Springfield School Board approves new school boundaries and expands bus rider eligibility

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) — The Springfield Public School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to expand the age limit for students who can ride a bus to school.

Right now, kids have to live 1.5 miles away from their school to catch the bus. Starting next fall, that distance would drop to just one mile. This means that around 1,100 more primary school students will be able to go to school by bus.

Also Tuesday, unanimous votes on boundary line changes.

Students who live in the western portion of the Mann Elementary attendance area will be assigned to Jeffries. Mann is around 97% capacity and Jeffries just under 74%. Bissett Elementary students will go to Pipkin for middle school instead of Westport, a K-8 building. Pipkin is at nearly 68% capacity and Westport at 74%, but is expected to grow. Students who attend Sunshine Elementary but live south of Sunshine Street will be split between Twain and Holland. Sunshine is running at full capacity, 102%. The capacity in Holland is 80%, almost 87% in Twain.

The changes are the result of a 2023 demographic study that predicts future growth within the district.

The district released the following explanations about busing eligibility and school boundary changes in an Oct. 8 news release:

Recommendation 1: Expand transportation eligibility

In order to provide bus service to more students, a recommendation is being made expand transportation eligibility for elementary, middle, and K-8 students. By changing the eligibility requirement a include students who live 1 mile or more from schoolmore students will be able to board the bus. Currently, students must live 1.5 miles or more from school to be eligible. With the change, approximately 1,110 additional students would be eligible for transportation.

In order to expand transportation service throughout the district, changes are needed to the start and drop off times of two schools. If the change is implemented, Sunshine Elementary would move from Tier 1 to Tier 2 and Westport K-8 would move from Tier 1 to Tier 3.

Recommendation 2: Balance the use of space for Mann and Jeffries Elementary Schools

Mann is expected to experience enrollment growth in the coming years, which will make the school overutilized. To balance utilization, Mann’s cap will be adjusted to send some students to Jeffries. Beginning in 2025-2026, approximately 34 students would be affected, all of whom would be eligible to receive bus transportation at Jeffries if the change is implemented.

Recommendation 3: Balance the use of space for Sunshine, Holland and Twain elementary schools

Sunshine is expected to experience enrollment growth in the coming years. To balance utilization, Sunshine’s boundary will be adjusted to send some students to Holland and Twain elementary schools. Beginning in 2025-2026, approximately 43 students would transfer to Twain and 19 students would transfer to Holland. Because most students transferring to Holland or Twain live within a mile of their new school, they will no longer be eligible for bus transportation.

Recommendation 4: Balance the use of space for Westport K-8 and Pipkin Middle School

Enrollment at Westport is expected to increase in the coming years, while Pipkin will be underutilized. To balance the utilization of these schools, the middle school feeding pattern will be changed for Bissett Elementary School. Students living in Bissett’s attendance area would move to Pipkin instead of Westport for middle school starting in 2025-2026. These students will receive bus transportation to Pipkin due to a barrier street.

Recommendation 5: Create a middle school boundary advisory committee

To further balance utilization at the middle school level, an advisory committee would be appointed to evaluate district-wide middle school boundaries and provide recommendations. No changes would be made before the 2026-2027 school year.

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