Board of Education Unanimously Approves Transportation Expansion & School Boundary Adjustments

 

Tonight, the Board of Education adopted a series of recommendations that will help balance enrollment at several schools and expand transportation to serve approximately 1,100 additional students.

The following changes will be implemented for the 2025-2026 school year.

Expanded Transportation Eligibility

In order to provide bus service to more students, SPS will expand transportation eligibility for students at elementary, intermediate and K-8 schools. By changing the eligibility requirement to include students who live 1 mile or more from school, more students will be eligible to ride the bus. Currently, students must live 1.5 miles or more from school to be eligible. With the change, approximately 1,110 additional students will be eligible for transportation.

Tier Changes for Sunshine and Westport 

In order to expand transportation service districtwide, it is necessary to change start and dismissal times for two schools. Sunshine Elementary will move from Tier 1 to Tier 2 and Westport K-8 will move from Tier 1 to Tier 3.

Balance utilization of space for Mann and Jeffries elementary schools.

To address projected growth in enrollment for Mann Elementary School, its attendance boundary will be adjusted to send some students to Jeffries. Beginning in 2025-2026, approximately 34 students will be affected, and they will all be eligible to receive bus transportation to Jeffries. 

Balance utilization of space for Sunshine, Holland and Twain elementary schools.

To address projected growth in enrollment for Sunshine, its attendance boundary will be adjusted to send some students to Holland and Twain elementary schools. Beginning in 2025-2026, approximately 43 students will move to Twain and 19 students will move to Holland. Because most of the students moving to Holland or Twain live within a mile of their new school, they will no longer be eligible to receive bus transportation.

Balance utilization of space for Westport K-8 and Pipkin Middle School.

Enrollment at Westport is expected to increase in the coming years while Pipkin will be underutilized. To balance the utilization of these schools, the middle school feeder pattern for Bissett Elementary School will be shifted. Students who live in the Bissett attendance area will transition to Pipkin instead of Westport for middle school beginning in 2025-2026. These students will receive bus transportation to Pipkin due to a barrier street.

Create a Middle School Boundary Advisory Committee.

To further balance utilization at the middle school level, an advisory committee will be appointed to evaluate middle school boundaries throughout the district and provide recommendations. No changes will be made prior to the 2026-2027 school year.

Next Steps

Families that are directly impacted by the changes will receive information about steps to prepare for the 2025-2026 school year.

If parents would like their child to stay at their current school, they may complete a transfer request form online for the 2025-2026 school year.