CLAREMONT — SAU 6 Superintendent Mike Tempesta told the School Board this week that establishing an Elementary Restructuring Advisory Board in December is the next step toward reconfiguring the grades at the district’s three elementary schools.
A restructuring of the schools from K-5 to grade-specific was first introduced almost three years ago, but COVID-19 delayed further work and eventually the School Board voted about a year ago to shelve the proposal because of parent opposition.
Possible realignment of the schools would take place in the fall of 2024, Tempesta said in a presentation to the board.
Tempesta has said the change, which would put grades 4 and 5 in Bluff Elementary, 2 and 3 in Disnard and pre-K through 1 at Maple Avenue, would have a number of benefits, including “stronger consistent, targeted curriculum and better assessment and intervention at each grade” and allow for universal pre-K beginning at age 4.
When Tempesta made the proposal in January 2020, there was strong parent opposition, mainly because of transportation. The board decided at the time to create a focus group, which met only twice before being shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fall of 2021, some parents who were part of the group said the administration’s approach lacked transparency and did not address many of the parents’ concerns.
In his presentation to the board on Thursday, Tempesta acknowledged that transportation, the number of school transitions students will have to make and the loss of “neighborhood schools” are among the concerns raised by the focus group that need to be resolved.
The slide presentation said the next steps will include bringing in outside consultants to “thoroughly investigate impacts, rationale, student outcomes, training and staff needs.”
The administration is bringing on Maura Hart and Lynne Howard as educational consultants for the process. Hart, who lives in Plainfield, is the assistant director for capacity development with the SWIFT Education Center at the University of Kansas and an adjunct faculty member in the Education Department at Antioch University in Keene, N.H. Howard has a long history in education including in K-12 with specialization in reading and writing.
The School Board did not comment on the presentation.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
