Seattle schools moving ahead with new student-assignment plan

Seattle Public Schools is forging ahead with its effort to update school area-boundary maps and implement a new student-assignment plan.

The district will present its proposals for the updated maps during a workshop Oct. 6 at John Stanford Center auditorium, 2445 Third Ave. S.

Community members can give their input at workshops being held over the following two months. The School Board will vote to revise and adopt the area boundaries in November.

The district said in a news release the updated area-boundary maps will better serve the city's changing population and help address issues of capacity at district facilities.

"Our job is to help families understand how we got to this point, what comes next and reassure them that when new attendance area boundary maps are released, they will have the ability to be heard — and that we will be listening," Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson said in the release.

Under the new assignment plan, students will be assigned to elementary, middle and high schools based on their home addresses. If students prefer to go outside their attendance area, they would be able to apply for reassignment. There is also another process called "grandfathering" for the students who are currently at schools outside their attendance area.

The plan will be implemented during the 2010-11 school year and will not affect attendance rules for the current academic year.