With discussion emerging about the potential elimination of the high school boundaries, Palo Alto Unified School District officials are weighing the pros and cons of giving students the option to choose which school they attend.

Superintendent Don Austin addressed concerns about enrollment imbalance at a student council meeting. 

“Some students were concerned about the choice being made by parents instead of them,” Austin said in an update on Jan. 17. “For that reason, some sided with the idea that boundaries are good and provide some certainty.” However, he added that “simply loosening up the transfer process would be a good first step.”

Palo Alto High School Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson acknowledged that the idea is still in its early stages but sees many reasons why it may be worth considering. 

“One of them [reasons] is, why not?” Berkson said. “Two is, why not give the students a choice when we can?”

Currently, students who wish to attend a high school outside of their designated boundary must go through a lengthy transfer process. Berkson noted some students attempt to justify their transfer by requesting unique class offerings, such as glassblowing, offered at one school but not the other, rather than their actual preference for a school. However, concerns were raised about the potential imbalance of enrollment between Paly and Gunn, as more students seek to transfer to Paly than to Gunn. Berkson suggested that enrollment limits would be created to prevent over enrollment. 

“I think they’d have to cut it off at some point,” he said. “If it did happen, it would start with a freshman class and grow from there.”

With the proposal in its early stages, Berkson expects discussions to continue into next year. 

“I’m sure there’ll be a lot of discussions at the board level,” Berkson said.