Schools
Low Will Work to Equalize Middle School Numbers
The superintendent said she would brainstorm a solution not involving redistricting.
Schools superintendent Deborah Low said Monday night that she would work during the upcoming budget creation process on a way to equalize the student populations at the two middle schools in town for next year without using redistricting.
Scotts Ridge Middle School has a larger student population density than East Ridge, an issue that came up at the board's last meeting on Oct. 26 in the midst of a broader discussion about what should be accomplished by any future school system reconfiguration.
Scotts Ridge principal Marie Doyon explained that night that the team approach to academics made the discrepancy a complex issue unsolvable by just adding more teachers to the faculty.
This week, board member Katherine McGerald said she got a parent e-mail about the middle school situation in the interim that said "How can you let it go on another year?"
But board members agreed it was unfair to redistrict for next year when, should a reconfiguration plan to address enrollment declines follow thereafter, some students would be shuffled back and forth more than once.
Low's announcement came during a special meeting the board held to continue the discussion on a potential K-8 reconfiguration.
At the Oct. 26 meeting, members debated whether to eliminate the possibility of making a reconfiguration decision that would take effect in the upcoming school year, with many of them agreeing that such a rapid change would cause a dearth of thorough planning.
The school board has been discussing possibilities for revamping the elementary and middle schools in the face of declining enrollment projections. A committee presented a reconfiguration study to the board in early October outlining various options—including closing an elementary school—but declined to recommend one specific solution.
