Frequently Asked Questions

Updated elementary, middle, and high school boundary maps are available on the district’s Redistricting Hub. Families can also view maps showing areas of change for each grade band.

Because maps are broad visual references, families should use the district’s official School Locator Tool to confirm the exact school assignment for their residence.

High schools: Dublin Coffman, Dublin Jerome
Middle schools: Eversole Run, Sells
Elementary schools*: Abraham Depp, Bailey, Eli Pinney, Deer Run, Glacier Ridge

*Wyandot and Bishop elementary schools will welcome new students through the updated boundaries; however, current students already assigned to Wyandot or Bishop will not be reassigned as part of this boundary change.

Families should use the School Locator Tool to search their home address and view the assigned elementary, middle, and high school for the 2027-2028 school year.

If your child’s 2027-2028 assigned school is different from their current school assignment, your child is impacted by the updated boundaries.

New boundaries will be effective at the start of the 2027-2028 school year.

This comprehensive redistricting process is designed to address enrollment imbalances across the district and support more sustainable use of school facilities as Dublin City Schools continues to grow.

At the high school level, the primary goal is to reduce near-term enrollment pressure at Jerome High School and adjust attendance boundaries in a way that supports balanced growth across Coffman, Jerome, and Scioto. The district’s long-term goal is for each high school to serve approximately 2,000 students over the next five to ten years.

At the elementary level, several schools are currently at or near capacity, with continued enrollment growth projected in the coming years. Abraham Depp Elementary is already using modular classrooms and is projected to exceed the capacity of those additional spaces in the near future. At the same time, other elementary schools have available space that can accommodate additional students.

Rather than addressing elementary boundary changes separately in one to two years, Woolpert recommended a single, comprehensive redistricting process that evaluated elementary, middle, and high school attendance boundaries together. This approach allows the district to balance enrollment more effectively across grade levels, improve feeder pattern alignment, and reduce the likelihood of multiple rounds of boundary changes in the near future.

Woolpert was selected to conduct a comprehensive boundary analysis and recommend a map aligned with the Board’s adopted criteria. Woolpert is a national K-12 demographic, GIS, and facility planning firm with experience supporting school districts through enrollment analysis, boundary planning, and long-range facility planning.

Redistricting decisions were guided by Board Policy 5120 and the boundary criteria adopted by the Board of Education on May 21, 2026.

Woolpert evaluated multiple boundary scenarios using student enrollment data, building capacity, projected housing growth, transportation factors, travel times and distances, feeder patterns, geography, and long-term facility use.

The Board’s adopted criteria included:

• Student enrollment and building capacity
• Safe transportation and travel
• Convenience of access to schools
• Financial and administrative efficiency
• Effectiveness of the instructional program
• Other relevant legal and operational considerations

The final maps were selected because they most effectively balanced these criteria overall. No boundary scenario could meet every priority perfectly, so the process required careful consideration of tradeoffs, including enrollment balance, student movement, travel patterns, feeder alignment, and future growth.

The Board did not approve or reject any redistricting maps and, under current policies, will not do so going forward. As outlined before, Board Policy 5120 explicitly states that student assignment and implementation are the responsibilities of the superintendent, and that the superintendent is authorized to determine attendance area changes. Under current policies, drawing and implementing the attendance boundaries is an administrative function, not a legislative function.

The final Woolpert report “incorporated ongoing and anticipated residential growth” for the entire Dublin City Schools area. The report, though, included this important caveat that should be applied to Zone In Columbus and any development plans:

“Incorporating future housing growth into the analysis is critical to avoiding short-lived solutions that require additional adjustments in the near future. However, it should be noted that the pace of development and availability of vacant developable land is variable and can change. Residential development, enrollment, and utilization should be reviewed annually, and adjustments should be made to account for developing trends.”

Woolpert noted in its final report: “The final map represents the most effective balance of competing priorities, including balanced enrollment, student stability, feeder pattern alignment, travel times and distances, minimizing the number of students that must utilize a bridge to get to school, and long-term planning considerations.”

As the outside experts on demographic analysis and redistricting, Woolpert had discretion to determine factors such as the importance of minimizing how many students must use a bridge to get to school. The superintendent, in keeping with his redistricting role, accepted Woolpert’s rationale and expertise.

In regard to safe student transportation and travel, the Board Resolution Regarding Boundary Criteria, adopted May 21, also is clear in instructing the superintendent that once redistricting is completed, “the Superintendent is directed to coordinate with the appropriate local governmental entities regarding practicable infrastructure and traffic-safety measures that could be implemented prior to the 2027-28 school year to improve student transportation safety (e.g., traffic signals, traffic patterns, traffic calming, crosswalks, speed-limits, signage, bicycle lanes, and bicycle/pedestrian paths).”

In short, student transportation safety will be one of the priorities in implementing the new school boundaries for the 2027-28 school year.

The district will continue to monitor enrollment, housing development, and building utilization each year. Because growth patterns can change over time, future boundary adjustments may be necessary.

Yes. Impacted students in grades 9-11 during the 2026-2027 school year—the Classes of 2028, 2029, and 2030—may choose to remain at their current high school through graduation, provided their families can provide transportation.

They may also choose to attend the high school assigned to their residence under the new boundaries. Information about the School Determination process will be sent to families in the fall of 2026.

No. Students who are in eighth grade during the 2026-2027 school year, the Class of 2031, will attend the high school assigned to their residence under the new boundaries beginning in 2027-2028.

The option to remain at a current high school applies only to impacted students who are in grades 9-11 during the 2026-2027 school year, the Classes of 2028, 2029, and 2030.

No. Anytime students elect to attend a school different from the school assigned to their residential address, the student or family is responsible for transportation to and from school.

No. Elementary and middle school boundary changes will take effect in the 2027-2028 school year. Unlike the phased high school implementation, elementary and middle school students will attend the school assigned to their residence under the new boundaries beginning that school year.

No. The updated attendance boundaries will not take effect until the 2027-2028 school year.

For the 2026-2027 school year, current attendance boundaries remain in place. Students will continue attending the school assigned to their residence under the current boundaries.

We understand that some families may want to begin the transition early. However, keeping the 2026-2027 school year aligned to current boundaries gives families, students, and staff time to prepare while allowing schools to remain focused on a strong and stable start to the upcoming school year.

No. The intradistrict transfer application window for the 2026-2027 school year was April 1-May 1, and decisions were communicated in early June. That process is now complete, and the district will not reopen intradistrict transfer applications based on the updated 2027-2028 boundaries.

Additionally, Administrative Guideline 5113.01 prohibits intradistrict transfer applications for schools undergoing redistricting.

Yes. While each of our three high schools has its own unique culture, demographics, and traditions, students across Dublin City Schools have access to the same academic programs and opportunities. Our curriculum, course offerings, and graduation requirements remain consistent across all high schools, ensuring that every student has access to Advanced Placement (AP) courses, International Baccalaureate (IB), College Credit Plus (CCP), career-technical programs, and a wide range of electives—no matter which high school they attend. Additionally, resources are allocated equitably based on student needs. This includes English Learner (EL) support, special education services, and staffing, ensuring that all students receive the support necessary for their success.

Yes. Students with disabilities will attend school in the attendance area outlined in the redistricting plan. Resources will be provided to meet the requirements of each student’s Individualized Education Plan.

Change can be challenging, and Dublin City Schools is committed to supporting students and families through the transition. During the 2026-2027 school year, district and building leaders will work together to prepare for the new boundaries.

In the spring, schools will host transition activities and opportunities for impacted students to become more familiar with their new school community. Principals, counselors, and school teams will share additional details as transition plans are developed.

All schools will be staffed to address changing enrollment numbers. The Human Resources Department will re-assign teachers as needed.

Additional information will be shared with families throughout the 2026-2027 school year.

Families of impacted high school students will receive specific information this fall about the School Determination Form and their options for 2027-2028.

Planning NEXT, a nationally recognized planning firm, worked in partnership with the district to facilitate the redistricting focus groups. This collaboration ensured a professional, neutral environment while drawing from a broad and representative pool of community participants.

To ensure diverse representation, the district provided Planning NEXT with comprehensive stakeholder data. This included rosters of current engagement groups, attendance and invitation lists from May 2024 focus groups, Board of Education public participation records, and participant lists from the October 2024 high school redistricting listening sessions.

From these datasets, Planning NEXT randomly selected individuals to invite to the March 2–10 focus groups. To allow for meaningful dialogue, group sizes were kept small, ranging from 3 to 9 participants. Of the 177 individuals who RSVP’d, 153 community members participated in the sessions.

A total of 24 focus groups were conducted between March 2 and March 10 to gather detailed feedback from across the district.

The public opinion polling was conducted by Fallon Research. Because scientific polling relies on statistically significant sample sizes to accurately reflect the views of the entire community, it is not necessary—nor standard practice—to survey every resident. Once the required sample size was reached to ensure a high level of accuracy, the polling was concluded.

Planning NEXT also administered the community-wide survey.

No. If you currently reside within the Dublin City School District, you will remain within the district. School district boundaries are established by the State of Ohio and are not easily changed.

This is not an option. School district boundaries are set by the State of Ohio and can only be changed through a lengthy legal process that requires agreement from both districts — the one giving land and the one receiving it.

It’s important to note that Dublin City Schools is not the same as the City of Dublin. Our school district extends beyond city limits and includes families in several communities. While the name can cause confusion, our district boundaries are established and cannot be redrawn as part of this process.

Constructing a new high school would be extremely costly, take years to complete, and we do not yet have the enrollment needed to fill a fourth building. Redistricting allows us to make the best use of the facilities we already have while planning responsibly for the future.

Yes. Housing developments were an important part of the boundary analysis.

Woolpert considered current enrollment, projected enrollment, housing yields, known residential development, and potential growth on undeveloped land when developing and evaluating boundary scenarios. This was especially important because much of the district’s future growth is projected in the northwest portion of the district.

The goal was not only to address current enrollment imbalances, but also to create boundaries that can remain as stable as possible over the next five to ten years. Because the pace and timing of development can change, the district will continue to monitor enrollment and housing growth annually.

Yes. Local property taxes are the primary source of funding for Dublin City Schools, and all residents contribute, including those residing in Plain City and Columbus.

In Ohio, school district boundaries are not the same as city boundaries. Dublin City Schools extends far beyond the City of Dublin — across three counties and several municipalities. A mailing address or ZIP code does not determine district assignment — state-established school district boundaries do.

Forty-six percent of Dublin City Schools students live in the City of Dublin, and 33.3% live in the City of Columbus.

Our students also come from:

• Plain City
• Powell
• Shawnee Hills
• Upper Arlington
• Hilliard

If a home sits inside the Dublin City Schools boundary map, the students who live there are Dublin City Schools students.

No. New subdivisions, zoning decisions, density, and land-use approvals are made by municipalities, counties, and townships — not by school districts. Our role is to educate the students who reside within our legally established boundary once those decisions are made.