The Board of Education approved a redistricting plan Thursday that will shift about 200 students throughout the city elementary schools.
The plan approved Thursday is a modified version of an earlier draft proposal that took into account some parent feedback and tried to keep the school sizes as equal as possible, said Assistant Superintendent Lorraine Rossner.
Rossner’s presentation is shown in the document below. The article continues after the document.
“The three large schools are in a bit better range to each other now,” Rossner said about the revisions.
The redistricting plan was necessary because Lafayette School is scheduled to close at the end of the year.
The 149 students from Lafayette will be distributed to Long Hill, Elizabeth Shelton and Sunnyside schools.
In the approved plan, Lafayette students will still be distributed as proposed in the most recent proposal.
But the distribution of students among other schools was altered slightly in the approved plan in order to keep more students in their existing schools and keep school sizes even.
For example, about 45 students who were scheduled to be moved out of Long Hill School will end up staying there under the plan.
Another five students who were scheduled to be moved from Mohegan School to Booth Hill School will end up staying at Mohegan next year.
The final school sizes are as follows:
- Booth Hill School: 362
- Elizabeth Shelton School: 480
- Long Hill School: 425
- Mohegan School: 458
- Sunnyside School: 250
Next Steps
The approval of the plan allows the district to start generating attendance lists, which is the first step to scheduling bus routes.
Once bus routes are mapped out, the district will know better what times the schools will start and end.
The redistricting will mean that all elementary schools will likely start and end at the same time, Rossner said.
Currently there are two different start times for the elementary schools.
That change will mean the district needs two fewer buses, a cost savings of $90,000.