Sherman Elementary redistricting plan unveiled

The newest addition to the Grant County School District is still under construction, but who will be the first students to attend Sherman Elementary is a question the board of education wants to answer soon.

When completed, Sherman Elementary, located on U.S. 25, will have the capacity to house 550 students.

The Grant County Board of Education has proposed that elementary students living in Mount Zion, Sherman, Elliston, Napoleon, Zion Station and northern Dry Ridge will be re-assigned to the new school.

"This doesn't change the bus routes a whole lot. It basically just changes where the bus is heading," said Ken Gray, assistant superintendent.

Parents of students impacted by re-districting will have an opportunity to ask questions at two informational meetings scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 25 and 10 a.m. on Oct. 29 at the Grant County Board of Education office in Williamstown.

The proposed plan will reroute students, kindergarten through fifth grade, who live on more than 46 different streets to the new elementary school.

"We're trying to keep the impact as little as possible," said Gray. "It's been eight or nine years since we've done it and it's not something you want to do very often."

The redistricting plans were based on geography, enrollment projections and ease in accessing each of the elementary campuses.

By re-districting this way, enrollment at Crittenden-Mount Zion and Dry Ridge Elementary Schools will be lowered.

Fewer students at Dry Ridge will allow the return of students on Race, Judith, and Short Race streets, B.C. Cotton Drive and Meadowview. For the past several years, these students have attended Mason-Corinth Elementary due to limited space at Dry Ridge Elementary.

The board is considering allowing the current fourth grade students to remain at the school they now attend so they can finish their fifth grade year in familiar surroundings.

Construction on Sherman Elementary is on schedule thanks in part to the dry summer. The school is expected to be completed in July 2008.