Poland school board approves change to the district realignment plan

POLAND

The board of education on Monday approved a change to the district realignment plan that went into effect two years ago.

Parts of both the McKinley Elementary and Poland Middle School buildings will remain open next school year. The plan as originally approved in 2015 had McKinley shuttering and its students moving into the middle school.

Superintendent David Janofa said the modified plan – in which one floor of McKinley will remain in use for fifth-grade students and staff – is because the middle school building is not large enough to accommodate grades five through eight, and because this plan allows the grade levels to be separated into their own areas.

That component of the district realignment plan goes into effect at the start of the 2017-18 school year. At that time, the two schools’ offices will be consolidated into one located in the middle school, and visitors will have to acess the buildings from the middle school.

The realignment effort began in 2015 with the elimination of an elementary school and realignments of the grade levels at the other elementary buildings. The plan is a response to declining enrollment.