HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Input will be taken on two working drafts of boundary maps at a public forum from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Hutchinson Career and Technical Education Academy, 800 15th Circle. The academy is on the northwest side of the HHS campus.

The USD 308 Board of Education is in the process of redrawing elementary school attendance boundaries for the 2016-17 school year. The boundary changes are needed because the Board will reduce the capacity at McCandless Elementary School by about 180 students to save money. Additionally, families have moved within the community since the 2010 boundary update.

Based on input from the Board and from a Community Boundary Committee formed by the district, two maps have been developed by RSP and Associates. The district has contracted with RSP as a consultant for the process.

Those maps are available online at https://tinyurl.com/usd308boundaries.

The boundary maps also will be displayed in the district’s eight elementary schools during Parent-Teacher Conferences from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday evening and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Tuesday’s meeting is designed to get input on the boundaries and any possible tweaks to those boundaries. Input will be through table discussion groups with parents from the boundary committee participating to explain rationale behind the boundary decisions and the process. Transfer policy will not be discussed during the meeting.

The website with the maps also includes notes from each of three previous Community Boundary Committee meetings and all the handouts from those meetings.

The final Community Boundary Committee meeting will be Nov. 10. The Board is scheduled to make a final decision on the boundaries prior to Jan. 1 with the new boundaries going into effect for the 2016-17 school year.