Redistricting Greenwich: Options Selected on How to Meet State Mandates

It took about four hours, but the Greenwich Board of Education whittled down the list of  ideas it wants Superintendent William McKersie to pursue as the school district grapples with the issue of balancing the racial composition of its elementary schools while devising a better plan of how its 11 elementary schools are better used.

The June 20 meeting in the Greenwich High School auditorium was the culmination of six long, at times contentious, public forums where hundreds of Greenwich parents advocated for their neighborhood schools. They eschewed some of a consultant’s four suggested options that ranged from a complete redistricting of school attendance zones to restructuring the grade school format.

In the end, the meeting which began with less than half the 800-plus seat auditorium filled, there were less than 50 parents and teachers still waiting to hear the votes on which alternatives Superintendent William McKersie and his staff will pursue during the next two months. They are charged with developing plans to satisfy state mandates that are to be presented Aug. 29, the first board meeting of the 2013-14 academic year. 

Greenwich Public Schools have been cited by the state Board of Education for the last 15 years as violating state law and regulations by operating elementary schools with racially imbalanced student populations. At least two schools—Hamilton Avenue and New Lebanon, both in the western end of town—have student populations that are more than 50 percent minority.

The racial imbalance issue has been coupled with the district’s growing issue that some elementary schools are on the cusp of being overcrowded while others —such as Parkway School — are underutilized. 

In a process that board Chair Leslie Moriarty described as “painful” as the clocked ticked toward 11:30 p.m. Thursday, the board approved a motion to allocated $25,000 to expand its residency verification process for students. Currently, the district requires residency verification for kindergarten and 9th-grade students.

The board took its vote after hearing several parents argue residency verification needs to be strengthened to ensure that the children filling the seats of the schools, are indeed legitimate Greenwich residents. Board members took exception to parents comparison that it is more difficult to obtain a Greenwich beach pass or golf and tennis passes, than it is to attend Greenwich Public Schools.

The $25,000 will pay for hiring two additional clerks who to process and review residency forms and documents for close to 4,000 students by Oct. 1. The district’s business director Ben Branyan said residents must supply mortgage, lease or deed documentation, two utility bills, and photo ID, in addition to the district using the United State Post Office database to confirm residency.

• Expansion of New Lebanon School to deal with overcrowding
• Minimal redistricting to address facility utilization
• Continue research on whether to file a legal challenge to the state racial quotas
• Creating a partial magnet school system with all voluntary participation
• Creating a partial magnet school system that combines choice and some redistricting.
• To issue a formal Request for Proposals to conduct market research on solutions preferred by parents.

After McKersie presents information about these options on Aug. 29, the board will hold four additional meetings in September and October before making a decision.

For more information on the issue:

Here are links from the Greenwich Board of Education website on the facility utilization and racial imbalance reports.

To view a Vimeo broadcast of previous meetings on the issue, click here.

For the district’s online public comment process, click here. 

* If you want to receive e-mail updates on 'Redistricting Greenwich 2013,' "subscribe" and receive new posts via email just as soon as they're posted. Just click "get email updates" at this link: http://greenwich.patch.com/news/redistricting-greenwich-2013.