Amherst School Committee Approves Motion to Redistrict
On Tuesday, May 19th, the Amherst School Committee voted unanimously to approve the motion made in March to close Marks Meadow Elementary School at the end of the 2009-2010 school year, and redistrict to create three elementary schools with proportionate numbers of children on free/reduced lunch for the start of the 2010-2011 school year. This difficult decision was made after months of budget planning during the ever-worsening state and national fiscal crisis, as well as a two month period spent considering input from the community.
Understandably, this is a challenging and potentially emotional time for our students, staff, families and community. Now that the decision has been made, we must work together to develop a transition plan that best supports our students during the process of closing a school and redistricting. This process must be comprehensive, taking into account a multitude of details, and must be clearly articulated in an action plan.
The District will immediately begin developing this detailed plan to support the process of major restructuring. This includes formation of an oversight committee to oversee the work as a whole, as well as establishing multiple, single-purpose teams to address the following:
- Redistricting—This team will work with consultants to establish new school zones within the next few months. The consultant(s) will analyze and finalize our preliminary work on redistricting to ensure it is educationally sound and equitable.
- Student Support—This team of district and school leaders will create a plan to support the educational and emotional needs of all students who are making school transitions.
- Staff Support—This team will develop a district plan to redesign building staffing to minimize disruption to transitioning students and to thoughtfully reassign Mark’s Meadow staff.
- Moving—This team will develop and implement a staged, year-long plan for relocating educational materials, furniture and fixtures to other district locations.
- Communication—This team will ensure that students, families and the broader community are kept up-to-date on progress throughout the redistricting process.
Community members are needed in many capacities to assist the district with this work. Those who are interested in helping with this process should contact Debbie Westmoreland, Assistant to the Superintendent, at westmorelandd@arps.org or by phone at 362-1823.
Additional information and documents related to redistricting can be found here: