During the meeting, the board will review the new zoning map, which would see families living between Valparaiso and Middle Avenues and up to Alma Street down to University Drive shifted over to Oak Knoll School's zone.
That expected enrollment increase comes from Stanford University's Middle Plaza housing development at 400 El Camino Real, which opened last July, as well as other projects in downtown Menlo Park.
"The district's demographic data shows that over time Encinal's enrollment is predicted to be most impacted by new housing development within Menlo Park," a press release from the district stated ahead of the meeting. "Planning now for future enrollment will allow a more balanced outcome for both schools."
There has been some expectation of a decline in enrollment throughout the Menlo Park City School District due to an aging population and affordability issues. However, the district feels these internal boundary changes are the right move and that they are actually bucking the statewide trend of declining enrollment.
"Currently, enrollment at our schools is within the facilities' capacities, although Oak Knoll's enrollment ??" at 577 ??" is the lowest among our elementary schools," said MPCSD Public Information Officer Parke Treadway.
"We had tremendous growth between 2010 and 2017, then saw a slow decline, which increased with the pandemic," added Treadway. "Our most recent demographer report shows gradual decline as is the statewide trend, although not predicted to be as precipitous here in MPCSD. So our schools have been very crowded (including Oak Knoll), now are within capacity, and could again face over-enrollment as new housing is developed within Menlo Park, especially within the Encinal attendance area."
Treadway added that the typical class size for the district's TK-5 grades is 22, slightly less than the state's average of 24.2, according to pre-pandemic (2017-18) data from the National Center for Educational Statistics.
"This change is a prudent way the board can prepare for future housing growth while also balancing out enrollment among our schools and offering more families a Safe Routes to School commute option," said Treadway.
The district said the Safe Routes to School commute is tied to their recommendation because the new boundaries would potentially create a safer route for students to walk and bike due to proximity to their schools.
"We will not ask any currently enrolled students or siblings to change their enrollment, so the change should be minimally impactful for MPCSD families, current and new," said Treadway.
Plans were initially presented to the board during a Dec. 14 meeting.
The changes, if approved, would occur in time for priority new student registration for fall 2024, which begins on Feb. 1. Until the registration process is complete, it is unclear how many families would be affected by these changes, according to Treadway.
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