Worcester Public Schools may not be able to offer prekindergarten classrooms in every elementary school under its proposed districtwide realignment, while a new plan to give the district more flexibility in assigning students could affect future school enrollment boundaries.
Those were among the developments presented Oct. 13 as the School Committee’s Standing Committee on Operations and Governance reviewed the third of four proposed scenarios for the district’s impending realignment.
The public forum was again led by Nick Stellitano, managing director and co-founder of Dillinger Research and Applied Data, a nonprofit organization that has presented the realignment proposals to date.
The third draft included few changes to the broader configuration of school quadrants but offered more clarity on the feasibility of expanding pre-K and introduced the concept of flexible enrollment zones, or “flex zones,” to help the district manage building capacity.
Expanding pre-K access has been a consistent goal throughout the realignment process. Earlier drafts envisioned at least one pre-K classroom in every elementary school, but Stellitano acknowledged for the first time that space limitations could prevent the district from achieving that goal.
“Initially, for Draft 1 and Draft 2, Pre-K programming was expected to be in every single elementary school,” he said. “Given that we are constantly trying to pressure test different ideas, there’s about three elementary schools that just strictly do not have enough room to house a pre-K classroom.”
One of the more significant changes to the proposed school boundaries involves Francis J. McGrath Elementary School.
Under the third draft, McGrath students would advance to Forest Grove Middle School and eventually Burncoat High School, placing both McGrath and Forest Grove within the Burncoat quadrant.
“We know that Burncoat High School, especially with its new building, is going to have the space and the desire for people to go,” said Stellitano. “We need to set up and sustainable way for the district to be able to locate kids to the high school even if there’s no room at the Burncoat Middle School. This is one option we can pursue.”
Another notable addition is the proposal for flex zones, which would allow the district to adjust school assignments in designated areas based on enrollment and available building capacity.
Stellitano acknowledged that the concept could be divisive because it would introduce uncertainty about which schools some students would attend. He stressed, however, that the approach would not be used to relocate students already attending a high school, but rather would apply to incoming students.
“The rules for how a Flex Zone could work are still being designed,” he explained. “We’re looking for input into how this could possibly work, but what we’ve seen before is at the entry grade levels, seventh grade or ninth grade or if you’re a new students in this specific area between seventh grade and ninth grade, the district has the option to help shift students to where they could go based on utilization and capacity.”
The presentation also raised concerns about the potential impact of the realignment on racial and ethnic balance across the district.
According to projections presented during the meeting, five Worcester schools currently have racial imbalances. That number could increase to as many as eight under the third draft.
The proposal also further explored the possibility of establishing a pre-K through sixth-grade program at the Greendale Head Start building, with a tentative timeline of approximately 2032. The Head Start program would remain at the facility in the meantime.
That timeline drew concerns from some members of the public, who questioned whether the building could accommodate additional students in its current condition.
Residents also raised concerns about the pace of the realignment process.
The district is aiming to make a final decision by the end of the calendar year, but several residents urged officials to extend the timeline to give families and community members more time to review the proposals and understand their potential impact.
Stellitano said an extension could be considered but indicated that he believed it was unlikely.
The Standing Committee on Operations and Governance is expected to hold at least one more public forum, scheduled for Oct. 26, to review a fourth realignment proposal before the district moves toward a final decision.
Jason Bleau, a seasoned reporter from Connecticut’s Quiet Corner, has more than 11 years of news media experience. He has worked as a news anchor for WINY 1350 AM, contributed to Stonebridge Press publications, and covered racing as a Press Box coordinator at Thompson Speedway. Outside journalism, he is a movie enthusiast, freelance film reviewer, banker and solo musician. He can be reached at bleau.jason@yahoo.com
