SDoL Back to School 2020 Plan

All School District of Lancaster students will return to school in a virtual learning environment this year. The school board voted Aug. 4 to postpone the return to in person instruction.

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Boundary & Transportation Study

Ensuring equitable opportunities for all

For the first time in more than 30 years, the School District of Lancaster is studying its school boundaries and transportation patterns. The goals of this comprehensive study are:

  1. Ensure current district systems are meeting current district needs
  2. Plan for the future effectively by projecting district trends and needs
  3. Ensure equitable opportunities for SDoL students

The process is guided by a task force comprised of community leaders, parents, and staff members. We have commissioned WXY Studio of New York City to assist the task force in analyzing our data and developing scenarios that meet the needs of students and align to community priorities. The task force will bring a non-binding recommendation to the SDoL school board on or around January 2020. If approved by the board, the plan would go into effect for the 2021-2022 school year.

If it's important to you, it's important to us

Data & Maps

In September, the district hosted a series of community meetings. At these meetings, we presented a series of priorities for parents and community members to consider:

  • Maintaining the current system (no changes to school boundaries)
  • Balancing class size
  • Ensuring walkability and bringing Pre-K to every elementary school
  • Creating an elementary to middle school feeder system
  • Improving access to dual language programming

In November, the task force met to review two refined boundary options, derived from the feedback received at community meetings, task force meetings, and through ThoughtExchange. The refined options presented are:

  • Balance Class Size & Walkability
  • Elementary to Middle School Feeder
View November Task Force Meeting Presentation

View our maps

The boundary study task force has narrowed options to the two shown below. In the first, elementary and middle school boundaries are modified to balance class sizes across the district and improve walkability. In the second, elementary and middle school boundaries are modified to align and create "feeder" systems from elementary to middle school for all students. The boundaries shown are not definitive. The board will consider realignment with a possible vote in the winter months.

Current elementary school boundaries

Current middle school boundaries

In this map, elementary school boundaries are modified to balance class sizes across the district. The shaded areas represent existing boundaries, while the black lines indicate proposed new boundaries.

In this map, middle school boundaries are modified to balance class sizes across the district. The shaded areas represent existing boundaries, while the black lines indicate proposed new boundaries.

In this map, elementary school boundaries are modified to create consistent "feeder" schools, so all elementary students stay together in middle school. The shaded areas represent existing boundaries, while the black lines indicate proposed new boundaries.

In this map, middle school boundaries are modified to create consistent "feeder" schools, so all elementary students stay together in middle school. The shaded areas represent existing boundaries, while the black lines indicate proposed new boundaries.

View High-Resolution Maps