By Mary Goldmeer
Mail

 The Agua Fria Union High School District school board set new school boundaries for the 2025 school year.

The primary focus of the proposed boundary changes is to alleviate overcrowding at Canyon View High School, Desert Edge High School, and Verrado High School while establishing a new attendance zone for the upcoming Goodyear High School.

The members of the Agua Fria school board approve school boundary changes at their Dec. 3 meeting.

Currently, Desert Edge is operating with 281 more students than its working capacity, while Canyon View has 288 students over its capacity. By adjusting boundaries, the district hopes to better balance enrollment across the high schools.

The planned changes would affect only three of the district's five site communities, minimizing disruption for families.

Two community members spoke at the hearing on behalf of students who were planning to go to Canyon View High School. These parents were concerned about creating a positive and consistent high school experience for their students and were concerned about their property values declining as they were being rezoned into a lower preforming school’s boundary.  

“With growing pains comes pain,” said governing board member Eric Cultum.

Cultum said that with the swelling enrollment rates and new AFUHSD location, the boundary change, although not always easy on students and families, was unavoidable.

 Under the new boundaries, students already enrolled at affected schools will be allowed to remain at their current school, even if they live within a newly drawn boundary. This policy extends to siblings of enrolled students, who will also be permitted to attend the same school as their older sibling. Transportation services will be provided for these grandfathered students to ensure continuity.

Mark Yslas, AFUHSD’s superintendent, said the district would continue to honor school choice and that attendance issues will be solved on a case-by-case basis.

The board also will discuss the guiding principles for open enrollment, which governs students' ability to attend schools outside their designated boundaries. Several priorities are being considered, including sibling preference, which would allow families to keep children in the same school, and priority for children of district staff members.

In addition, the district plans to consider students from the eighth-grade Fast Track program and how open enrollment aligns with specialized academies or programs at different schools.

“I see these boundaries as more fluid than they’ve ever been,” said governing board member Tray Terry. “If you’re in our district, our entire district is available to you.”

The new boundaries were approved unanimously by the school board and will go into effect for the 2025-26 school year.

Visit aguafria.org for information.