The focus groups are done. The Wichita School District is one step closer to assigning new boundaries. A big change coming out of Thursday night's meeting is the reversal of boundary restructuring in one of Wichita's most diverse areas.
It's generally referred to as the AAA area - which stands for assigned attendance area. Since the 1970's, this section of the city has sent high school students to schools across the city.
Originally it was to make things more diverse. Today, the school district is looking at making changes in the area because those boundaries have never been redone.
The AAA area roughly runs between Hillside and Wabash, 29th and 8th Street. 92% of the high school students who live here qualify for free or reduced lunch, 96% are minority.
Right now, these students are sent to seven different schools. A previous boundary proposal would have changed that to three but would have meant 95% of students would have to change schools.
The most recent proposal leaves things similar to what they are now. The district wants more time to work on a project that big.
"This gives us an opportunity to be able to move forward, and at the same time, be able to go into the AAA community and say here are two options, here are the implications of each of these. We need to get that feedback and be able to craft a longer term solution to that as we move forward," explains Superintendent John Allison.
