FERNDALE - Ferndale School District officials and board members are still trying to decide if they should shuffle where students attend school next fall, and are turning to district residents for help.
In the spring, the district's Facility Advisory Committee recommended moving sixth-graders to the middle-school level, closing an elementary school and redrawing school boundaries.
But with such large changes suggested, district officials and school board members want to make sure the community is on board with whatever changes, if any, are made. A survey is available on the district's website to gather input until Oct. 14.
"The board is not going to do something if the community says absolutely don't do it," district Superintendent Linda Quinn told about 120 parents, staff and community members during a public forum Tuesday, Sept. 27.
The committee, which includes parents, district staff and community members, came to those recommendations after meeting for a year and a half and touring all district facilities and gathering data on current conditions. The overall goal of the committee is to create a 30-year plan about how the district can best use current buildings, some of which need millions of dollars in repairs.
By moving sixth-graders to the district's two middle schools, which have the capacity, populations at the elementary schools likely would drop, Quinn told audience members at the forum.
If the elementary schools are under capacity, the idea is then that one of the buildings could be closed, though which school has yet to be determined. Closing a building would save the district an estimated $325,000 in salaries, transportation, maintenance and utility costs. If a school were closed, teachers would remain employed, but hours and positions likely would be cut for custodians, secretaries and other support staff.
And by redrawing school attendance boundaries, district officials say they can make the transportation system more efficient and therefore cheaper.
The committee recommends that the school board approve making all three changes in time for fall 2012, but board members could decide to do something else or implement only some of the changes. For example, Quinn mentioned during the forum that school boundaries might be redrawn regardless of whether a school is closed.
"We can't just keep doing what we're doing because our facilities have more needs than we can afford," Quinn said, adding later, "If we do nothing, we'll keep taking money out of programs to patch things together."
Reach Kira M. Cox at kira.cox@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2266. Visit her School Days blog at blogs.bellinghamherald.com/schools or get updates on Twitter at twitter.com/BhamSchools.
TAKE THE SURVEY
District families, residents and staff are invited to take a survey about what Ferndale School District should do with its current buildings.
Visit www.ferndale.wednet.edu and click on the "Take the Survey" link on the left side of the screen. The survey closes Oct. 14.
To view information from the Facility Advisory Committee, including meeting minutes and research, visit www.ferndale.wednet.edu and click on the "Facilities Advisory Committee" link on the left side of the screen.
The next public forum will be 7 p.m. Oct. 19 in Ferndale High School's cafeteria.
