AUBURN - Parents of elementary school-aged children in the Auburn Enlarged City School District learned more about plans to reconfigure the existing boundaries that separate the elementary schools on Wednesday.
During a meeting held at Auburn High School Wednesday evening, Superintendent Joseph D. “J.D” Pabis presented a brief overview of the proposed changes, which require board of education approval.
Genesee Elementary, a school that has little physical space and is currently overcrowded, would become a community school, Pabis said, accepting walking students who live no further than three-quarters of a mile away from the school.
Pabis said the decision was based upon class size - which can be as large as 25 students per classroom at Genesee and as low as 16 at Owasco Elementary School - and the safety of students living north of the Arterial who, earlier in the year, had to walk across the busy road to get to school.
Under the proposed plan, those children would now be attending Casey Park Elementary School.
By doing that, Casey Park would become overcrowded, Pabis said, so some students would need be relocated to other elementary schools.
From there, it became necessary to look at all of the elementary schools, Pabis said, and balance the student population so that each school provides equal learning opportunities.
“In order to be fair and equitable for all students, we have to look at the big picture and try to balance it all out, so all students can have equal opportunity,” he said.
Placement of students was determined to provide “maximum utilization of facilities and resources,” Pabis said, which includes class size, staff, transportation and the physical capacities of each building.
Parents with children who will be entering the fifth grade next September would have the option to stay at the original school for the final year. Younger siblings would not have an option, and would be relocated at the start of the next academic year. Orientations would be available for transferring students.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
Genesee Elementary, a school that has little physical space and is currently overcrowded, would become a community school, Pabis said, accepting walking students who live no further than three-quarters of a mile away from the school.
Pabis said the decision was based upon class size - which can be as large as 25 students per classroom at Genesee and as low as 16 at Owasco Elementary School - and the safety of students living north of the Arterial who, earlier in the year, had to walk across the busy road to get to school.
Under the proposed plan, those children would now be attending Casey Park Elementary School.
By doing that, Casey Park would become overcrowded, Pabis said, so some students would need be relocated to other elementary schools.
From there, it became necessary to look at all of the elementary schools, Pabis said, and balance the student population so that each school provides equal learning opportunities.
“In order to be fair and equitable for all students, we have to look at the big picture and try to balance it all out, so all students can have equal opportunity,” he said.
Placement of students was determined to provide “maximum utilization of facilities and resources,” Pabis said, which includes class size, staff, transportation and the physical capacities of each building.
Parents with children who will be entering the fifth grade next September would have the option to stay at the original school for the final year. Younger siblings would not have an option, and would be relocated at the start of the next academic year. Orientations would be available for transferring students.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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