URBANA -- The Urbana school district should form a committee of school and community members to do redistricting for its elementary schools, but it should hire an outside expert to help look at demographic and other data.

Those were recommendations from a committee formed to provide guidelines to the district as it begins the process to redraw the boundary lines for its six elementary schools.

The recommendations were presented to the school board Tuesday night by Donna Oakes-Novak, assistant principal at Urbana Middle School.

Although the board has not yet set a timeline for the process, board President John Dimit suggested a committee should begin looking at how to redraw attendance boundaries in the fall and make a report to the board shortly after the first of the year. Dimit said the new attendance boundaries should be in place for the 2012-13 school year.

The committee that has been working during the last several months on guidelines came up with seven guidelines to consider during redistricting. In order of importance to the committee, they are:

• Continuing neighborhood schools.
• Maintaining or improving the socioeconomic balance across schools.
• Ensuring equitable access to educational resources across buildings.
• Disrupting the least number of students (and providing options to grandfather in students).
• Maintaining the cohesiveness of special programs.
• Considering balanced-calendar schools or summer enrichment programs.
• Minimizing student travel time by bus.

Oakes-Novak said the committee felt strongly that representatives of the district and the community should make recommendations for how to redraw elementary school boundaries, and that the process should not be turned over to a consultant.

But, she said, they agreed a consultant could provide technical assistance with demographic data and how changing a boundary would affect not only school enrollment but also the socioeconomic status of a school, how a school building is used, access to special programs provided in various schools, and other issues.

The committee recommended a budget of no more than $10,000 for such technical assistance, and Oakes-Novak said committee members were hopeful it would cost considerably less.

The recommendations also included forming a special committee to study balanced-calendar schools. Oakes-Novak said there were many issues raised by the possibility of a balanced-calendar school, all of which required careful study. She said the redistricting process should go forward, though, without waiting on a study of a balanced-calendar school to be completed.

Finally, the committee suggested the district hold open forums for public input early in the redistricting process; keep demographic data current; consider purchasing software and training staff in order to analyze demographic data; and reviewing elementary school boundaries every five years.

The school board is scheduled to take action on the recommendations at its May 17 board meeting. Once it does so, it must develop a specific charge for a redistricting committee.

Dimit estimated the committee, once formed, should take 60 to 90 days to analyze demographic data and come up with recommendations for redistricting. He said it would likely take another 30 to 45 days of discussion with the board to arrive at a decision on redrawing boundary lines.