By admin 
The Woodland Unified School District Board of Trustees approved new school boundary maps Thursday for the 2027-28 school year, the district’s first boundary changes in 25 years.
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Woodland’s population has grown substantially, creating enrollment imbalances among district schools. Some campuses, including Tafoya Elementary School, had far more students assigned to them than they could accommodate, while others, including Beamer and Plainfield elementary schools, were underenrolled. The boundary changes were intended to rebalance enrollment.
For middle and high schools, the changes were intended to increase enrollment at Lee Middle School and Woodland High School, which were at 44% and 55% of capacity, respectively, while reducing enrollment at Douglass Middle School and Pioneer High School, which were at 78% and 90% of capacity.
The district held public workshops to explain the proposed boundary changes and conducted a survey to gather community feedback. The district considered three options before trustees selected the new maps.
The district received more than 1,300 survey responses, mostly from students, according to a district presentation.
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Elementary school parents, staff and community members favored a map that they believed best addressed overcrowding and had the clearest boundaries, district Executive Director Christina Lambie said. Students preferred a different option that more closely resembled the current map and was more familiar to them, she said.
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Trustees approved the elementary school map preferred by parents, staff and community members. The map most effectively balanced enrollment and kept students at nearby schools, Trustee Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica said. “I like how it just brings everything together,” she said.
The selected elementary school map would reduce the number of students assigned to Tafoya Elementary School from nearly 1,400 to about 800. The campus was at 151% of capacity and would fall to about 90% under the new map. Enrollment at underenrolled Dingle and Gibson elementary schools would rise from 55% and 64% of capacity to 70% and 85%, respectively.
The middle and high school map would bring enrollment at Douglass and Lee middle schools to about 59% of capacity. It would reassign about 400 residents from Pioneer High School, which was at about 90% of capacity, to Woodland High School, which was about 55% full. Under the new map, Pioneer and Woodland high schools would be at 69% and 73% of capacity, respectively.
The boundary map the board selected for middle and high schools was the most popular among students, staff, parents and community members, Lambie said. Survey respondents prioritized continuity for students, equitable distribution of students and proximity to schools.
The new maps would take effect in the 2027-28 school year, but only seventh graders and newly enrolled students would be required to follow the new boundaries. Continuing students would have the option of staying at their current schools or following the new maps. Siblings of currently enrolled students would have the option of enrolling under the current boundaries or following the new maps.
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