As you are likely aware, the District began construction on its fourth comprehensive high school, Liberty High School, in February 2019. The school will open in August 2021 to 9th and 10th grade students. For the 2022-23 school year, the school will serve 9th-11th grade, and for the 2023-24 school year, all four grade levels will be present making 2024 the first graduating class!
Boundaries for Liberty High School were adopted by the Board of Trustees on February 12, 2020. The 215 Freeway will be the boundary to the west, Newport Road/Domenigoni Parkway to the north, and the existing District boundaries to the south and east. This action also modifies the boundaries for both Paloma Valley High School and Heritage High School. The boundaries were developed through careful review and analysis of past, current and projected enrollment patterns throughout the District, as well as in close consultation with the County of Riverside, City of Menifee, City of Perris and City of Murrieta planning departments to identify and analyze likely future enrollment trends due to projected development activity over the next ten years. Based on current long-range projections, the boundaries allow for each high school within the District to have a small amount of remaining student capacity relative to their respective maximum capacity in 10 years.
The District will also continue to utilize its existing “open enrollment policy” in which a student may choose to attend a school outside of his/her attendance area if space is available and if the student provides his/her transportation from home to the school of choice. This provides our families with the option to attend LIberty High School, or any high school within the District for that matter, based on programs offered at one school over another, or simply based on their personal preference.
Students who will be in the 10th grade when Liberty High School opens may choose to stay at either Paloma Valley High School or Heritage High School to finish high school, or they may attend Liberty High School. However, students selecting the option to stay at Paloma or Heritage will not be provided transportation even if they were previously eligible. Transportation will continue to be offered to students living 5 or more miles from the school within their previous attendance boundary if they are in 11th or 12th grade during the 2021-22 school year, and to those who are in 12th grade during the 2022-23 school year.
We can’t wait for August 2021 when we open Liberty High School, home of the Bison!
