HOLLAND TWP. — After years of planning, discussions and community engagement, West Ottawa Public Schools is nearing a decision on elementary school redistricting.
Superintendent Tim Bearden presented a recommended map, consistent with those shown in recent forums, to the district’s school board Monday, Aug. 19. The board will be asked to take action on the map during in September.
“We’re pretty confident now in where the boundary lines are,” Bearden said. “Nothing is perfect when it comes to redistricting ... but we think we’re in pretty good shape.”
West Ottawa is redrawing its elementary boundaries in preparation for the new Riley Farms Elementary School along 120th Avenue in Holland Township. Construction on the building is progressing and the school is expected to open in time for the 2025-26 school year.
As part of the redistricting, North Holland Elementary will become home to a dual immersion program , open to families throughout the district. The new boundaries will affect Great Lakes, Lakeshore, Lakewood, Pine Creek, Riley Farms, Sheldon Woods, Waukazoo and Woodside.
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A main focus in the new map was having contiguous boundaries for each school, meaning not having certain schools split into two areas.
“We tried to eliminate the thing that we have now, which is different chunks spread out across the district where students are bused across other elementary boundaries,” Bearden said Monday.
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Under the current district map , Great Lakes covers two individual areas separated by portions of Woodside and Pine Creek; a portion of Lakewood is located inside the boundaries of Waukazoo; and an apartment complex within walking distance of Pine Creek is sent to Lakeshore.
With the new map, those oddities are removed. Each of the eight elementary districts will be fully connected, if the map is approved.
Changes from the current boundaries include a small portion of Waukazoo moving to Lakewood; Lakeshore taking on a larger footprint as the immersion specialty program moves; and Sheldon Woods losing the northern portion of the district to Lakeshore and taking on the northeast portion of the district, which currently belongs to North Holland.
That coincides with construction at Sheldon Woods that will allow the building to have two classrooms of each grade level, instead of one.
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West Ottawa held more than 25 forums, meetings and workshops for community, staff and board members during the redistricting process. Bearden said there have been “dozens” of map iterations in that time.
He said the district will hold another forum before the board votes in September, with a date TBD.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com .
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: See the latest map for West Ottawa elementary redistricting
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