Local News - January 2003

Board to name new school tonight

By JEREMY ASHTON, LTN Staff Writer

January 8, 2003 - Lincoln County’s new elementary school is about to get a bit more personality.

At its meeting tonight, the Board of Education is scheduled to select a name and set attendance lines for the school being built on St. James Church Road outside of Denver.

The meeting is set for 7 p.m. in the Board of Education building on Generals Boulevard.

The thornier of the two issues is the establishment of attendance lines, which will also affect the four other elementary schools in east Lincoln: Catawba Springs, Iron Station, Pumpkin Center and Rock Springs.

According to information presented at a Dec. 16 work session, more than 2,000 homes, many of them within the proposed boundaries for the new school, are planned for that area.

Just in 2002 through October, Lincoln County issued 325 housing permits for the Catawba Springs Township and 189 for the Ironton Township.

“The primary issue is making sure that we do have growth available in all five elementary schools,” board member Fred Jarrett said.

The board also has to consider public input from a meeting held Nov. 26 at East Lincoln Middle School.

According to the information gathered at that meeting, three main areas of concern exist among parents that affect 192 students.

Any potential changes to the current attendance plan will have an impact on the balance between the five schools.

If every requested change is approved, the enrollment at the already overcrowded Pumpkin Center would remain at 600 with no room for growth. The moves would also leave the new school well under its capacity.

“I could not approve opening that school with less than 400 when it’s built for close to 700,” said board member Jean Dellinger.

To accommodate some of those parents, the board will discuss setting preferences for student transfers.

According to Dellinger, the board’s policy allows students to transfer as long as their parents can provide transportation.

Jarrett said transfers may be a way to keep students at Pumpkin Center who want to stay while giving it a mechanism for “outgrowing” overcrowding.

In a decision that should be much easier by comparison, the board will also vote on a name for the school.

At a special called meeting held Dec. 16, the board received seven suggestions for the name: St. James, Liberty Hill, Triangle, East Ridge, Matt Thompson, John Beatty and Robert H. Morrison. Since then, two more names — Mideast and Liberty Ridge — have been submitted.

The board will choose a procedure for  voting on the name at the meeting.

When names were being considered for North Lincoln High School, which is also set to open in August, board members were asked to submit their three top choices. Once the extensive list was whittled down to three, the board voted again to pick a winner.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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