Alisal Union could change school boundaries to address overcrowding and increase safety.

Like cities and counties, school districts also review school boundaries and make adjustments to improve the student-teacher ratio at each campus. Alisal Unified School District held four meetings last week to discuss new school boundaries that the district would implement to balance enrollment at its campuses.

Overcrowding conditions impact students’ experience at school.

“There’s less opportunity for children to move around, use a playground area and all the facilities they have on campus,” AUSD Associate Superintendent Rais Abbasi says.

Currently, Monte Bella and Fremont are the two elementary schools with the highest enrollment, with 808 and 711 students enrolled, respectively. If Monte Bella stays with the current boundaries, it could reach 1,000 students, according to the district. With the proposed boundaries, the five-year projection lowers the student population to 650.

The new plan also aims to increase safety for students who walk to school. Currently, some cross major streets, including Constitution Boulevard or Freedom Parkway if they are attending Creekside or Loya elementaries.

Tanya Perez, a mother of three who has a third-grader and a preschooler at Steinbeck Elementary, says the new maps are an improvement because it would be safer for parents and children who walk to school. But, she notes, the school will lose students, and therefore, funding.

“If there’s not enough funding and classes, you don’t have engaged students, engaged educators,” Perez says.

The plan would have minimal financial impact, officials say.

“Luckily, in Salinas, schools are very close to each other,” Abbasi points out.

The new plan will come to the board at a date to be determined. If approved, it would go into effect the next school year and would impact new students with no siblings at AUSD.

“We want to keep families together,” Abbasi told parents.