Redistricting School Boundaries

December 10th meeting, 6:00 p.m., via Zoom webinar

Communication sent to all District 95 families on 12/4/20:

(Includes Impacted Subdivisions and Maps)

Advisory Boundary Committee

In September, 2020, the Department of Business and Operations sought local community members or parents/guardians of elementary or middle school students who reside within District 95’s attendance areas to serve on this Board committee.

Objective of the Committee

The objective of the Boundary Committee is to create one to three different plans that meet the objectives of the Board in realigning school enrollment. Recommended boundary plans will include preparation for the removal of mobile classrooms currently on the property of Spencer Loomis Elementary School, as well as the elimination of the need for additional classrooms captured at Middle School North to support Spencer Loomis. The plans will also incorporate the opening of the district’s new May Whitney Elementary School, which has been designed to support a larger number of elementary students and/or specialized programming for identified students. Finally, recommended adjustments will also include middle school attendance areas as the current enrollments at that level are also unbalanced. A final recommendation is planned to take effect to start the 2021-22 school year when the new May Whitney Elementary School is scheduled to open.

Committee Members

Committee membership was limited. Volunteers were solicited and selection preference was be given to local community members and parents/guardians who have students attending an elementary school and/or middle school. The committee consists of district administrators as well as one community member or parent/guardian from each school except the high school.

Third Party Facilitation

The district has partnered with a third party, RSP & Associates, to facilitate the work of the committee. The duties of committee members will include evaluating student enrollment, demographic information, bus transportation, and real estate data, in order to prepare well-informed elementary and middle school boundary recommendations for the School Board’s consideration.

Boundary Committee meetings have been scheduled for September 17, October 1, and November 19^th at 6:00 p.m. In addition to its regular meetings, the Boundary Committee will also attend two Community Input Sessions where the general public is asked to review the committee’s boundary proposals and to provide feedback on each plan’s perceived strengths and weaknesses. These input sessions are scheduled for October 13^th and October 14^th at 7:00 p.m.

Boundary Committee Meetings

Boundary committee meetings were held on September 17, October 1, and November 19; information about each meeting can be found below.  Please note, boundary committee meetings are open to the public.

**An additional meeting has been added on December 10th at 6:00 p.m.** For details on how to watch the meeting and options being explored, see the section  above titled "December 10th , 2020 Boundary Meeting".

The October 1st meeting was recorded and can be viewed here:  https://youtu.be/OoK5DOMBtDo. 

Public Input Sessions

In addition, two public input sessions were held virtually for parent/community members on October 13th and 14th. Recordings of these meetings are available on our website through the links below:

October 13th Community Input Session - Livestream Recording

October 14th Community Input Session - Livestream Recording

Final Plan

A final redistricting plan is planned to be presented to the Board of Education by the end of January 2021. Implementation of the plan is expected for the start of the 2021-22 School Year.

Recording of Community Input Sessions

District 95 conducted two virtual Boundary Community Input Sessions to gather feedback on draft boundary options for the redistricting that will be adopted for the 2021-22 school year.  The Boundary Community Input Sessions included a live presentation by Rob Schwarz of RSP & Associates, the third-party firm that is facilitating the process. Both sessions were recorded and can be accessed on our website from the following links:

Feedback 

Will my family be impacted by the district’s redistricting plans (boundary map changes)?

In accordance with the action plans defined by the District 95 strategic plan, Forward 95, the district is embarking on a redistricting project during the 2020-21 school year. The implementation of the new boundaries will coincide with the opening of a new May Whitney Elementary School in Fall 2021, replacing the old May Whitney School on the same grounds at 100 Church Street.

Until the boundary project is completed, we are unable to determine any potential school changes to residents, however attendance boundaries at all of our elementary and middle schools may be impacted by these changes.

Why is the district planning to redistrict?

Over time, communities may have more student population growth in one part of the community than another which can lead to an imbalance of students enrolled in the district schools. This can lead to overcrowding at some schools and underutilization of space at others. As part of the Forward 95 strategic plan, Action Plan 4C 19B was established to “develop and implement a district enrollment map that enrolls students in schools according to criteria maximizing student and family engagement, student learning, and fiscal responsibility.” The rationale for action is to balance enrollment across the district schools relative to their respective capacities to ensure equitable learning outcomes, long term sustainability of physical resources, and greater fiscal responsibility.

How will the redistricting process work?

To assist in the redistricting efforts, the Board has engaged the services of RSP & Associates. RSP & Associates will complete both the 1) Enrollment Analysis and Student Projects, and 2) Boundary Analysis as well as the public facilitation.