Natalie Clark- In a city of 76,794 and growing, the Hamilton Southeastern Schools face overcrowding yet again. The HSE school board reached the decision to redistrict neighborhoods to increase utilization and balance within each school earlier this year.

The redistricting committee is made up of the school board, 31 parent members and multiple representatives for each school. The committee meets frequently to discuss plans to move as few students as possible while attempting to provide a “feeder system” from intermediate school into junior high.

The school board and redistricting committee looks at enrollment numbers, socio-economic data, distance to each school and keeping neighborhoods together when considering moving school lines.

Currently enrolled high school students are not in danger of being moved; only elementary through junior high is being looked at with consideration for population growth in the near future.

“High schoolers are not being moved because it was not related to the community that high schools would be affected. They are looking at implementing possibly in two phases, with high school lines being tweaked in the future,” committee member Beth Duffy said.

More information on how the redistricting process works and a timeline with event dates and locations can be found on the district homepage, as well as a list of committee members and contact information.

“I personally believe that it is very important for students to be able to stick with their classmates from junior high to high school as so many bonds are formed at that particular age. I also feel it is important to keep diversity in all the schools so all students are exposed to the makeup of Fishers as a community. Shuffling kids around can be traumatic, but if we get a good plan in place that keeps students together from intermediate to high school it will lessen any ill effects,” Duffy said.