Edmond Public Schools Changing School Boundaries Ahead Of Opening 2 Elementary Schools

Edmond Public Schools is preparing to open two elementary schools, Redbud and Scissortail Elementary.

Redbud will open first. It will be the first Edmond school east of Interstate 35. Scissortail will open in fall 2022. Before it can open the district will realign all elementary school boundaries.

Superintendent Bret Towne said changing those lines will help even out school populations as Edmond grows.

“This school will address overcrowding in the eastern part, Scissortail will address overcrowding in the western part of the school district,” Towne said.

Around 500 students will be part of the first Redbud class this fall. Eventually they plan to double that number and increase classroom pods.

Redbud Elementary is about 75,000 square feet and sits on 50 acres of land. Evan Dargen will be the school’s principal. She said her goal is to work with parents and students to make this school like no other elementary school in the district.

“As soon as the boundaries are realigned in March, I will start having opportunities to meet the students and meet the families to start building our school community,” Dargen said.

New boundaries won't just change things for parents. Faculty and staff will also have to adjust.

“We'll have to hire some new teachers, but we have a process where teachers can apply to come to this school. If a school is going from 1,000 kids to 800, they'll be vacancies. Teachers which won't be needed at that school, they'll have an opportunity to transfer here,” Towne said.

The first realignment meeting is set for early February. District leaders understand the process will be hard for some families.

“We understand redistricting is emotional because people get tied to the schools they're invested in where their kids have either started or are completing. What we found is redistricting to new schools has always been a great process and very rarely do we have anyone say it wasn't a good experience moving to a new school,” Towne said.