Heartbreak in Lakota

I got a phone call from my wife late Friday. I was at the office, shoveling weekend editorial page copy and such. Something was wrong -- that much I could hear in her voice. "I'm just trying to process this information," she told me.

My 9-year-old daughter, who attends one of the fine elementary schools in the Lakota School District, was getting teary. She was given a letter to give to us, saying she could be among the more than 12,000 elementary school students who may not be going to the same school next year.

Parents on Friday were sent letters telling them of plans to reconfigure school attendance boundaries next year, partly because of the school system's fast growth.

Meanwhile, my daughter is one of the early casualties, as are many of her friends -- if uncertainty and potential upheaval make you a casualty. Heartbroken, she fears she will miss friends she's made over the past three years. As the daughter of a journalist, she's moved three times, been in three different schools already and has had to adjust each time.

Our best hope is that the school district takes into account those friendships and community connections, and try to accommodate the kids and their parents as much as possible.