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Distance Analysis

Growth of the WCPSS requires student assignment policies designed to accommodate new schools and utilization of existing facilities, while maintaining a healthy academic environment. An analysis of how far the students are from the school they attend by is an integral part of the reassignment process. The following pages show system-wide summaries, and distance analysis for 81 individual elementary schools, 2003-04.

DISTANCE ANALYSIS: System-wide Summaries

Download Summary Tables (School Year 2003-04):
A. Line-of-sight distance of elementary school students from the school they attend (statistics are cumulative over one-mile wide concentric rings around the school) (pdf file)

B. Number of elementary school students who live within a given radial distance from the school they attend (statistics are cumulative over the given radius around the school) (pdf file)

Table 1. Distance Analysis for (K-12) System-wide School Students, 2003-04

K-12 Students Attending School	Number of Students	Percent of Total	K-12 Students Living Within 5 Miles of the School They Attend	Number of Students	Percent of Total
By Assignment	83,883	77.3%	By Assignment	71,769	85.6%
By Choice	24,702	22.7%	By Choice	13,699	55.5%
Total	108,585	100.0%	Total	85,468	78.7%

Table 2. Distance Analysis for (K-5) Elementary School Students, 2003-04

K-5 Students Attending School	Number of Students	Percent of Total	K-5 Students Living Within 5 Miles of the School They Attend	Number of Students	Percent of Total
By Assignment	39,288	75.4%	By Assignment	35,305	89.9%
By Choice	12,808	24.6%	By Choice	8,633	67.4%
Total	52,096	100.0%	Total	43,938	84.3%

Notes: Table 1. shows that system-wide 77.3% of the K-12 students are attending a base-assigned school, and that 85.6% of them live within 5 miles of the school they are assigned to. Table 2. shows that system-wide 75.4% of the K-5 students are attending a base-assigned school, and that 89.9% of them live within 5 miles of the school they are assigned to. It is interesting to note that students attending a school by choice, such as those going to magnet and year-round schools, or transfers who use their own transportation, tend to travel further than “by assignment” students.

Distance Analysis for Individual Elementary Schools (pdf files)

Examples on the right show the distance analysis for Middle Creek Elementary School. In the graph on the left, each green dot represents a student going to that school. Most come from areas close to the school. In the table on the right, accumulation is over one-mile wide concentric rings around the school, with breakdown of student attendance by assignment and by choice.	Examples of Distance Analysis: Map and Table