By BETHANY BLITZ

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — One week from today, Coeur d’Alene School District officials will find out how much help they’ll get from the community to ease overcrowding in elementary schools.

But until then, the district is working on opening the Hayden Lake site on North Government Way and East Hayden Avenue for the 2017-18 school year.

School board members explored possible scenarios Monday night for how attendance zone boundaries could be redrawn and hope to come to a decision at April’s board meeting.

First things first: Next Tuesday, voters will decide the fate of a $35.5 million bond for capital improvements and projects. The bond would provide money to build a new elementary school.

Monday night the board heard recommendations from the district’s Attendance Zone Committee for various scenarios surrounding the March election.

These are the three options the committee gave if the bond passes and the district is able to acquire land on which to build a new elementary school:

OPTION 1: The district told the committee it is looking at some land near the intersection of North Ramsey Road and West Prairie Avenue. The committee suggested the elementary school students in neighborhoods near that area would spend a year at the Hayden Lake site with the promise of attending the new elementary school the following year.

The committee said once a location for a new school is obtained, attendance zones should be redrawn district-wide, making sure those students mentioned above are in the new school’s attendance zone.

The families that would fall into this option are currently in the Atlas Elementary school zone that live south of West Prairie Avenue and east of North Atlas Road and families in the Winton Elementary school zone that live north of West Hanley Avenue and east of North Ramsey Road.

OPTION 2: The Hayden Lake site could be used as a kinder center for the 2017-18 school year. The district would redraw attendance zone boundaries district-wide before the new elementary school opens for the 2018-19 school year. The committee said this option would avoid having to relocate students twice, but it did not have the committee’s full support.

OPTION 3: Do not use the Hayden Lake site for the 2017-18 school year and wait until the district has a confirmed location for the new elementary school, and consider opening the Hayden Lake School as a K-5 elementary school at the same time.

Here are two possible scenarios if a new elementary school is not in the district’s near future because the bond doesn’t pass or the district can’t acquire land to build on:

OPTION 1: The families in the Hayden Meadows school zone that would change to be in the Hayden Lake school zone are boxed in by East Buckles Road to the north, West Hayden Avenue to the south, U.S. 95 to the west and North Maple Street to the east.

The families in the Atlas Elementary school zone that would be changed to the Hayden Lake school zone are north of Honeysuckle Avenue between North Ramsey Road and U.S. 95.

OPTION 2: Families from the Hayden Meadows school zone that are located north of West Hayden Avenue in between U.S. 95 and North Maple Street would change to the Hayden Lake school zone.

Families from the Atlas Elementary school zone that are located north of West Prairie Avenue in between North Ramsey Road and U.S. 95 would change to the Hayden Lake school zone.

Skyway Elementary School families that live south of West Prairie Avenue, east of North Huetter Road and west of North Atlas Road would be brought into the Atlas Elementary school zone.

Lindsey Knoll, vice chair of the Attendance Zone Committee, said committee members worked hard to minimize movement for families.

“We wanted to move as little people as possible while keeping neighborhoods together,” she said. “These kids learn to ride bikes together and play together and grow up together, so we wanted to keep them together.”

She also told The Press after the board meeting the committee is recommending the Hayden Lake site be K-4 and to allow fifth-graders to decide if they want to stay at their original school or move. The school would include fifth-graders if there were enough of them that wanted to go to Hayden Lake to make up a whole class.

Board members didn’t spend much time discussing these options, but did make it apparent they may not be in favor of a kinder center and not using the Hayden Lake site next school year isn’t an option.

A community forum on attendance zones will be held March 20 at Lake City High School at 5:30 p.m. to further discuss options.

“It will give us more opportunity to discuss options amongst us and the community and by then we’ll know if we have the bond,” said Tambra Pickford, board trustee and board liaison to the Attendance Zone Committee. “I’m looking forward to hearing people’s thoughts and having a lot of discussion.”