A report on district facilities and enrollment was delivered to the Board of Education at its meeting on Tuesday, July 19. No specific recommendations were shared at the meeting, and the board is expected to continue the discussion at least through September.

The report has been in progress since February, when the school board voted to have the Future Forecast Committee "research the use of school facilities in light of projected enrollment changes in Newtown." The February charge also asked for the committee's report to include details from the 2015 district facilities study, discussion on "why numbers from peak enrollment are not comparable to numbers now," and next steps for school facilities usage.

There were 15 members on the committee - including administrators, district staff, school board members, and community members - and the group met almost weekly to hear presentations and hold discussions.

Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, introduced the report Tuesday to the school board, and said he believes the committee "looked at every item and every opportunity."

The committee began with some assumptions: Sandy Hook Elementary School will open for the 2016-17 school year; Sandy Hook School, Newtown High School, and Reed Intermediate School would not be considered for closing; and the enrollment study from November 2014 "represents the most accurate information for the committee to make decisions pertaining to the problem of practice."

Dr Erardi said the committee also looked into legislation around closing and reopening a school.

"What we discovered is that if the board chooses to close a school and they choose to hold onto any aspect of that school in anyway, they maintain that building," said Dr Erardi, adding that if the building is shut down the ownership of the building would be transferred to the town.

If a building is transferred to the town and the school board decides it needs to reopen the building, Dr Erardi said "the decisionmaker" in that instance would be the town, not the school board.

"We anticipate chunks of space being opened at the middle school and the high school over the next five to ten years," said Dr Erardi. "What our conversations were always around were making sure we had optimum safety in any partnership we discussed."

The committee, Dr Erardi said, focused on suitability, feasibility, and sustainability.

Subcommittee Reports

Subcommittees of the Future Forecast Committee looked at closing an elementary school, closing NMS, options for the space if no school is closed, and a space and fiscal analysis. Each subcommittee had representatives share their potion of the report with the board.

The representatives shared nine different options for reconfiguring the school district if an elementary school is closed or if the middle school is closed. One of the options, Option A, would eliminate an elementary school, and it would potentially be feasible for the 2017-18 school year. For Option A, kindergarten through third grade would be housed at the remaining open elementary schools, fourth through sixth grade would be at Reed, seventh and eighth grade would be at NMS, and ninth to twelfth grade would remain at the high school.

Another option, Option I, would eliminate NMS, and it would be potentially feasible by the 2019-20 school year. For Option I, kindergarten through fourth grade would be housed at the four elementary schools, fifth through seventh grade would be at Reed, and eighth grade through twelfth grade would be at the high school.

Opportunities and challenges were shared for each option. Opportunities listed for Option A included an early assembly of the full grade-level cohort, projected space constraints would be nonexistent, and it would maintain an intermediate teaching and learning philosophy. Challenges listed for Option A included redistricting two or more schools, the social/emotional impact on students and families would need to be considered, and "the elementary schools would be the first to see/feel the impact of the projected emerging increase of students/long term viability."

Opportunities with Option I include fewer transitions within the district, limiting redistricting, a high space sustainability, and maintaining "advantageous assembly of grade-level cohort at grade five." Challenges listed for Option I include concerns with having the eighth grade in the high school setting, rethinking the intermediate school model, immediate space constraints would be felt at Reed and NHS, and logistical considerations, such as parking at NHS and potential building modifications, would need to be thought-out.

Possible Space Use

If a school is not closed with declining enrollment, the report also looked at possible uses space, such as using it for innovative academic programming; sharing space with the school board, the town, or a private organization; and a combination of the options.

Committee members Karyn Holden and Hawley Principal Christopher Moretti presented the potential options if a school is not closed. Mr Moretti began by describing how space is used now at the elementary schools, and he explained all of the space is used for educational purposes that may not have had space before, such as special education areas and space for technology.

"We talked about some potential uses of space for innovative programming," said Ms Holden. "All space can be reinvented to continue to provide and expand the quality educational services that we have now."

Expanding the model for students who might require an alternative learning environment could create partnerships with other districts, Ms Holden said, and opportunities for revenue for the district.

The Future Forecast Committee also used a community survey for input for potential uses of the space, according to the presentation.

Committee member and district financial assistant Tanja Vadas presented the space and fiscal analysis portion of the report.

The estimated net savings to the budget for repurposing a school, according to the report, would be $286,171 for an elementary school being repurposed or $722,570 for the middle school being repurposed. The estimated net savings for closing a school in the first year would be $398,686 for closing an elementary school or $946,175 for closing the middle school, according to the report.

Dr Erardi also updated the school board during his superintendent's report that a number of principals in the district traveled to attend the National Association of Elementary School Principals' (NAESP) Best Practices for Better Schools National Conference and Expo from July 6 to 8 in National Harbor, Md. According to NAESP, the event is the largest national conference for prekindergarten to eighth grade principals.

Dr Erardi told the school board he thought the attending principals did a phenomenal job while attending the conference.

Board of Education Chair Keith Alexander said the board appreciates the principals representing Newtown "in such a good light. I can only imagine that comes from the heart."