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Poland school district prepares for reconfiguration of school facilities
POLAND
Poland School District officials are preparing to set in motion a plan to deal with a sharp decline in enrollment, with hopes to go to the board of education for approval by March.
For now, the focus of the district’s leadership is getting the community on board, Superintendent David Janofa said. Last week he presented the plan to a focus group, and he plans to distribute a newsletter to households within the coming weeks.
The plan for the 2015-16 school year is: North Elementary will be used for preschool and after-school programs; all kindergarten and first-grade students will go to Dobbins Elementary; Union Elementary will be for second-, third-, and fourth-graders; and McKinley and the middle and high schools will stay the same.
For the 2017-18 school year, McKinley students will move to the middle school, and McKinley will be used on an as-needed basis.
Consolidation has the potential to save the district between $2 million and $2.5 million over the next five years, Janofa said.
Parents and community members, however, have raised a number of concerns about the proposal.
“My biggest concern is a smooth transition for the kids. No matter how they divide it, I’m going to have a child at four different schools,” said Michelle Ray, mother of four and president of Union Elementary’s Parent-Teacher Organization. “For a parent to try to get to events at different schools — that’s my biggest fear, that I’m not going to be able to do it all.”
One way Janofa hopes to achieve a smooth transition for students is making sure that kids have the same teachers at their schools, whenever possible.
District officials hope to make that possible through attrition. It’s possible that layoffs will not be necessary because enough teachers and staff are eligible for retirement this year, Janofa said.
Another question raised by parents has been, why North Elementary?
It comes down to space, Janofa says. North is the smallest of the four elementary schools, but it easily can accommodate a preschool. This way, there is room to expand the preschool program, which could help with recruitment of students, Janofa said.
The driving force behind the consolidation proposal is a steep decline in student enrollment at Poland schools, which now has 2,071 students: between 2002 and 2015, district enrollment dropped by 469 students, according to a study done by the Ohio School Facilities Commission.
The district will lose an additional 308 students by 2024, according to the state projection, which amounts to a total loss of about one-third of the student population over that 22-year period. The drop is mostly due to a decline in birth rates.
“We are losing 825 students. We can no longer have six buildings operating,” Janofa said at a recent board of education meeting. “This is a major, major issue that we have to come to grips with.”
The issue is not unique to Poland. Between 2014 and 2019, the population of people age 18 and under in Ohio is projected to drop by nearly 35,000.
Another reason for the drop in enrollment is that some students take advantage of open enrollment in other districts. Last school year, Poland lost 33 students to open enrollment; this year, that number jumped to 51.
Open enrollment in Poland schools would be one way to combat declining enrollment, but Janofa said it’s not an option because it doesn’t have popular support.
“Our community does not want to entertain the idea of open enrollment,” he said.
Although no board of education action has yet been taken, board members have acknowledged the need for action.
“There will be changes, and it will involve North,” board President Elinor Zedaker said previously. “We’re realigning the school district, due to the decrease in population, and we want to efficiently deliver educational services to students in the Poland district.”
Another consideration for the community is that the OSFC is offering the district 19 cents on the dollar to fund new schools or replacement facilities. Janofa says it will be up to the community and the board of education to decide whether it is worthwhile to pursue the option. The district has one year to respond.
Enrollment projection and facility assessment reports are available at www.polandbulldogs.com.