Schools

K-L Board Members Talk Details for School Closure Group

Katonah-Lewisboro's school board is taking steps to shape the new School Closure Task Force Committee, with three board members opting to join it.

Board trustees, including Vice President Marjorie Schiff, Janet Harckham and Richard Stone, agreed to join after a discussion at the board's July 3 reorganizational meeting. The committee was officially established by a vote of the board, which included two now-former members, in late June and at the close of the previous school year.

Board President Charles Day, summarizing what will be done next based on discussion, explained that his colleagues will meet with administrators and report back to the board during an August meeting, when the body will decide what to do next. Meanwhile, there will be a chance for people in the community to apply to join the committee.

Discussing what can be done this summer, Assistant Superintendent for Business Michael Jumper said that the board members on the committee can meet with administrations to discuss requirements for the committee, whose is mandated is mandated by the state when a district considers a school closure.

The new committee will effectively be the successor to the district's School Utilization Committee, which studied several school and grade restructuring scenarios. The committee, whose findings were submitted last month, came up with two models for further consideration. One involves closing one of the district's four elementary schools while keeping the grade configuration at K-5 for each. The other option would result in closing two schools and moving fifth grade to John Jay Middle School, leaving the remaining elementary schools to operate on a K-4 model.

The district's interest in closing 1-2 schools stems from a precipitous drop in student enrollment over recent and coming years, as well as way to do extensive cost cutting amid a tight financial climate. 

Superintendent Paul Kreutzer noted that the earliest a closure could be done is for the 2014-15 school year, which would mean having public feedback this fall. Board member Janet Harckham, who served on the previous committee and will serve as chair, said that its official charge involves putting together a formal report called an educational impact study, a hearing and then a school board decision on whether or not a closure will happen.

Talk also touched on what should be included in the committee's process. Schiff suggested that a need to reopen a school should be looked at. Kreutzer responded by noting that things like cost and process would follow and inversion of what is done for a closure.

Trustee Stephanie Tobin suggested that the task force's size should be smaller and that it should not be an "opinion committee" but rather one that engages in fact finding.

Board members and Kreutzer also discussed having the meetings open to the public.

Day, towards the end of the board's discussion of the topic, cautioned that the board has not decided how many schools should close or which ones would be picked. During public comment of the meeting, former board member Peter Breslin, who stepped down on June 30 and voted for establishing the task force, felt that his former colleagues are having “robust discussion.” He also felt that the committee's charge is generic enough so that other items discussed for inclusion might be permitted. 


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