VersaTrans, the firm hired by Bethlehem Central School District to come up with new school boundaries, is scheduled to present four different scenarios to the 24-member redistricting committee on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
At a committee meeting held Tuesday, Oct. 16, Doug Hamlin of VersaTrans said the four scenarios will be narrowed down to two or three by the committee. Those final redistricting scenarios will be presented to the school board in December for consideration.
Our goal is to have four scenarios for the community to evaluate by Nov. 6, said Hamlin.
Establishing appropriate school enrollment levels consistent with the capacity of the six elementary schools is the No. 1 criteria set forth by the committee.
Achieving more rational boundaries, addressing transportation efficiencies, and affecting the fewest families possible are among the other standards.
When the new scenarios are presented, the committee will review each to see how they best meet the criteria and the needs of the community.
`It’s really a matter of taking data, neighborhood units, school capacity and student data and assembling it into boundaries,` Hamlin said.
The committee has been meeting since early September. Seventy-one neighborhood planning units have been established by the committee and can be viewed online on the district Web site at http://bcsd.k12.ny.us.
`It’s tedious and a lot of number crunching,` Hamlin said.
Hamlin said the neighborhood planning units will not change until after the scenarios are presented in November.
Angie Randles, one of four committee members representing Slingerlands, said she believes the November meeting will be well attended.
`I think the entire community will be in the high school cafeteria that night,` said Randles, who, along with other committee members, has been fielding daily queries by phone and through e-mail from interested parents.
`Sometimes they ask where they are going or if they will be able to give input once scenarios are presented,` said Maureen Powers, a committee member representing Hamagrael.
`We are so centrally located we have a greater chance of individuals being moved,` Powers said of her neighborhood.
Both Powers and Randles said the redistricting process has been open with a lot of community input.
Meeting locations have been changed from the school district’s Adams Street headquarters to the high school library media center and finally the high school cafeteria to accommodate the growing number of community members interested in the outcome.
`I think the community wants to be involved,` said Randles, who believes VersaTrans staff help the process by taking away the emotional aspect of the possibility of moving a child from one school to another.
`We can’t be shortsighted,` said Randles. `It has to be what’s good for the district.`
Amy Cartwright is committee member representing Clarksville; Tom Sheraw represents Elsmere; and Amy Grant represents Glenmont.
Six elementary schools ,including the new Eagle Elementary, will form the basis for the new school boundaries.
The Nov. 6 meeting will be held in the Bethlehem High School cafeteria.
EXCEL vote Oct. 30
Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, Oct.30, to decide the fate of EXCEL funding for the school district. If the proposal to establish $4.9 million of additional funding is approved, the money will go to add eight classrooms at Eagle Elementary to accommodate a full-day kindergarten program. District officials said the cost to the local taxpayer is minimal.
EXCEL (Expanding Our Children’s Education and Learning) funds are designated to provide additional funding for school construction projects that fall into four categories: safety, accessibility, physical capacity expansion or school construction and energy efficiency.
District officials have said if the EXCEL vote is defeated, the district would have to reconsider the possibility and timing of full-day kindergarten. The EXCEL vote has no bearing on the current redistricting process taking place.
The EXCEL vote will be held from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Bethlehem Central Middle School at 332 Kenwood Ave.“