Come Monday, the Kenosha Unified School Board could set new boundaries for the district’s high schools.

That is, if the board accepts one of two proposals it has received from a special redistricting committee.

A special meeting to review the issue is set for 7 p.m. Monday at the Educational Support Center, 3600 52nd St. A public comment period will precede the board’s action.

Redistricting is necessary as a result of Indian Trail Academy’s transition into a comprehensive, attendance-area high school, set to begin with the freshman class in fall 2010.

The redistricting committee, made up of district and parent representatives, has lobbed numerous proposals over the last few months. Members were sent back to work in August, after a plan that went before the board was scuttled to give the community more opportunity for input.

“This is always a very contentious issue,” said School Board president Pam Stevens. “Nobody was looking forward to this; nobody was. But when you build a new school, you have to change boundaries. That’s just a way of life.”

‘J1’ vs. ‘J/H’

The two recommended alternatives are largely similar, with Bradford High School’s attendance area consuming roughly the northern half of the district, Tremper High School comprising the southeastern corner and Indian Trail serving families from the west-southwest portion of the area.

It’s the nuances that have upset some parents, including a group that spoke Oct. 19 at the last boundary committee meeting.

One of the alternatives, “Plan J1,” offers the closest ethnic diversity balance between the three high schools, but it splits up four middle schools — Bullen, Lance, Mahone and McKinley — between multiple high school attendance areas.

Students from the area bounded by 75th Street, Cooper Road, 85th Street and Green Bay Road who attend Lance would matriculate to Indian Trail under “J1.” This has raised objections from area parents who would prefer to see their children remain with their middle school classmates at Tremper, which they say is a shorter, safer trip from home.

The second alternative, “Plan J/H,” solves that quandary, keeping those neighborhoods in the Tremper area.

But it is a slightly less racially balanced plan that does not appease critics in a northwest-side neighborhood, where a small minority of Mahone students would move on to Bradford while the bulk of their classmates would attend Indian Trail — an issue that some would experience with either alternative.

“J/H” does prevail on the issue of socioeconomic balance, generating the most equitable distribution of low-income, free-or-reduced-lunch-eligible students between the three high schools.

Both plans result in an identical proportion — 63.9 percent — of students attending the closest high school to their neighborhood.

Board members await more input

Board members contacted Friday were hesitant to sign on to one plan or the other before hearing more comments from the public.

“My inclination is to go with disrupting as few middle schools as possible. That’s my gut inclination,” said Mary Snyder. “I don’t know how I’m going to vote until I hear everything.”

Rebecca Stevens said she believes the committee did an excellent job covering various concerns with both of the plans. She said her top concern is alleviating overcrowding, district voters’ top priority when they passed a $52.5 million building referendum last year.

Pam Stevens, meanwhile, said she has not yet chosen her favored alternative, though she was leaning against putting too much credence into racial and socioeconomic balance as a deciding factor. She added she believes families should determine where their children go to school.

“We have to go into this knowing that we’re not going to please everyone,” she said. “There’s going to be a group of people who are going to be upset; that’s just the bottom line.”

There is also the possibility that the board will not be able to agree on either plan, perhaps sending the committee back to the drawing board.

Rebecca Stevens said she did not feel that is likely, however.

“I’m pretty positive,” she said. “I feel good that the committee is going to come forward with a good recommendation.”