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01/01/2018 11:00 PMThe Board of Education (BOE) had recently been considering two options for the reconfiguration of the town’s middle schools. With the district contracting down to two elementary schools, 4th graders will be moving up to the middle level; the issue had been how to divide grades 4 through 8 at Brown Middle School and Polson Middle School.
At the BOE meeting on Dec. 19, the board confirmed it will move forward with the original assumed model: Brown holds grades 4 and 5 and Polson holds 6 to 8.
The assumed model, or what had been assumed while the BOE considered shrinking the elementary schools, involved moving the 4th grade up to Brown and the 6th grade up to Polson. Scarice said there are advantages to this model because a grades 6 to 8 model is fairly common, there are few “one time” moving costs, and there is a central location for grades 6 to 12. In addition, this model provides opportunities to expand theater, arts, and music programs for the 4th grade and keep students who start at Ryerson on the same campus through the 5th grade.
This model also has its challenges with smaller classroom sizes for the 4th and 5th grades due to the current layout of Brown, longer bus runs for younger students, and no room for expansion at Brown due to the building’s footprint. In addition, this model would likely increase the number of school transitions for some of the younger students in the district.
The early costs for the assumed model range from $144,880 to $189,880, depending on a combination of necessary costs and preferable costs.
An alternative idea was also placed before the board, which involves grouping grades 4 to 6 at Polson Middle School and grades 7 and 8 at Brown Middle School. This option had high moving costs and Scarice said the board ultimately decided it would be better to stick with the assumed model.
“Even though the referendum failed, it was a model that had Brown as a 4-5 and Polson as a 6-8,” he said. “The administrative team put in many hours vetting that idea, which I am proud of and the board went through a retreat on just this topic last meeting and the consensus is strong on both sides to stay with what the original configuration is.”
Making a decision by Dec. 19 was a deadline for Scarice because if the board wants to stay on track to close Island in June 2019, a decision would need to be made soon; the fiscal year 2018-’19 budget the board will debate this month will include the budget for June 2019.
Since there was no change in plan from what had been assumed in terms of the middle school model, the BOE did not have to vote on the model.
“If there was a switch, I would have made a formal recommendation and we would vote but there is no need,” he said. “I can affirm the target date can definitely be met. The administrative team has gotten together and we are very comfortable with meeting that target date. We weren’t two months ago, but now we are.”
With a set model and closure date for Island, Scarice had previously discussed some of the additional changes that will have to take place within the district, including the construction of a new playground at Brown.
“No matter what, we are going from 10 administrators at the building level to nine. No matter what, we will follow our class size guidelines and our teachers will still filter into where the classrooms are,” he said, noting that the schools would use the opportunity to eliminate any instances of redundant staff in the system, such as with some support services. “[W]ith the closure of Island, that is where those reductions would be.”