Boardman realigns middle schools next year

January 25, 2016 at 10:04p.m.

BOARDMAN

An idea that the school district first began considering nearly 20 years ago now is set to become reality.

The board of education on Monday unanimously approved a plan to realign the middle schools by grade level.

Starting next school year, all fifth- and sixth-grade students will attend Center Middle School. Seventh- and eighth-grade students will move to Glenwood Middle School.

At the heart of the decision is a desire to resolve what district officials say are long-standing “inequities” between the two schools.

“Having a consistent education will take away the argument of, ‘Well, this school is the haves and this school is the have-nots.’ It’s going to be fair for all of our kids, because the technology distribution will be equal. Your education won’t be dictated by your ZIP code, or what street you live on. Everyone will receive the same education,” said Superintendent Frank Lazzeri.

School-district administrators presented a report to the board explaining why they believe it’s the right time for the move and detailing how realignment will impact academics, athletics and arts.

One reason it’s the right time to implement realignment, Lazzeri said, is that it is a permanent solution to an issue that periodically arises: large differences in class sizes between Center and Glenwood due to the fact that building assignments are based on where students live. Currently, Glenwood has 180 more students than Center. After realignment, neighborhood patterns won’t determine the size of student populations.