A decision on an effort to open up the Warren County School District’s attendance areas has been delayed amid requests for an administrative review of the issue.

Board member John Wortman offered an amendment to the policy to allow parents/guardians to enroll their student in any attendance area as long as the parent/guardian provides transportation to the school or to the nearest bus stop that goes to that school.

He proposed the change take effect in the 2025-2026 school year.

The policy came before the board initially for two other changes – to allow staff in the district’s bargaining units that live in the county to have their students attend where they work along with a provision to permit transfers for child care reasons. Those changes were approved Monday.

The broader attendance area change proposed by Wortman again received a frosty response from district administration.

Director of Pupil Services Dr. Patricia Mead said the change would potentially bring increased transportation costs.

“The changes that are in this policy as presented today don’t cause us any issues,” Weber said.

If the amendment were to pass?

“I think we would need to go back before we do any final vote in terms of reviewing this and… making the board aware of any implications,” he added.

Solicitor Chris Byyan said there was a “lot to consider in terms of due diligence,” specifically mentioning impacts on staffing and sports classification.

Wortman agreed to withdraw the amendment Monday in exchange for a future committee discussion on the issue with a final action taken in August.

He said acting on that timeline would give the district a year to implement the potential change.

GRADUATED REQUIREMENTS ADJUSTED

A draft policy to amend graduation requirements starting with the Class of 2028 was approved by the board.

“This policy really drives the (number of) periods in the day,” Weber said.

Approving the policy, he said, pushes the district back to an eight-period day starting with the 2024-2025 school year.

Weber said he hasn’t yet heard from anyone that disagrees with the move back to eight periods. He said approving the policy allows the district to start working on staffing to facilitate the change.

The change will see the total number of credits required for graduation rise by one each year from the Class of 2025’s 26 until the Class of 2028 and beyond at 29.