School boundary rezoning in Washington Township introduced to balance enrollment

The Metropolitan School District of Washington Township has proposed changes to school boundaries that could affect approximately 300 students.

The proposed rezoning is trying to solve enrollment imbalances in the middle schools as a surge of out-of-district students enroll in Washington Township. It also seeks to mitigate bus driver shortages and expand the Dual Language Immersion program to ensure continuity from elementary to middle school.

The district’s Enrollment Management Advisory Taskforce collaborated with TransPar Group, a school consulting firm, to develop the recommendations.

The changes would take effect in the 2025-26 school year and the district says it will impact less than 3 percent of Washington Township students.

Elementary school changes

The attendance boundaries for Willow Lake and Greenbriar Elementary Schools will be revised. That will help reduce enrollment at Willow Lake, which is currently at capacity, while increasing enrollment at Greenbriar, which is below capacity.

During last school year, Willow Lake was at 660 students and Greenbriar was at 492 students, according to state data.

Students living in the Willow Lake elementary boundary will attend Westlane for middle school.

Middle school changes

The schools have seen increased enrollment as a wave of Broad Ripple Middle School students from the Indianapolis Public Schools district transferred to Washington Township schools at the beginning of the academic year.

Most of the students enrolled in Eastwood Middle School. As of last month, 1,021 students were enrolled at Northview — an increase of around 200 students from last year — and 842 students at Eastwood, and 750 at Westlane.  That’s a total of 2,613 middle school students.

The district plans on implementing the new transportation recommendations in February and promoting and explaining the changes to families for the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year.

Submit comments to the district

A district presentation with all proposed changes is available here. Families can submit feedback on the proposals in an online survey. The decision will be finalized at the Dec. 11 school board meeting.

WFYI education reporter Sydney Dauphinais covers Marion County schools. Contact her at sdauphinais@wfyi.org.