The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools are preparing for bringing a new elementary school online and need to redraw some elementary student boundary lines, but don’t call it redistricting.  School officials are labeling the project as “redefining boundary lines.”

Administrators Kim Lippe and Katy Dowling told the school board Wednesday night that the redrawing of student attendance lines will impact as few students as possible, and only in the area near the under-construction Deer Creek Elementary building in Wayne Township, to the extent possible.  Lippe and Dowling said the term “redistricting” might be construed as a district-wide plan, where HSE plans to minimize the number of students impacted and will strive to keep neighborhoods together to the extent possible.

Deer Creek will replace Durbin Elementary, which cannot be expanded at the current location due to the lack of suitable utility hookups, such as water and sewer.  The school corporation has said in the past that it plans to keep the Durbin building for uses other than an elementary school.

Durbin has about 350 students and Deer Creek will have a capacity of roughly 750 students.  Lippe and Dowling say Deer Creek will be at 80% capacity at the opening, allowing for expected growth in the Wayne Township area.  Deer Creek is projected to welcome the first elementary students and staff in the fall of 2022.

Southeastern Elementary has exceeded expected student population, with portable classrooms in use.  Dowling told the board one goal is to avoid portable classrooms.

Administrators provided a timeline and other information on the formulation of new boundaries, and can be seen at this link.

Dowling added that there will be meetings scheduled with people in the school buildings impacted before the board considers the administration proposal in November, but those meeting dates have not been finalized.

HSE Schools Superintendent Yvonne Stokes said that families have asked about an option to remain in their current elementary building.  That is possible, Dr. Stokes said, but it will depend on all the building capacity numbers.  Dr. Stokes added that the goal is to keep Deer Creek at no more than 600 students in the first school year.

Per the schedule presented, the board will have a final proposal on the new boundaries in December.

In other school board news from the September 22 session:

–Dowling presented a budget timeline for the board.  The budget will be publicly advertised on October 1, and available on the schools Web site (hseschools.org) along with other platforms.  A public hearing will be held at the October 13 board meeting, with a final board vote on the 2022 spending plan expected October 27.  The legal deadline to enact a budget is November 1.

–The board gave final approval to board policies on gifts and technology.  Suzanne Thomas was the only no vote on the technology section, citing concerns about parental notification on student data collection.

–Dr. Stokes informed the board that the transportation department is fully staffed, but could still use 10-15 more school bus drivers to even out more routes.  There are roughly 15 job openings in food services.

–Dillon O’Rourke, a freshman at HSE High School, was featured in Snapshots of Success.  Dillon started his own business,  D1 Customs.  With time on his hands during the pandemic, Dillon started researching artists and shoe customizers.  He has now turned this into his own business.  He has created over 40 unique, customized shoes for local business owners, HSE staff and students, as well as a professional athlete, and plans to continue with the enterprise.