The Iowa City School District boundary-change committee critiqued possible redistricting solutions Thursday in preparation for two public forums next week.

Consultants suggested Northwest Junior High eighth-graders who live south of Interstate 80 remain at Northwest for ninth grade beginning in the fall of 2012.

But most committee members agreed that splitting the Northwest ninth-grade students from those who continue on to high school would affect them academically, athletically, and financially.

Members were also concerned about the disparity of the number of free and reduced lunch students at each school as well as new busing costs.

After the public forums, the district will assess the plans and change them accordingly.

“Public forums are designed to get feedback from the community,” Superintendent Lane Plugge said. “What we take from the forums is not the final product. We’re still going to be working on it.”

Public forums will be held Feb. 4 at Parkview Church, 15 Foster Road, and on Feb. 5 in the Sheraton Hotel Amos Dean Ballroom, 210 S. Dubuque St. Both forums will start at 7 p.m.

— by Marleen Linares