COEUR d’ALENE — Springboard proposal No. 9 was selected Tuesday as the starting point for the Coeur d’Alene School District’s Boundary Review Committee. The panel will begin configuring what matters most to families and how best to move attendance zones to accommodate for growth, transportation, safety, convenience and other factors.

School board members met with FLO Analytics to chart a path before the Boundary Review Committee gathered Tuesday evening.

Proposal No. 9 would maintain a 50-percent attendance zone space for Ramsey and 50 percent for the Sorensen overlay zone. “Overlay zone” means students who live in that area have priority to attend the magnet school (Ramsey or Sorensen) ahead of students living outside the overlay zone.

“Overlay zones still have a neighborhood feel but allow for choice,” said Coeur d’Alene School Board Chairman Casey Morrisroe.

FLO Analytics project manager Jed Roberts, who presented to the board, said an overlay zone can be used to prioritize attendance for nearby students, to prioritize attendance of disadvantaged students and to identify where transportation is available.

Tuesday’s meeting followed the first Boundary Review meeting that took place Dec. 3 and was preceded by two open houses to discuss magnet schools and where they fit into the equation of school zone changes. The objectives of the meeting were to identify district policies that will be built into the boundary review model, determine if and how hypothetical new schools will be a part of the boundary review process, and to choose the preferred starting point for the committee.

The springboard was chosen to give the Boundary Review Committee a starting point to configure any zoning changes that will be made before the 2020-21 school year. The committee met a second time Tuesday evening to begin work on mapping and to review information from FLO Analytics and from the school board.

“I think we’re on a good direction here, so I’m excited to get this out to the community tonight,” Roberts said.

Coeur d'Alene School District director of operations Jeff Voeller said it was nice to hear from the board at this point in the process.

"It's always good to hear the board's feedback on what they value and what’s important to them," he said. “As we move forward, this is a good starting point for us."

The Boundary Review Committee will meet for more mapping workshops Jan. 7 and 14.

The first open house to gather public input will be Jan. 21, followed by two more committee mapping workshops and another open house Feb. 18.

District 271 patrons can submit questions and comments to [email protected].

Info: www.cdaschools.org