The Liverpool Central School District Board of Education is continuing to deal with questions pertaining to the redistricting project set to go into effect in September of 2015.
At its last regular meeting, held June 9, the board made decisions on several matters with regard to the plan.
First of all, the board decided that sixth-graders would not be “grandfathered” under the new plan. Several parents had asked if their upcoming sixth-graders could finish out their elementary careers at their current schools. However, the board decided not to allow it.
The board also voted with regard to students who had previously attended Wetzel Road Elementary School. WRE was closed at the end of the 2009-10 school year, and many of its former students were sent to either Elmcrest or Willow Field. According to the board’s decision on June 9, WRE’s former students would not be relocated again in 2015 unless their families wished to do so.
Finally, the board voted to continue the district’s babysitter affidavit process, which allows families to send children to schools other than their home school because their child care provider lives in a different neighborhood. Children can then attend the home school of the babysitter.
“It will be restructured in such a way that it will give students living near their home schools priority placements over students with affidavits,” said BOE President Patricia Rosier.
The BOE voted to go ahead with redistricting at its Dec. 2 meeting. The board will not determine how the new district lines are drawn; that will be up to consultant Ellen Kuno and Liverpool’s redistricting committee made up of some 60 LCSD parents, teachers and administrators. Since last spring, the committee has been gathering data and crafting a recommendation for new geographic boundaries, as well as program and student placements, in time for the start of the 2014-15 school year. At least three parents and one teacher represent each elementary and middle school on the committee. The group, led by Kuno, former assistant superintendent for elementary education, created a series of different scenarios to determine how district lines could be redrawn.
The board has said it will generally follow the committee’s recommendation for Scenario 12, which redrew the district lines so that most of Liverpool’s students would attend their home school (the school to which they live the closest). The only exception would be if they require special services like English as a second language (ESL) classes or special education services not provided at their home school. Specifics of the scenario can be found at liverpool.k12.ny.us/webpages/lredistricting/files/redistrictingupdate111813.pdf.
At its next meeting, the board will continue to discuss redistricting. They’ll deal with the question of siblings of English language learners and special education students; should those students be redistricted, or will they attend school with their siblings? The board will also look at the apartment complexes within the district to determine whether they’ll be affected by the plan.
The board next meets at 7 p.m. Monday, June 23, at the district office in Bayberry.
