The Westborough School Committee agreed this week to begin a redistricting project aimed at reassigning K–3 attendance boundaries so the district can better use space at the new Fales Elementary School and promote stable, equitable class sizes across the three elementary schools.

Consultant Nick Stellitano, project lead for Diligent Research and Applied Data, told the committee the contract is being signed and the work will run through January. "We are starting officially today in regards to this project and hope to be done by January," Stellitano said. He described the project as a data‑driven process paired with community engagement.

The consultant said the work will deliver a demographic and enrollment analysis for Westborough, a set of preliminary boundary scenarios, stakeholder engagement using focus groups and interviews, and an interactive story map to publish scenarios and collect feedback. Stellitano said the project team will use ArcGIS mapping tools so residents can see proposed boundary lines and comment on specific streets or intersections.

To guide the work, the consultant and superintendent proposed a steering committee that will include parents, staff and town representatives; the consultant said district leadership will meet with the project team weekly and the steering committee at least monthly. Stellitano emphasized the short timeline and the need to balance broad engagement with holiday scheduling: the second phase — initial stakeholder engagement and scenario creation — will take place in October through December, with scenario finalization and a presentation to the school committee in January.

Committee members asked how the team will evaluate scenarios. Stellitano said metrics include transportation time, socioeconomic and demographic distribution, and utilization rates (percent of seats used). He also noted that building design and spatial capacity differ by site and that principals’ input about building-specific needs will inform scenario tradeoffs. "There might be times where we're actually giving you a scenario that we go doesn't work, but might be helpful in terms of framing the context of why can't we do what we're thinking about doing," Stellitano said.

Superintendent Allison and committee members confirmed the district will coordinate with town planning to incorporate development information and with the transportation department on bus‑time tradeoffs. The committee did not take action at the meeting but agreed to proceed with the consultant’s proposed schedule and steering‑committee structure.

The consultant said he and a GIS specialist, Katie Tartaglia, will produce both quantitative and qualitative analyses and will return to present interim updates to the school committee during the project.