SCHOOLS
FPS Reorganization FAQs
DISTRICT REORGANIZATION WORKING GROUP
RESPONSES TO
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Last updated 1/15/2010
Initial Questions | About SPED | Why Change? | Why K-2 & 3-5
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Why Change?
Why are we doing anything? Why is this plan being proposed?
Our schools are "working" at a micro level. We have great teachers, kids and families that result in great education at an individual level. Our kids, teachers, teams and groups, programs and administrators regularly receive awards and recognitions for their creativity, passion for learning and commitment to education.
- However, there are problems when you look at the district from a macro level many of which have been discussed since budget reductions were implemented in 2001, followed by the closing of Juniper Hill in 2003 and the subsequent Task Force report in 2008. This is not a new or recent conversation. It is the product of 9 years of discussion, analysis and review.The schools are out of balance. Here are the numbers for each of the elementary schools:
| School | Enrollment | % SPED1 | % LEP2 | % Low Income3 |
| Barbieri | 494 | 9% | 50% | 57% |
| Brophy | 440 | 21% | 41% | 60% |
| Dunning | 484 | 11% | 17% | 23% |
| Hemenway | 578 | 23% | 0 | 12% |
| McCarthy | 553 | 30% | 0 | 42% |
| Potter Road | 486 | 9% | 23% | 30% |
| Stapleton | 381 | 27% | 0 | 33% |
| Woodrow Wilson | 529 | 20% | 49% | 68% |
| ALL ELEMENTARY | 3945 | 19% | 22% | 40% |
Note: Some students may "count" in more than one column.
1SPED - Special Education
2LEP – Limited English Proficiency
3Low Income – qualify for free/reduced lunch, under statewide guidelinesThis imbalance leads to inequitable educational experiences across the town. As a public school district, it is our responsibility to provide a fair and equitable education for every student.
- The imbalance that exists in the elementary schools is continued into the middle schools.
| SCHOOL | Enrollment | % SPED | % LEP | % Low Income |
| Cameron | 479 | 26% | 0% | 45% |
| Fuller | 507 | 28% | 28% | 56% |
| Walsh | 751 | 23% | 0% | 30% |
| ALL MIDDLE | 1737 | 25% | 8% | 42% |
- In schools that have multiple programs, the opportunity for differentiating instruction, clustering teachers and students and addressing developmental needs of student is difficult. For example, if there are 4 classes at a grade level, and two of them serve students in programs, then there are two remaining classes for students in a standard curriculum classroom. Students in these classrooms have limited opportunities for different groupings, teachers have limited opportunities for collaboration, and program students have limited opportunities for integration. The Task Force Report addressed this issue in detail.
- With more students at a grade level, it will be easier to expand practices such as "cluster grouping" and other strategies of differentiation. By increasing the number of students, we are increasing the likelihood of students having multiple "learning peers" as their grade level.
- The way we currently operate the system is unsustainable. Each year, we struggle for funding resources to maintain services. Over the past seven years, we have passed an override, closed an elementary school, eliminated administrative and support positions, reduced programs such as Reading Recovery and sage and consolidated transportation routes to gain efficiencies. The goal of the district has always been to maintain the integrity of the classroom. Rather than cut any more essential services, it is our obligation to see if there is a different way to deliver current services, including reorganizing our structure if it means allowing us to protect essential services for children.
FOR EXAMPLE: If there are 54 students in a grade level at one school, those students are in three classes of 17. If they were to be combined into two classes, there would be 27 students in each of those classes – not a realistic class size for elementary instruction. However, if there are 108 students in a grade level at one school, (resulting from combining two 54-student grade levels), these students can be placed in five classes of 21-22, which is a realistic class size. Maximizing resources and space can provide benefits that are impossible without this consolidation.
- We were asked by the town (specifically town meeting) to see if there was a way to reduce busing costs.
- Under No Child Left Behind, schools that do not demonstrate "Adequate Yearly Progress" as measured by MCAS have several mandates that must be implemented; each of these mandates cost money. (For further information about AYP determination in Massachusetts, visit http://www.doe.mass.edu/sda/ayp/ .) Schools with a higher percentage of "special populations" are not making AYP, which means Title I funds are used for programs outside the school day.