Related: Beaverton School Board Rejects High School Boundary Plan
Beaverton school board members have approved new district boundaries, meaning some students will be changing high schools next fall.
Finalizing the boundary changes took over a year and more than one superintendent to accomplish. Last May, board members rejected the plan from then-superintendent Jeff Rose. Parents had argued the changes moved too many students too far to their new schools.
New superintendent Don Grotting’s map pursued the same goals: to relieve crowding at Westview and Sunset high schools and direct hundreds of students to South Cooper Mountain High School, now under construction. Under Grotting's direction, the district analyzed the transportation costs and complications of 11 possible parts of Rose's map.
Ultimately, Grotting recommended two main changes to the previous map — both were in the direction of keeping students assigned to their current high schools. One change kept an area in the Westview High School area, rather than moving students to Aloha High School; the other kept an area at Aloha High, rather than having it shared with schools to the east and south.
The first change involves an area south of Highway 26 but north of Walker Road (and between 185th and 173rd). Students would stay at Westview, rather than going a longer distance to Aloha. Parents had disparagingly referred to the affected section on Rose's map as "the thumb," for the way it extended north out of the Aloha High School area.
The second change from Rose's rejected map involves an area north of Farmington Road but south of Tualatin Valley Highway. It was previously slated for the westernmost portion to be assigned to Aloha, the middle portion to the new South Cooper Mountain High School, and the eastern part assigned to Beaverton High. Grotting changed that to having the whole area remain as part of Aloha High's boundary area.
Board members approved the new map at their meeting this week.
Next year’s seniors and juniors can finish at their current high school. Freshmen and sophomores will follow the new map.
