By Barbara Heimlich
Editor
Sources: Stratford School Board Minutes, Letter to Parents; Stratford Crier; Richard Chumney, Post Reporter
On December 6th, Heather Borges, Acting Superintendent of the Stratford Public Schools, sent a letter to Stratford families and “interested community members” notifying them that the Board of Education had come to a decision on the redistricting of students.
“After a year of thoughtful discussion and collaboration, we are pleased to share that the Stratford Board of Education has approved Scenario 1 for redistricting, effective for the 2025-2026 school year. This decision was guided by our commitment to ensuring balanced enrollment, equitable opportunities, and compliance with state guidelines across our schools.”
The redistricting plans were designed by SLAM with members of the Board of Education
(SLAM, The S/L/A/M Collaborative, is a Glastonbury-based consulting firm hired to develop the new elementary school boundaries. Please see the May 24, 2024 edition of the Stratford Crier for more complete details on these plans.)
The redistricting proposal from the BOE and SLAM were openly discussed in special public forums as well as during Public Input during Town Council meetings. As early as December 2023 talks were in progress:
“In a survey seeking the public’s input in what is expected to be a months-long redistricting process, a plurality of nearly 1,400 parents, residents and school staffers identified three goals as their top preferences that are outside the mandated state requirements. According to Yvonne Temple, Supervisor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the school system, those 3 goals are:
- Continue neighborhood schools concept
- Ensure equal class sizes across elementary schools
- Disrupt the least number of students
One of the goals of the redistricting was to not only balance out the number of students assigned to a building based on its capacity, but also to address impending racial imbalances across the district.
According to the Connecticut Department of Education, Franklin School and Stratford Academy Johnson House were among twenty schools in Connecticut last year that had impending racial imbalances, with schools having minority students make up 15% to 25% more than the district average for minority students. The state considers a school racially imbalanced when the proportion of minority students exceeds 25 percentage points of that district average. In Stratford, the district is 73.80% minority; Franklin school is 88.93% minority. This is a difference of 15.13%.”
(Stratford School System Redistricting, December 1, 2023, Stratford Crier)
During the November BOE meeting it was decided that students at Bunnell and Stratford high schools will continue to attend their current schools next year after the town school board voted to modify a redistricting plan that would have reassigned more than 150 high schoolers.
The board also voted to allow rising sixth graders to remain enrolled at their current school next fall and made adjustments to a couple of attendance zones for certain elementary school students.
These changes were proposed in part by district employees who recently joined a board committee tasked with developing the long-awaited redistricting plan. Despite being discussed since 2013: “The BOE and SLAM added a number of administrators, teachers and staff to give us some insight on some of the school’s inner workings and help give us some guidance,” Mike Henrick, Republican Chair of the BOE, said.
The seven-member panel voted this spring to retain its traditional school attendance zones as part of a new redistricting scheme designed to balance headcount and make better use of the district’s 13 schools, some of which are operating below capacity.
The plan, which is set to go into effect for the 2025-26 academic year, calls for some of the attendance zones of elementary schools to be redrawn and adjusts how students feed into the middle and high schools.
Before the board amended the plan, there would have been 396 K-5 students attending new schools in the fall. Similarly, about 36 middle schoolers and 157 high schoolers would have been assigned to new schools. The district serves around 6,800 students.
The plan was supported by the board’s four GOP members, but was opposed by the body’s three Democrats who said at the time they were concerned the public was not given a chance to weigh in on the decision.
The change exempting current high school students was approved unanimously by the board and the change impacting rising sixth graders was only opposed by board member William O’Brien, a Republican.
Henrick and other board members said they approved the exemptions to allow students who have spent the last several years attending classes together to finish the elementary and high school stage of their education careers alongside their peers.
Board member Lisa Carroll-Fabian, a Democrat, proposed granting similar exemptions to rising eighth grade students and students with special needs.
The board rejected the proposals 4 to 3 votes that were split along party lines. Henrick suggested that exempting eighth graders would create a “logistical nightmare” for the district.
“Bussing would be astronomically expensive,” he said, “and I don’t know that it necessarily serves the best interest of the kids.”
The decision regarding special needs students came after Acting Superintendent Heather Borges argued the exemptions would complicate the district’s ability to balance attendance zones.
“It is impossible to equitably do that,” Borges said. “You are in a district where you have 1,364 students with exceptionalities. That would defeat the purpose of redistricting.”
On top of the exemptions, the board also voted to change the pathway for students in the Lordship “flex zone.” Students who live in the zone, which is centered around Elm Street, are assigned to either Stratford Academy: Johnson House or Lordship School depending on enrollment levels.
As part of the change, students in the zone will now matriculate into Flood Middle School next fall instead of the much closer Wooster Middle School. The adjustment will affect about 25 students.
Greg Grigas, Flood’s principal and one of the district officials who recommended the changes, said the proposal would help fix a growing imbalance between the populations of the two middle schools. “Those imbalances impact families in a lot of ways,” Grigas said.
Lisa Carroll-Fabian argued the change would fly in the face of a goal outlined by the board at the start of the redistricting process to disrupt the fewest number of students possible.
“The families affected have not been given the opportunity to provide input or voice their concerns, which is a significant oversight I believe in this process,” Carroll-Fabian added.
The board approved the change in a 4 to 3 vote, with all Democrats in opposition.
Finally, the board voted to give students who are assigned to the Chapel School attendance zone, but who live near Franklin School, the opportunity to attend Franklin if space allows. The decision was only opposed by Vice Chairperson Kristen Bedell.
Scenario 1 Highlights:
- High School Students (Grades 9-11):
- Current students may choose to stay at their high school until graduation.
- Siblings of these students must follow the redistricted pathway.
- Current 5th Grade Students:
- They may remain at their current elementary school for 6th grade (a one-time exception).
- All students must transition to the redistricted pathway for middle school.
- Lordship Flex Zone:
- Students in this zone will follow the Flood/BHS pathway.
- Chapel Satellite Zone:
- Families may request a waiver by August 15, 2025, to attend Franklin Elementary.
- Waiver approvals will be based on space availability and conducted via a lottery system.
The decision by the BOE on redistricting is still controversial and has been disparaged on the Stratford Parents Facebook page as well as emails sent to the Stratford Crier.
Notes from the Board of Education Meeting
November 24, 2024
By Sandra Brown
The School/Plant Planning Committee’s Redistricting Project made several recommendations. They recommended that only high school students remain where they are (incoming grades 9-11), and all other students move to Scenario 1 redistricting.
Board Member Lisa Carroll-Fabian proposed that incoming 6th graders, 8th graders and IP students also be grandfathered. After discussion and separate votes on each proposal, the Board approved grandfathering incoming 6th grade students. The proposals for 8th graders and IP students lost on 4-3 votes.
Students in Lordship Flex Zone will follow the Flood/BHS pathway. In the ChapelSatellite Zone, families may request a waiver by August 15, 2025 to attend Franklin Elementary. Waiver approvals will be based on space availability and conducted via a lottery system.
The budget process has started and all entities have been asked to submit requests at the current level or less. They can also indicate why additional funding is needed or submit proposals for new initiatives.
Zoe Bernard, the Student Representative for Stratford High School, reported that after the holiday break, the Registrars of Voters will be talking with students about how local and State governments work.
There were five speakers during the public session. They addressed a number of issues, including the matter of Superintendent Osunde.
The Stratford Board of Education Finance Committee meets on the second Wednesday of every month (unless otherwise noted) at 6:30 P.M. at the BOE Building, 1000 East Broadway.
Board Members: Kristen Bedell (Chair), Michael Henrick, Sean Kennedy, Lisa Carroll-Fabian, Christopher Cormier, Jill D’Angelo Powers, William O’Brien, Ben Branyan (Community), Susan Lance (Community), Chris Pia (Community)
