LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The School District of Lancaster voted on Tuesday night to move school boundary lines for its elementary and middle schools.
The shift is expected to cause the rezoning of 439 elementary students and 285 middle school students, though that may change with optional grandfathering keeping students in their current schools.
The vote for the shift in school boundaries, the first in 30 years, comes after two community forums, one on March 31, and another on April 2.
Officials with the district say the change is important to help manage class sizes within certain schools, and allow more efficient reallocation of resources and service, while incorporating stakeholder feedback.
The approved plan, the second of two options, will be effective on the first day of the 2022-2023 school year.
With the plan, a projected 91 percent of elementary students and 84 percent of middle school students will live within a one-mile radius of their assigned school.
School District of Lancaster officials say after the shift, the schools with the least building utilization will be Wharton Elementary School at 65 percent and Lincoln and E.R Martin middle schools at 84 percent.
The schools with the most building utilization are projected to be Smith-Wade-El Elementary School at 94 percent and Reynolds Middle School at 92 percent.
Along with the base plan, the district also voted to approve school grandfathering, which will allow fourth and seventh-grade students to stay in their current schools during their fifth and eighth-grade years for the 2022-2023 school year, if the student’s parent or guardian requests it.
The plan received eight votes yes and one person abstaining to vote.