As construction crews drive in the pilings for the new Henry Mayfield Elementary to be built off U.S. Highway 190 in Slidell, a committee is doing its own work to hammer out the boundaries for the school.

The committee charged with making a recommendation to the School Board this spring met for the first time Tuesday evening.

At that meeting Superintendent Gayle Sloan and Elementary Supervisor Amiee Woessner presented the 12 member committee made up of Woessner, Administrative Supervisor John Cousin, principals Linda Bankston and Tony Esposito, four teachers and four parents, with three possible scenarios for boundary lines for the new school.

Nick Sicomo looks at one of the maps of the proposed boundaries for the future Henry Mayfield Elementary. (Staff Photo by Suzanne Le Breton)

Ground was broken on the new school, which will serve students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, in September of last year.

The school site is located on the south side of U.S. Highway 190, east of Thompson Road and west of Tranquility Road.

Construction underway, and the school is set to open for the start of the 2011-2012 school year.

This school is being built to relieve overcrowding issues at Bayou Woods Elementary School and Carolyn Park Middle School.

William Gumas, who was present at the meeting Tuesday night, said he is “ecstatic” about the new school opening.

“This area is exploding,” he said, adding that the new school is needed because Bayou Woods, where his daughter is in the third grade, has “too many kids.”

Sloan hopes to have a recommendation before the board for approval this spring, giving them more than enough time to work out the others issues that must be resolved before the new school can open.

“Next school year we have to make decisions about leadership for new schools, what teachers will stay and what teachers will go and sharing resources,” Sloan told parents and residents present at Tuesday’s meeting.

The committee has been charged with developing a set of boundaries for the new school from within the existing boundaries for Bayou Woods and Carolyn Park.

Their recommendation must go before the School Board, who has the final authority over school boundaries.

They can use one of the three maps presented Tuesday night or they can come up with a variation of their own.

Sloan stressed the three map presented Tuesday evening were “only starting points for discussion.”

The first map separates the existing district lines at Airport Road and then follows the bayou around. The second map draws the line at the same place but excludes the Belaire and Meadowbrook subdivisions on the west of Airport Road and includes the neighborhood located behind Northshore Square Mall.

The third map draws the line at Airport Road north of Interstate 12 but moves it over to Thompson Road south of the Interstate.

The maps presented Tuesday night are available on the St. Tammany Parish School Board Web site at www.stpsb.org and are posted at both Bayou Woods and Carolyn Park.

Parents are asked to review the maps and make comments or suggestions, which will be considered by the committee at its next meeting on Feb. 22.

Something being considered when drawing boundary lines is school population numbers.

The new school is being built to accommodate 780 students, but Sloan said she does not want to start it off at full capacity.

On the other hand she wants to shy away for the map number two approach, which would open the new school up with only 445 students.

Demographics are also considered when drawing boundary lines to maintain a diverse population.

Sloan said as the maps evolve and change, parents will be notified and new maps will be posted.

“We want to make sure the public has sufficient time to review maps and make any comments before any decisions are made,” she said.

Sloan said the School Board purchased a total of 80 acres from Tulane University for the school site, leaving room for future growth as well possibly another junior high on site in the future.