By Jennifer Mrozowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CORRYVILLE - A proposal for new attendance boundaries for Cincinnati Public Schools drew more than 100 concerned parents and community members to district headquarters Monday night.

MAPS

• Bond Hill • Carson • Central Fairmount • Covedale • Fairview • Jacobs • Kilgour • Mt. Airy • Oyler • Parker • Pleasant Ridge • Rothenberg/Vine • South Avondale • Whittier

School administrators said new attendance lines, which could affect thousands of students, are inevitable under the district's $1 billion construction project. The project calls for 66 new and renovated schools operating by the project's end in 2012, 14 fewer schools than today. .

Some of the changes, if approved, would go into effect in the 2005-06 school year. Officials stressed that the boundaries are preliminary and could change based on feedback.

Janet Walsh, district spokeswoman, said board members also could decide to grandfather some or all students currently enrolled in the schools.

Parents from Covedale and Fairview German Language School - some of the highest-achieving elementary schools in the district - expressed disapproval over the proposed attendance boundaries and changes to their programs.

One of the proposals for Fairview calls for allowing some Clifton neighborhood students to enroll in the magnet program when the school moves to a new Clifton school around 2007. Fairview parents reminded the district that combining neighborhood and magnet programs in one building has not been successful here.

Cathy Bernardino, a Fairview parent, told the board of Fairview's academic successes, including efforts to close the achievement gap between black and white students. She implored the board not to change the existing magnet program, which draws students from all over the city.

Elaine Diehl, a Covedale parent, said she worries the district will damage the success of her school and lose involved parents by eliminating some Green Township families from the school's attendance boundaries.

"These people will not sit still and accept the changes," she said, adding that they will opt for parochial schools or move from the district.

Neighborhood meetings are being scheduled for affected school communities.

District officials also outlined plans for schools that would house fewer students than originally planned due to declining enrollment. Instead of building enough schools to house more than 42,000students, the district plans to accommodate around 39,000students, which is close to the current enrollment.

School board members have to vote by June 28 on changes, including boundaries and enrollment capacity, for the next 17 schools being built and renovated.

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E-mail jmrozowski@enquirer.com