Murrieta Valley Unified School District

School boundaries, also known as attendance areas, define which homes are assigned to specific schools within a district. Essentially, these boundaries create imaginary lines around neighborhoods, determining which elementary, middle, and high schools serve the homes within those lines.

Periodically, school districts need to adjust these boundaries to ensure balanced enrollment across schools. This process is referred to as redistricting. 

Population shifts and new housing developments are two common triggers that dictate when it's time for a community to redistrict. This is the situation we are currently facing, and projections estimate an increase in student enrollment within the next few years, particularly on the west side of Murrieta.

Over the past year, our district has performed its due diligence and has conducted a Facility Needs Study, an Enrollment Projection Study, and multiple community and parent surveys to assess current school facility use and availability.

Additionally, there have been public board meetings and workshops (1/18/24, 2/27/24, 7/31/24) to share the findings from these efforts. The community's growth, particularly west of the 15 freeway, has led to overcrowding in some schools. At the same time, neighborhood maturity has impacted other schools, where we have determined there may be facility underutilization.

On August 27, 2024, the Board of Education Trustees held a special meeting to learn about the process of redrawing school boundaries and projected community growth.

The redistricting process is essential to ensure school facilities align with the student population and facility capacity.

What has the district done to address school overcrowding and school site underutilization?

1. Completed a facility needs assessment and two community surveys between December 2023–June 2024.
2. Limited transfers to the most crowded schools. Closed transfer enrollment in the 2024-25 school year to the following schools:

• Alta Murrieta Elementary School
• Cole Canyon Elementary School
• Lisa J. Mails Elementary School
• Thompson Middle School

For the incoming 2025-26 school year, the following schools will be closed to all new transfer requests:

• Cole Canyon Elementary School
• Murrieta Elementary School
• Thompson Middle School

3. Residency Verification. We verify all student addresses and residency on file to ensure they were attending their assigned neighborhood school. 

Is there a timeline and process to balance school enrollment & redraw district boundaries? 

Yes. The process of redrawing attendance boundaries and options to balance enrollment takes approximately 25 weeks from start to end. This process was initiated on August 27, 2024, during the Board of Education's publicly noticed special study session. The Redistricting Advisory Committee and the District’s Demographer, Woolpert are tentatively scheduled to present a recommendation to the BOE in January/February 2025.

Is there an opportunity for parents and community members to provide feedback? 

Yes! There are a few ways our community members could provide feedback.

1. A community survey {Closed on Oct. 7}
2. A Redistricting Committee Application Cycle {Applications closed on 9/16/24 and Redistricting Committee Members were selected and notified on 9/20/24}
3. Conceptual boundary map options public viewing workshops (in-person and virtual) & final Survey {Completed-In-person meetings on 12/10/24 and 12/11/24.} 
4. Final conceptual boundary map options survey {Closed on January 12}

Where can community members stay up to date on the progress?

Interested community members should visit the website below, maintained and updated by the District's demographer during this process.