The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school board will soon vote on residential boundary changes.
After two years of studying the district’s 30-plus-year-old school zones and gathering community feedback, officials say the proposed updates will address several different issues.
Frank Pantano, one of the leads on the project, says transportation efficiency is one of them.
“I have families call me all the time like, 'Why is Piney Grove a mile down the road from me, but I have to drive to Walkertown, 10 miles? Why is that?' Well, good news. We're trying to make the change," Pantano said. "We need to get the implementation done, but we're able to fix that.”
He says the adjustments will save the district more than 1,700 miles a day and over $1 million a year. They also reduce splits in school feeder patterns, which can separate students from their friends.
Pantano added that most of the students being rezoned are being assigned to schools they’d already been attending through the district’s choice program. By making those their residential schools, they’ll regain bus transportation, which was cut last year amid the district's financial crisis.
The school board will consider approving the implementation in May. Changes will go into effect in the 2027-28 school year.