WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP — Some 60 percent of households in Ohio's eighth-largest public school district would find themselves within a new elementary or junior school attendance area under a proposed Lakota Schools redistricting plan being unveiled Monday.

        The redistricting is necessary because in 2003, the Lakota School District will open its seventh elementary and fourth junior school on the former Van Gorden farm, an 85-acre tract at the northwest corner of Lesourdsville-West Chester and Princeton roads in Liberty Township.

        The plan marks the largest redistricting since 1997, when Lakota High School split into East and West and the Lakota Early Childhood Center and Ridge Junior also opened.

        “The junior school piece is pretty significant in order to have the clean feeder system,” said Lakota Board of Education member Joan Powell, who worked on the redistricting committee. “We want two junior schools feeding to each high school.”

        Under the realignment, students who attend Hopewell or Liberty junior schools would go to Lakota East. Those attending Ridge and the new junior school would go to Lakota West, said Superintendent Kathleen Klink.

        The move might shorten the bus rides of some students, streamline some bus lines and allow the district to abandon some modular classrooms, Mrs. Klink said. It should alleviate overcrowding in schools, while providing room for growth.

        However, school officials believe another elementary school may have to be built in Liberty Township in the next few years.

        The new elementary attendance district includes part of the Cherokee and Heritage attendance areas. Part of Liberty Elementary moves to Cherokee, while some of the Adena students would find themselves attending Shawnee.

        The plan also moves some of Union's students to Adena and some of Freedom's students would move to Adena. A small part of Smith Road, now in the Freedom attendance area, would move to Heritage, Mrs. Klink said.

        Only the three elementary schools in the eastern-most part of the district — Independence, Woodland and Hopewell — will see little change in attendance boundaries.

        “I'm pretty sure we'll be affected,” said parent Colleen Foley, whose first-grade son attends Cherokee but lives across the street from Heritage. “Our biggest concern is that we only want to move once. We don't want to be moved twice in a short time. That's very disruptive.”

        Specifics of the plan will be presented through a series of community meetings that begin Monday evening at Heritage Elementary School.

        During each meeting, Mrs. Klink will hand out informational packets and maps, present an overview of the plan, talk about the specifics and answer questions. Beginning Monday afternoon, maps of the proposed boundaries will be posted in all elementary and junior schools.

        The final plan will be presented to the school board for approval in May.

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