School District Realignment Plans Narrowed to Two Scenarios

Two Plymouth-Canton elementary schools face closures in a school board vote this month as the district attempts to "right-size" itself and make efficient use of its buildings.

Administrators have weighed several realignment configurations that would each close different schools. The district narrowed these options down to just two, with the cuts primarily coming at the elementary level.

One plan, dubbed Scenario 1B during community forums on the topic, would close and elementaries and relocate the Tanger Center special education program and toward the center of the district.

According to Phil Freeman, assistant superintendent for facilities and operations, the elementary buildings had the lowest amount of current usage for instruction and have among the highest overhead costs while impacting the least amount of elementary students.

Freeman spoke Tuesday at a community forum at , where community members gave input on the proposed changes.

A plan introduced later during district discussions about the closings, Scenario 1C, would close and elementaries while relocating Tanger Center and Starkweather High School.

Freeman cited many of the same criteria as Scenario 1B for considering 1C.

Scenarios that would drastically alter the grade format for elementary buildings have been taken off the table, given the curriculum implications and relatively short timeline to implement the changes in time for the 2012-13 school year, Freeman said.

One of these scenarios would have split buildings into K-2 and 3-5 grade-level buildings and form "sister" schools, while the others would have adopted a K-6 format in some buildings, while others remained with a traditional K-5 format.

Plans would save district money

While both Scenario 1B and 1C would save the district money, the plans offer the least savings of all the proposed scenarios, but would also cause the least amount of changes for students. Both plans are estimated to save between $1.68-1.93 million annually.

Plans that would have adopted a K-6 format would have saved as much as $3.52 million annually, but would have closed more district buildings.

According to Freeman, none of the proposed changes will affect class size.

All-day kindergarten necessitates changes

With the district's move to all-day kindergarten in the fall, an increase in kindergarten classrooms is needed, Freeman said.

The district would need to increase its kindergarten classroom inventory from 29 to 47 to accommodate the change, affecting 10 of the district's 16 elementary-level buildings.

District looks to lessen impact of realignment

With the changes also will come personnel moves and layoffs, and the district is handling the changes with sensitivity, said Frank Ruggirello, the district's director of community relations.

"We'll make sure it's done absolutely right," he said.

Many parent comments, which were written and submitted to Ruggirello to read at the meeting, addressed the realignment's impact on elementary students who had grown accustomed to their classmates and building staff members.

One comment addressed issues of teasing among students about whose schools were closing.

Superintendent Jeremy Hughes said the district is planning a series of "transitional activities" for students to help them adapt to moving to a new building and for students at existing schools to welcome their new classmates.

With the pending realignment, the district also is hoping to reduce its number of portable classroom units, Freeman said.

Board vote coming this month

The Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Board of Education is scheduled to vote on one of the two changes during its March 27 meeting. A meeting will be scheduled before then to allow the board to hear community comments, Hughes said.

That meeting had been scheduled for March 20 at Discovery Middle School, but will need to be moved because of a scheduling conflict, Hughes said.