Geography, not sociology, will dictate Chaska's new boundaries

Chaska School District students shouldn't have much trouble figuring out where they'll attend high school when the district's new Chanhassen High opens in fall 2009.

After more than two hours of discussion in a packed conference room, school board members last week unanimously adopted city-based boundaries for Chaska High and the new Chanhassen High.

Students from Chaska will attend Chaska High. Those from Chanhassen, Carver and Victoria will attend Chanhassen High.

The decision follows months of debate about whether to split up students from those cities to better balance the student bodies in terms of racial diversity and socioeconomic factors -- specifically, the percentage that qualifies for free- or reduced-price meals, a common measure of students from low-income families.

"Just because you're on free and reduced lunch has no bearing on your success in life," board Vice Chairman Dick Tirk said.

Demographic studies showed that under the approved boundary plan, 21 percent of Chaska High students would qualify for subsidized or free meals vs. 7 percent at Chanhassen High. Chaska High's student body also would be more racially diverse, with minorities making up 17 percent vs. 9 percent at Chanhassen High.

Concerns about diversity prompted boundary task force members to develop a second proposal this month, but residents and city leaders criticized the plan because some students who were within walking distance of one high school would have attended the other.

On Thursday night, Hazelton told audience members that he didn't support either proposal because the income gap could grow over time. He and several other residents who spoke at the meeting asked school officials to develop another plan.

But Jean Buller, co-chair of the district's boundary task force, told board members that the task force already had considered multiple proposals. Buller said the group, which included Superintendent David Jennings, recommended the city-based plan because it could be sustained amid growth from future development in areas such as Chaska and Carver.

"The task force looked in-depth at all [possible] models," Jennings said.

He told audience members that school officials would consider allowing transfers between the two schools but that they needed more time to study the issue because of concerns about capacity.

Other metro-area school districts have dealt with similar transitions in recent years. The Lakeville district opened its second high school in 2005. South Washington County will open its third next fall. Both chose to balance enrollment based on housing patterns, not racial or economic diversity.

Jennings said Chaska High's population of low-income students would still be lower than those of many Minnesota districts despite the imbalance with Chanhassen High.

Chaska school officials also adopted new boundaries for the district's elementary and middle schools. The plan allows rising fifth- and eighth-graders, as well as Chaska High School seniors, to remain at their current schools in the fall of 2009.

Buller said the new elementary boundaries are largely neighborhood-based and will be redrawn to accommodate a new elementary school after 2013.

Chaska's middle school plans retained a feeder-school policy but shifted students from two elementary schools -- Chaska and Chanhassen -- out of their existing middle school into Pioneer Ridge Middle School.

Pioneer Ridge currently houses a ninth-grade center but will become the district's third middle school when the new high school opens.

Tirk said: "If you go to Chan or Chaska, you'll either be a Hawk or a Storm, but you'll have the same things open to you."