URBANA — The Urbana school district will form a committee in the late summer or fall to look at redistricting options, and will decide next month how to select those committee members.

The Urbana school board approved guidelines Tuesday for how it will go about redrawing attendance boundaries for its six elementary schools. It also approved a recommendation to form a redistricting committee and appropriate no more than $10,000 to hire someone to assist with manipulation of demographic data, and to form a special committee to study options for a balanced calendar schedule.

When it meets in June, the board is scheduled to approve a charge for the redistricting committee, as well as a timeline and criteria for selecting committee members for both the redistricting and balanced calendar committees.

District administrators will develop a draft charge for the redistricting committee and the school board is to discuss it at its June 7 meeting. The charge will include information such as whether the committee will present a single recommendation or alternatives; a plan for making interim reports to the board as the committee does its work; and the expectation that it will hold community forums early in the process.

School board President John Dimit said the committee should have representation of parents and administrators from all the elementary schools, as well as from areas where students are now bused to school and those who are likely to be re-assigned.

"I'm concerned that people at risk of being re-assigned be a meaningful part of this discussion," Dimit said.

Some board members were concerned about the $10,000 limit to pay a consultant who will help with demographic data manipulation, saying they would like to see the district spend far less than that.

The board approved the $10,000 limit, but any agreement with a consultant will come to the board for approval.

The guidelines approved Tuesday were recommended by a committee that has been working for several months on coming up with priorities to consider during the redistricting process. The guidelines to be considered 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.

Dimit said the board will put together a committee in late summer or fall, which will work during the fall semester to come up with recommendations on redistricting. Once a plan is approved by the board, the district will be able to make any necessary staffing adjustments in the spring. The redistricting plan is to be in place for the beginning of the 2012-13 school year.