COEUR d’ALENE — In just a few years, Seth and Valerie Rounds’ young son and daughter will be students in the Coeur d’Alene School District.

They want to know what elementary school their kids will attend when they’re ready for kindergarten, and have some say in the decision-making process.

“We’d like them to be able to walk to school rather than ride a bus much farther away,” Seth said. “We’re three-quarters of a mile from Dalton, but right now, based on the proposal, they want to send them to Borah, which is two-and-a-half miles away. We’d like to give our input on that.”

The Coeur d’Alene School District held its first open house Tuesday night at the Coeur d’Alene High School commons to gather feedback from parents and engage with community members about proposed changes to existing school attendance zones that are expected to be implemented this fall.

Members of the boundary review committee, who have been studying the subject for months, came up with a first draft of the proposal last week to present to the public during the open house. Maps showing possible changes for elementary, middle and high schools were on display, and laptops for surveys and usage of the new school zone locator map tool were also provided for open house attendees.

“We live really close to Canfield Middle School, we’re walking distance, but we would get rezoned to Lakes,” said Sarah Blee, who also has young children who are future Coeur d’Alene students. “I get it, you have to draw the line somewhere, nobody’s ever going to be happy with everything, I’m sure. But trying to figure out how that makes sense as far as how kids can walk to a certain area or make it easier, they should probably take that into consideration. But I don’t know how all these lines are drawn, it’s not my expertise.”

Marcus Torgenson attended with his wife and their two kids, who are in sixth and third grades.

“We’re lucky because we just happen to be in an area of Hayden where the boundaries aren’t changing,” he said. “I don’t envy the job that the people have to do, just going around from poster board to poster board hearing the different comments of parents who are affected.”

More than 160 people came through the doors about an hour into the open house, which also included two sessions on grandfathering in a classroom near the commons. Coeur d’Alene School Board Chairman Casey Morrisroe said he was pleased with the turnout.

“We’ve had a lot of good comments, a lot of good questions and I’m just excited that people are paying attention,” he said. “I get a little concerned that we weren’t going to hear from people until we’ve made a decision, so it’s important that we have as many people as we can giving us input as we go along.”

The next open house regarding the boundary review process will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 18 at Woodland Middle School.

Access the school locator tool at https://apps.flo-analytics.com/CDA_SchoolLocator/.

Info: www.cdaschools.org