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Katonah-Lewisboro Moves Ahead With School Closure Transition Plan

CROSS RIVER, N.Y. – The Katonah-Lewisboro Board of Education will update the community at its meeting Thursday night on the transition process for students who will be redistricted in the fall because of the planned closure of Lewisboro Elementary School.

Michael Jumper, right, is the interim superintendent of schools.

Michael Jumper, right, is the interim superintendent of schools.

Photo Credit: Katonah-Lewisboro School District.

The school district formed a Transition Steering Committee last week to oversee three subcommittees. The committees have the responsibility of addressing student transition; assignment and reassignment of staff and preparing them for those assignments; and the logistics of closing a school.

“We do need to ramp up on this fairly quickly because of people’s concerns about transition,” School Board President Charles Day said at the last board meeting on Jan. 28.

The board voted at that meeting to move ahead with redistricting scenario 2.1. Like scenario 2, it would divide the 350 Lewisboro Elementary (LES) students between Meadow Pond (MPES) and Increase Miller (IMES) elementary schools, and move 94 IMES students to Katonah Elementary (KES).

The one difference is that scenario 2.1 keeps at IMES the 45 children along Route 22, north of Todd Road, those near the Golden’s Bridge Train station, north of Old Bedford Road, and students north of Route 138. They would have been moved to KES under scenario 2.

The administration recommended scenario 2 because moving more IMES students would ease the transition by putting more familiar faces in their new school.

Additionally, it would “load balance” the schools, which Interim Schools Superintendent Michael Jumper has said would sustain the student populations for as many years as possible.

While the administration preferred a split of 35 percent at IMES and MPES and 30 percent at KES under scenario 2, students will be split up 32, 38 and 30 percent respectively under scenario 2.1.

By leaving those 45 students at IMES, all classrooms will be in use in the fall and there is more of a chance that an additional section will be needed. However, Day said that is still unlikely. The number of new students who would require adding a section at each grade level would be: 10 in kindergarten, nine in first-grade, 14 in second-grade, eight in third-grade, 23 in fourth-grade and 25 in fifth-grade.

The school district notified parents of the redistricting scenario before talking about it with students in school.

Learn more about the committees and their roles on the school website.

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