Elementary school board changes boundaries for new school
The Yuma Elementary School District One Governing Board changed the boundaries for five schools starting the next school year. This will make way for its new elementary school in the Ocotillo area.
The decision comes on the heels of a 2014 voter-approved bond that allowed for the new Dorothy Hall Elementary school to be constructed and open next year.
In order for that school to be filled, the district voted Monday to have the boundaries for Desert Mesa, J.B. Rolle, Mary Otondo, and Sunrise Elementary Schools to be redrawn.
Current students in the neighborhood where Dorothy Hall Elementary is being constructed are currently enrolled at J.B. Rolle Elementary.
The addition of the new school should help reduce classroom sizes throughout all of the schools involved, according to Duane Sheppard, Associate Superintendent for Yuma Elementary School District One.
“We think that opening Dorothy Hall, here is a new elementary school right in your neighborhood. We think that is going to attract people to come to their neighborhood school,” Sheppard said.
The boundary change should impact less than 100 students per school, he said.
The boundary change will go into effect for the 2019 – 2020 school year but parents are still eligible to open enroll students. This means they would be responsible for transportation to and from school.
The new proposed maps, now available on the district’s website, will help students attend schools closer to their homes as the district continues to grow, according to the Governing Board President, Karen Griffin.
Griffin added that Yuma’s east county has grown which has led to overcrowding. The new attendance area boundaries are due to the construction of a new elementary school.
Dorothy Hall Elementary School will be open its doors on August 15 for the 2019-2020 school year. The elementary school, located at 44th Street and Avenue 6E, will be for pre-K through 5th-grade students.
District officials said students residing at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma will have the option to stay at Palmcroft Elementary School or attend Dorothy Hall Elementary School in the upcoming year.
Below are the five schools affected by the new attendance area boundaries:
