SENECA — The next school year is the time when Oconee County schools, as the result of the current building project, will operate one less elementary school in the Seneca area.

A small group of roughly 10 concerned parents attended a meeting Thursday night in the Harry Hamilton Auditorium at Seneca High School to hear about the change in attendance lines.

“First of all, our goal in the school district is to be efficient,” said Michael Lucas, superintendent of the School District of Oconee County. “The state provides transportation, and we provide the school buildings. All of our schools in Seneca are top-notch. We’re excited that we will have a new Blue Ridge Elementary School. Northside Elementary will essentially be a brand-new school with the new additions, and Ravenel Elementary went through a renovation a few years ago. So, I think parents and students will be happy. We had to redraw some attendance lines, but our goal is to make sure parents and students have options.”

The options to which Lucas referred are found in the school choice program, which allows students in Oconee County to attend any school provided a family supplies their own transportation for the children. Students will have the choice of staying in the school they currently attend, but transportation might not be provided now that some attendance lines have been changed.

“The state provides transportation to the closest school, and that’s what we’ll be doing with the rezoning,” Lucas said. “But if a parent does want to continue in a particular school they would have that option to transport their child each day. If parents have concerns, we encourage them to let us know. And if transportation is an issue, we have actually done some things in the past to accommodate students.”

The proposed changes in attendance lines primarily will affect students now attending Code Elementary School and Kellett Elementary School. Those two schools will be closed, and students will be disbursed between Ravenel Elementary School, Northside Elementary School and the new Blue Ridge Elementary School.

“One hundred percent of students now at Code will go to Blue Ridge,” said Michael Thorsland, assistant superintendent of the School District of Oconee County. “Half of the students at Kellett will attend Blue Ridge, and the other half will attend Northside. Geography was a major factor we used to redraw lines. We want to make sure that our schools are equitable in the number of students. We also looked at proximity to ensure that students do not live a great distance from their schools.”

The biggest concern raised by parents at the meeting was students’ ability to adjust to a new school.

“Having to move and come up with new friends is traumatic for a child,” said Tiffany Rogers, a concerned parent of a Ravenel student. “I’m an educator. I know what the kids can and can’t handle, and you just don’t do that. You don’t up and jerk a child out that young (causing them to lose) friends because they won’t be going to the same school. We moved to Newry because I wanted my kids to go to Ravenel, and now they have to go to a different school. It’s not fair.”

The School Board of Trustees still must approve the proposed attendance line changes. The board is scheduled to examine them at their meetings in December and January before voting on them. Parents are encouraged to e-mail or write school officials to express their concerns and see if a reasonable solution can be reached.