Concerned Springfield parents had the chance to help choose their child's school Thursday night.
The school district held an open forum to present potential boundary changes for next year and the community was invited to weigh in.
Attendance was low but the people who came were passionate.
The district proposed a number of options for each of the five high schools- the goal is to have most middle schools feed into just one high school and alleviate overcrowding in the southwest Springfield.
Not everyone agrees either of those are necessary.
"I wanted to be aware of what's going on."
It's safe to say Shirley Powell already is.
She's got two kids at north Springfield’s Westport Elementary, two at Study Middle School, and she herself is a graduate of central high school.
She doesn't want any of that to change, but change is exactly what's on the docket.
“We have neighborhoods changing. Boundaries have to be adjusted with neighborhoods changing.”
Superintendent Norm Ritter says they have to- there's overcrowding in the southwest and confusing feeder patterns all over the district.
“We are very tight on our enrollment figures in the southwest. We have six kindergartens at McBride, four good-sized kindergartens at Gray."
Shirley and other parents and teachers got a first-hand look at proposed boundary changes at a meeting inside Central High School.
If they go into effect, some students will be playing musical schools.
For parents who are concerned about their children switching schools there's always grandfathering options.
Under a number of different circumstances a student can stay at his or her school even if the boundaries change.
Some suggested changes are more drastic- the district is considering turning Westport into a K-8 school and Study into an alternative middle school.
Neither of those sat well with Shirley, but some other options did.
“I would like to see study become a choice school. I would love to see them offer more hands-on science and technology,” she says.
For now, it's parents who have the choice.
That is until a decision is made in November.
They can share their opinions on the school district's website until then.
You can also ask the district to come to your school to do a presentation on the changes that will affect you.
Just log on to http://springfieldpublicschoolsmo.org for more information.