ELKHORN, Neb. (KMTV) — Signs like these are in the Calarosa East neighborhood. It's to get people to sign a petition addressing a proposed school change.
"We're just hoping that we make a solid argument that the school board will hear us out," said parent Eric Benson.
Right now, Benson's son walks to Arbor View Elementary School. But, come next school year, that may not be the case.
Earlier this month, the Elkhorn Public School Board announced its proposed boundary attendance plan for elementary schools.
If approved, students in the Calarosa East neighborhood, with the exception of current fourth graders, would attend the new "Elementary School 14," which is across the much busier 204th St.
"To me, it's just a recipe for more accidents," said Benson.
Benson said he's reached out to local and state officials to get the word out.
"We want to make sure every level, from local to state, is at our disposal and give us insight on where we should be going with this," he said.
Neighborhood reporter John Brown looked up EPS's boundary rules. On its website, it states in part: "Open Enrollment application requests for intra-district transfer to a school outside of the student's assigned attendance area should be submitted to the board on or before March 15th prior to the semester in which intra-district transfer is sought..."
KMTV also reached out to the Elkhorn Public School Board. It said it has met with district administrators to examine the issues raised by Calarosa East neighbors and, in a statement, wrote in part: "We will continue that review process in advance of our January board meeting."
For now, Benson is doing what he can to keep his kids in the current school.
"What I'm really hoping is that if we create enough awareness on this, we have enough eyeballs on this, then our kids won't be a rounding error," he said.
Benson says he plans on attending the school board meeting on January 13th where it plans to finalize boundary changes.
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