Changing the School Boundary Lines: Is It Conceivable?

One of the main reasons I moved to Danville a few years ago (from the other side of the Caldecott Tunnel) was because of the great school system that our town boasts. As the mother of two young boys it was important to me that the house we settled in for the foreseeable future was one that fell within a school boundary that offered my kids the best possible academic start in life.

You can imagine then my growing horror when I realized, during an introductory SummerHill meeting for local residents in November 2010, the possible impact that the proposed Magee Ranch development might have on my children’s ability to attend . Indeed this concern was one of the main reasons why I decided to get involved with the community group Save Our Creek.

Fast forward to today and I find myself wrestling with the same quandary that many parents are currently facing. Do I send my child, who has a birthday that narrowly falls within the new , to school later this year? Or do I hold him back for another year?

After much soul searching, as well as a consultation with his current teachers and an independent expert, we have decided to keep my son at preschool for another year. Or, at least, that is what I thought. Now there is a new development that I have to consider…

I was recently made aware that one of the Town of Danville’s council members made a comment to a Diablo resident, at the end of January, where he stated that future traffic from SummerHill’s proposed Magee East entrance boiled down to how many left turns (versus right turns) will be made out of the development. In his eyes, one way to ensure that more right turns are made would be to redraw the school attendance districts for Los Cerros and Green Valley so that students from the new development – and possibly Hidden Oaks, the existing Magee Ranch and/or Still Creek and Diablo Creek – go to and for elementary and middle school.

So here is my personal dilemma. Do I take this second hand conversation at face value? And, if so, do I assume that it is the opinion of just one council member, or do I view this man’s alleged comment as an indication that such traffic mitigation solutions are already underway? If the latter, can the town really control, influence, or require such a move by the ?

And, ultimately, does this mean that I need to get my child into kindergarten now - in the hope that existing students might be allowed to remain at their school?