Nearly 300 Union Elementary Students To Transfer Next Fall After Redistricting

Nearly 300 elementary students in the Union district got a first look at the school they'll attend next year. The district plans to move 277 students from three overcrowded schools into Ochoa Elementary at 12000 East 31st in the fall.

Public Meeting Held To Discuss Union Elementary School Boundaries 

Union plans to transfer 88 students from Rosa Parks, 111 from Roy Clark, and 78 from Boevers Elementary.

It’s a relief for Principal Amy Smith. She’s got teachers working in every available space, including hallways. “This is one of our small group classrooms and we currently have 5 teachers working in this space,” says Smith, who says the 5th-grade classisms have 28 students each, in rooms that weren’t built to handle that many students.

When all those students line up for lunch - and head out - they go into the lunchroom 110 at the time. The redistricting plan will relieve some of the crowding.

The plan is to move the students from three surrounding schools into Ochoa Elementary, where an expansion is wrapping up that creates room for 500 more students. When the move is complete, Union predicts Ochoa will have just over 900 students. 

Ochoa is the newest elementary school, built with large open areas and flexible space for classrooms.

Union Associate Superintendent Charlie Bushyhead said the district decided which students should transfer based on where they live and how they get to school now. 

At Boevers, none of the students ride buses, but some will to Ochoa. The district has notified the families affected by the change.