Sunday, October 13, 1996

AISD fine-tuning board meeting postponed By LESLIE STRADER
Staff Writer

Abilene citizens will have to wait another week before hearing the school administration's proposal for fine-tuning the boundaries.

Abilene's Superintendent Charles Hundley has postponed Monday's school board meeting one week in order to give the administration more time to refine the proposed map for the boundary fine-tuning.

Monday's 5:30 p.m. meeting was scheduled for Hundley to present his proposed plan for fine-tuning AISD attendance zone boundaries. His staff and an Austin demographer have been working on a proposed map for the past few weeks.

"I have spoken with school board President Betty Davis and requested a week's postponement of the Oct. 14 school board meeting," Hundley said in a press release.

Davis approved Hundley's request, he said, and rescheduled the meeting for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 21 in the west cafeteria of Abilene High School.

Hundley said the reason for the postponement is to give the district more time to hone the fine-tuning plan.

"The administration has requested the postponement for several days to do further refining of the boundary proposal," he said. "It is vitally important that the administration be able to defend any and all parts of the proposal which is to be made.

"A project of this complexity requires meticulous attention to detail."

The boundary fine-tuning schedule is now set as follows:

- Oct. 21 - Receive superintendent's boundary fine-tuning proposal
- Oct. 28 - Receive alternate boundary fine-tuning proposal from any citizen who may wish to present one
- Nov. 4 - Hold special meeting to receive public input and reaction to superintendent's proposal and to any other proposals received
- November - Board deliberates on boundary matters
- Dec. 9 - Target date for board decision on boundary fine-tuning
Board President Betty Davis said she and the rest of the board are comfortable with giving Hundley and his staff more time if it means making the map more clear.

"We want him to feel comfortable with what he's recommending," she said. "It's fine-tuning - it's just that, and there's a lot of different routes we can take. If he needs more time to put it together in a way he feels good about, the board is very comfortable with that because it's not anything we need to rush into."