By KRWG News
Las Cruces – There are approximately 1,100 LCPS students who will decide in the coming weeks which high school they will attend next school year.
On Tuesday (Nov. 15), the Las Cruces Board of Education approved attendance boundaries for the new Centennial High School, which also created changes to the existing boundaries for Las Cruces, Mayfield and O ate high schools. District officials are now asking students who live in the redistricted areas to declare their choice of schools by January 13, 2012.
"The School Board wanted to ensure that families that are impacted by the new boundaries have flexibility and choices," said Superintendent Stan Rounds. "We will give that leeway during the next two months by allowing the impacted students to choose their high school."
During the Tuesday Board meeting, Rounds outlined the changes to the district's transfer process that are specific to students who are in the new Centennial attendance zone. Students living in the redistricted areas, who are currently in the 8th-, 9th- and 10th-grades, must decide whether they will attend Centennial or remain at the high school in their current attendance zone.
If the redistricted students decide to remain in their current high schools, rather than going to Centennial, their transfers will be automatically approved as long as they fill out their declaration forms by the Jan. 13 deadline. Students who do not meet that deadline will be automatically assigned to Centennial, Rounds said.
In addition, redistricted students who opt to stay at their current school will not be provided bus transportation to school and will have to be taken by their parents or drive themselves, said Jo Galvan, director of LCPS communications.
"The bus transportation for redistricted students follows the district's existing transportation guidelines," Galvan said. "The redistricted students who will receive bus transportation are those who will attend their new designated school Centennial."
In December 2011, the school district will mail a packet of information to the parents of each redistricted student that will explain the new attendance boundaries, Galvan said. They will also receive a declaration form to sign and return to their current school registrars/counselors, a question and answer sheet about transfers and an informational flyer about Centennial High.
"The approval of the boundary lines is an important step forward," said Centennial Principal Michael Montoya. "We have a core group of teachers already working on the classes that will be offered and I'll be talking with students who are now assigned to Centennial, including 8th graders, about the exciting opportunities ahead."
Galvan said students who are not being redistricted but want to attend Centennial or another school out of their home attendance zone, will need to fill out a transfer application during the district's standard high school transfer period, Feb. 1-April 15, 2012.
"We've already had inquiries from families who want their children to attend Centennial but who do not live in the redistricted areas," Galvan said. "Those families will be accommodated through the standard transfer process."
"I've received many calls from parents saying I want my child to attend the new school,'" Montoya said. "I know there's a lot of interest and I can't wait to begin meeting my new families."
For additional information about Centennial, online information is available on the district's website, www.lcps.k12.nm.us, or contact Montoya at 527-9330 or mmontoya@lcps.k12.nm.us. The boundary lines for the high schools are also posted online.