AURORA | Students who currently attend Sable and Paris elementary schools in Aurora will be re-zoned for either Crawford, Montview, Altura or Park Lane after the two schools close at the end of this school year.
The Aurora Public Schools board voted unanimously to approve the district’s recommendations for the new boundaries at its board meeting last week, along with approving boundaries for two new P-8 schools.
Paris and Sable are closing at the end of the current school year as part of Blueprint APS, the district’s long-term facilities plan. After the board voted to approve the closures in the spring, the district started working on a re-boundary process to determine what nearby schools the students would be sent to.
The criteria for determining the new boundaries included minimizing impact to students and families, keeping existing neighborhoods intact and maximizing transportation resources, particularly now as APS and districts across the nation struggle with a bus driver shortage.
“Our criteria has always been to try to minimize disruption as much as possible,” said APS chief operating officer Anthony Sturges during a presentation to the board.
The boundaries the board voted to approve are:
- Paris students living west of Nome and Newark streets will be zoned for Crawford Elementary, while students living east of Nome and Newark will be zoned for Montview Elementary.
- Sable students living south of Montview Boulevard and east of I-225 and students east of Sable Boulevard will be zoned for Altura Elementary. Students residing north of Montview Boulevard and west of Sable Boulevard and students living west of I-225 will be zoned for Park Lane Elementary. Students in the Copper Flats apartment complex will move from Park Lane to Vaughn Elementary.
- A new P-8 school opening in the district at the site of the former Lyn Knoll Elementary in western Aurora will open in 2023-2024 with grades P-6 and will add a grade level each year. Students currently zoned for Sixth Avenue Elementary will be zoned for the new P-8.
- A new P-8 school being constructed in The Aurora Highlands will open for the 2023-2024 school year with all grades. The boundary will include students currently zoned for Harmony Ridge P-8 north of I-70, including the Singletree, The Aurora Highlands, Green Valley Ranch East and Painted Prairie communities.
As part of the recommendations, the board also voted to waive any necessary policies to allow students in Sable or Paris to open enroll in the school they are not zoned for if they would prefer to attend the one they are not in the new boundary for. Students zoned for the P-8 school in west Aurora could also open enroll at Vaughn Elementary.
Typically, open enrollment requests can be revoked if the school in question is over-enrolled, but due to the vote students could not have their enrollment revoked. At the meeting, Superintendent Rico Munn said that open enrollment requests are not usually turned down in the district but this will give families additional peace of mind.
Students will be eligible for public transportation based on the district’s existing policies. At the board meeting, Sturges said the transportation department was part of the planning process and he feels “very confident” that the district will be able to provide the necessary transportation for the new boundaries.
The district has begun contacting Paris and Sable families to announce the decisions. Over the coming months families will have opportunities to meet their new principal and attend open houses, according to communications from the district.
