Boundary Adjustments

The proposed boundary adjustments are available during community workshops. Information about these sessions are sent via email and USPS mail.

There are several reasons we are looking at attendance boundaries. Many areas of Manteca Unified School District are experiencing fluctuating enrollment. Rather than build more new schools than needed (costing approximately $90-160 million each), the District is dedicated to maximizing resources and utilizing existing facilities. MUSD has commissioned an on-going study to continuously evaluate our projected student enrollment.

New attendance areas approved by the Board in December will take immediate effect for new residents. For existing students, the new boundaries would go into effect for the 2024/2025 school year.

The Governing Board will not make a final determination on proposed boundary changes until December 2023. Before that time, there will be info available online, community open discussions, and an online forum for families to provide input.

Because the creation of new boundaries must consider the needs of the District as a whole, the process is kept impartial. Five considerations are used when measuring the effectiveness of any given boundary scenario. In no particular order, these considerations are:

• Keep neighborhoods together
• Maximize design capacity of existing schools
• Create boundaries that are long lasting
• Reduce or eliminate split elementary schools
• Reduce operational costs

While we encourage every student to attend their new school, we recognize that sometimes families have special circumstances that make attending a different school more ideal. There are several types of transfers available for families in these situations. Information about transfers can be found online at www.mantecausd.net/boundaries. All transfer types contain some limitations in the case of a school being overcrowded and/or without space in a given grade level. (Reference “Grandfathering” practice below)

District administration is committed to providing opportunities for input and discussion about boundary recommendations before the meeting of the Governing Board at which a decision will be made. You are invited to share your input or ask questions by:

• Attending your school’s community workshop
• Speaking with your current principal
• Arranging a meeting with district-level staff

Yes, transportation to your new home school will be provided as resources are available, and outlined in our busing regulation. There are different walking zones for different grade levels managed by the Transportation Department:

General Existing Guidelines:

• 1.25 miles radius K-8 students
• 2.5 miles radius 9-12 students

Please note transportation that is you request a transfer or apply for “Grandfathering” at your child’s current school, transportation will not be provided.

Yes, an exception request can be made with your school site when ALL of the following criteria can be met:

• The bus must already travel upon the roadway in which the exception is requested.
• There must be sufficient space on the bus for the students at the expected stop.
• The additional stop will add no additional cost to the route. 9 There must be a hardship.

The exception stop:

• Must provide space for enough students to warrant the stop.
• Must accommodate a minimal amount of students serviced.
• May be granted as long as space is available and will not extend beyond the current school year only.
• May be removed at any time if space availability decreases.

Families must reapply each school year to have the stop considered/reconsidered for an exception. The student will be able to board at a pre-established bus stop if all criteria is met.

The “Grandfathering” practice allows families to apply to have their child(ren) remain at their current school by completing a Priority Boundary Intradistrict Transfer application. This process establishes priority for existing students to remain at their current school of attendance.

. Students residing within the affected areas of boundary adjustment and/or change.

Students enrolled as of the 23/24 school year are eligible to apply for a Priority Boundary Intradistrict Transfer to remain at their current school of attendance during open enrollment in January 2024 for the 24/25 school year. Siblings of students enrolled as of May 2024 are included in the priority registration if they apply in the 23/24 school year to be “Grandfathered.”