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Boundary Study | Littleton Public Schools

Boundary Study

Fall 2022 Boundary Study

The Littleton Public Schools Board of Education recently charged the Long-Range Planning Committee to review current elementary school boundaries east of Broadway and consider possible options to alleviate overcrowding at Dr. Justina Ford Elementary School. For the most up-to-date information regarding this work and how to provide feedback, please visit the Long-Range Planning Committee's website.

Long-Range Planning Committee Districtwide Boundary Study

The LPS Long-Range Planning Committee has been meeting since the fall of 2018 to study school boundaries in an effort to:

  • Improve boundaries to best serve students and provide them with the best educational experience possible.
  • Address the growing transportation challenges resulting from increased traffic in the south metro area.
  • Provide boundaries for the new elementary schools to be built for the Ames neighborhood and the combined Highland and Franklin neighborhoods.
  • Provide better balanced enrollment.

Board of Education Makes Decision Regarding School Attendance Boundaries

At its regularly scheduled meeting on August 27, 2020, the LPS Board of Education approved changes to the district’s attendance boundaries after revisiting parent survey results they received in June for middle and high schools and receiving new parent survey results for elementary schools

The Board approved the Rosewood option for elementary schools, the Spruce option for middle schools, and the Fir option for high schools.

The process to update the boundaries was a long one, necessitated by passage of the bond. Updating boundaries addresses the growing transportation challenges resulting from increased traffic, provides boundaries for the new elementary school to be built for the Ames neighborhood, provides boundaries for the new elementary school to be built for the combined Highland and Franklin neighborhood, and better balances enrollment between Newton and Powell middle schools. 

The Long-Range Planning Committee devoted many hours to studying, discussing, and changing existing boundaries and seeking feedback from the community through open houses, online surveys, letters, emails, and phone calls. The Committee presented findings to the Board of Education on several occasions, taking direction from the Board on gathering further information or feedback and updating maps to provide new options.

“I want to thank the Long-Range Planning Committee again for moving this discussion to the point where the Board only had surgical-type changes. The Board gave the Committee an impossible charge of balancing enrollment while reducing transportation. The Committee got it right, and their process worked exactly the way it was supposed to,” said LPS Board of Education President Jack Reutzel. 

Board members noted the likelihood that LPS will need to develop a plan to consider consolidating and/or closing other elementary schools in the next few years in response to the community’s changing neighborhoods. The Board also noted that boundaries could very well change again. “It’s important to know that this is the first step, not the step. We must be responsive to our changing neighborhoods and aging community. Thanks to everyone who participated in the surveys and gave us feedback.”

“We will be looking at several puzzle pieces over the next few years, and open enrollment is always a wildcard,” said LPS Superintendent Brian Ewert. “This is step one.” 

New boundaries will take effect in the fall of 2021 for the 2021–2022 school year.

Boundary Maps
Board-adopted boundaries for 2021–2022 school year are shaded; previous boundaries are outlined in red, blue, or green.

For the current district boundaries, please visit the School Boundary and Bus Route Locator Tool page on the website.

Elementary School - Fall 2021

Elementary School Boundaries Effective 2021

Middle School - Fall 2021

Middle School Boundaries Effective 2021

High School - Fall 2021

High School Boundaries Effective 2021

Elementary School - 2020

Middle School - 2020

High School - 2020

Background and History

Littleton Public Schools’ current school boundaries have evolved over the decades. Sometimes boundary changes needed to be made to accommodate growth. Most recently, boundary changes needed to be made in 2008 to accommodate the closures of Whitman and Ames elementary schools; students in those attendance boundaries needed to be transported to other elementary schools where there was space. These solutions resulted in students from some neighborhoods being bused long distances to their new schools, sometimes past several other elementary schools on the way.

Since 2008, worsening local traffic, especially across major north/south roads such as Santa Fe, Broadway, University and Colorado Blvd, has created very long bus rides for some students. For example, three years ago, the average speed of LPS buses running routes was 25 miles per hour. Today, the average speed is 15 miles per hour.

Thanks to our community’s passage of a $298 million bond in 2018, a new elementary school will open on the Ames campus in the fall of 2021, and a new elementary for the Highland and Franklin communities will open on the Franklin campus in the fall of 2022. Both new schools need attendance boundaries. Creating boundaries for these new schools provides LPS an opportunity to examine and update all of its boundaries in a more logical way that will reduce transportation distances and time on the bus while seeking balance in school sizes. 

The Process

Since the fall of 2018, the LPS Long-Range Planning Committee has had 16, two-hour meetings to discuss boundaries. Committee members considered 16 different elementary school boundary scenarios, six different middle school boundary scenarios and four different high school boundary scenarios.

As part of this process, the Committee:

  • Looked for logic and efficiency as new boundaries were considered
  • Strived to keep neighborhoods together, recognizing that waterways and other obstacles make transportation more difficult
  • Found boundary solutions for the new neighborhood school on the Ames campus 
  • Found boundary solutions for the new neighborhood school on the current Franklin campus
  • Strived to avoid wherever possible having to cross major north/south arterial roads, busing students past one school to attend another and creating a smaller-than-optimal schools
  • Considered current feeder patterns (elementary to middle to high)
  • Considered school size and capacity, with and without out-of-district students
  • Considered socio-economic balance
  • Looked toward the future: what building replacements are happening with the current bond, and what buildings might be replaced in future bonds? How will boundaries be impacted?

Feedback was gathered, new scenarios developed
The Committee asked for community feedback on the first round of boundary scenarios. Four stakeholder meetings were scheduled in January, 2020 and February, 2020 (one was cancelled due to a winter storm), where attendees learned about each scenario, asked questions of Committee members, gave feedback and took an exit survey. 

Presentations were made to and feedback was gathered from district-level committees.

Based on feedback received, the Committee developed six new boundary scenarios (two at each level). The Committee presented the new scenarios to the Board of Education during an online workshop May 7, 2020.

Parents were invited to participate in a survey from May 22, 2020 through June 5, 2020. Out of 15,737 invited to participate, 1,575 responses were received. These survey results were presented to the Board of Education during its regularly scheduled meeting June 11, 2020.

The Board of Education continued its conversation about boundary study options during its June 25, 2020 Board of Education meeting.

Based on feedback received from parents and based on the Board's conversations, three new elementary boundary options were developed. Parents can provide feedback to the new elementary boundary options through a survey in August 2020.

 

 

 

Committee presentation to the Board of Education May 7, 2020

View the Committee's May 7, 2020 presentation to the Board of Education, which includes all maps and charts on the website.

In Spanish

Stakeholder Meetings Held Regarding First Boundary Options

The Committee gathered community feedback regarding its first boundary scenarios through four stakeholder open houses in January and February, 2020. Attendees could drop in any time during a two-hour open house to learn about each scenario, ask questions of Committee members, give feedback and take an exit survey, which provided another opportunity for feedback. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2020
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Goddard Middle School

Monday, February 3, 2020
(cancelled due to winter storm)
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Powell Middle School

Wednesday, February 12, 2020
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Newton Middle School

Thursday, February 20, 2020
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Euclid Middle School

All four open houses provided attendees with the same opportunities to interact with members of the Long Range Planning Committe, learn about the boundary options, ask questions, and provide feedback. 

Districtwide Boundary Study FAQs

What is the most important thing to know about proposed boundary options?
The Long Range Planning Committee formed these boundary options largely in an effort to reduce transportation distances and time on the bus while seeking balance in school sizes. 

Will students with one year left at a school have to change schools?
The Committee recommended that the following groups of students be given preferential open enrollment when new boundaries go into effect:

  • All high school students who no longer live in their current school's boundary zone;
  • 4th graders going into 5th grade who no longer live in their current school's boundary zone; and
  • 7th graders going into 8th grade who no longer live in their current school's boundary zone

No transportation services will be provided in conjunction with these preferential open enrollment options.

Will LPS require students to attend the school they are assigned to?
Open enrollment will always be available to families. It's important to remember that transportation will not be provided for students who do not attend the school they are assigned to.