SPARKS – Pockets of Spanish Springs and Sparks communities will be invited to community forums in the coming weeks to give their input to Washoe County School District staff about school zoning changes.

At Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting at Kate Smith Elementary School, board members gave their approval for staff to meet with parents to present their School Capacity Optimization Plan. The strategy is an effort to equalize the number of students at various school sites, reduce transportation costs, delay the need to move portable classrooms from site to site and build new facilities during a time when the district must watch every penny.

School enrollment has been decreasing in Washoe County. However, schools like Spanish Springs Elementary, a multi-track site that is at more than maximum capacity, still have more students than can fit in classrooms. The plan would shift some students from Spanish Springs to Van Gorder and Jesse Hall elementary schools.

As of Monday, chief school performance officer Rick Borba said Spanish Springs has 913 students. Of that total, 183 are variances, which means their parents applied for their child to attend the school rather than the site for which they are zoned.

“There are two areas to move to elementary schools that have room,” Borba said. “We can move the Pioneer Meadows area currently zoned for Spanish Springs to Van Gorder.”

Changes with the rezoning would mean Spanish Springs would have 721 students starting in the fall, about 736 in 2011 and about 750 in 2012. With the transferred students, Van Gorder would have 762 students this year, about 756 in 2011 and about 746 in 2012. For Hall elementary, there would be 709 students this year, about 692 in 2011 and about 726 in 2012.

These schools would welcome the increased enrollment — excess enrollment, in fact — because they want to stay on a multi-track schedule, according to Borba. Without the change and with declining enrollment, the schools might be switched to a traditional schedule. To qualify for a multi-track schedule, schools must be at 110 percent capacity.

If portable classrooms were to be transferred to Spanish Springs in order to provide room for all the excess students, the cost would be $200,000 to $300,000.

Board members expressed concern about overcrowding and the possibility of rezoning certain neighborhoods. Members were also troubled to hear that some Pleasant Valley Elementary School students in Reno spend 45 minutes to an hour on the bus one way as they travel down U.S. 395 because other schools are also over capacity.

Trustee Barbara McLaury said the rezoning could place a stress on some families.

“Zoning is such an emotional issue for families,” McLaury said. “When I look at Spanish Springs, I see that one would be a very smart move for youngsters because they have a lot of self-selection in Spanish Springs. But … I don’t feel I have enough information to deal with the safety issues.”

She also advocated for low-income families.

“The parents of some of the Title I neighborhoods don’t get involved,” she said. “We need to be careful in any decision that we’re keeping their youngsters in mind. Many times, it’s the powerlessness of those families I’m concerned about.”

Trustee Ken Grein sided with the mindset of parents.

“They have a lot of concerns on their minds,” Grein said. “I don’t see this as a good timing to do this right now until we make a decision. Who knows what decisions we’re going to make budget-wise that affects walk zones?”

Dan Carne, another trustee, said it’s important to find out what parents really want.

“All we’re asking them to do is research,” he reminded the board. “If everybody’s all in favor of doing it, then we ought to be doing it. … If all the parents came back and say yes, why would we say no?”