. Second St. McClain said he expects the board to adopt the boundary changes next month. The changes would go into effect at the start of school in September. Medford School officials are going through a similar approval process. The proposal covers four areas: Table Rock and East Vilas roads; Table Rock Road and East Pine Street; south of Beall Lane, including Sylvia and Old Stage roads; and Beall Lane around Gatepark Drive and Glengrove Avenue. Maps are available at district offices delineating the areas. Boundaries in those locations have been troublesome for years, McClain said. They were originally drawn when the areas were open fields. As development occurred, the school boundary wound up cutting across property lines _ bisecting homes in a couple of cases. Routing students to schools in those areas has been a confusing process. In one instance when the boundary bisected a home, school officials assigned the child to a school district by determining in which school district the child's bedroom was located. A couple of years ago McClain and Medford Superintendent Steve Wisely began talking about how the situation could be resolved. McClain said they realized that as more fields became subdivisions, the more confusion the boundary line would cause. "It's confusing to Realtors too," McClain says. "Often they really don't know and the wrong information gets out." For the school districts, the most confusing area has been a zone on the north end of the Medford district, in the area of Beall Lane and Gatepark Drive. The boundary follows an antiquated federal land claim line. When homes finally were built along Gatepark, no one paid attention to the school district boundary, according to staff from Medford and Central Point who have investigated the situation. The boundary bisects at least 10 lots. The plan is to move the boundary to the center of Gatepark Drive. Students affected by the line adjustments would have the option of staying with their present district. If no bus service is convenient, however, students would have to arrange their own transportation if they take the option. New students would be assigned schools according to the new boundary. Because parents will be offered the district-choice option, officials haven't contacted home owners within the neighborhoods covered by the proposal. McClain said they will be notified after the two school boards approve the proposal. The measure would not alter property taxes. For taxing purposes, all properties would remain in their present districts. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA