Plymouth School District proposes shifting early grades, promises no closures or layoffs

Plymouth School District administrators on Thursday laid out a proposal to reorganize elementary grade assignments as a response to multi-year enrollment declines, and said staff will gather community input before the board considers any action. District officials proposed making Horizon Elementary a 4K–1 building, Fairview Elementary a grades 2–4 building and leaving Parkview Elementary largely unchanged. The administration said the plan would let the district balance class sizes, improve grade-level collaboration among teachers and create flexibility to respond if enrollment later rises. The proposal is meant to be the start of a public process. “This is the very first of many conversations that are going to take place related to this,” Superintendent Scott said during his presentation. “Nothing has been decided. This is something for conversation.” Why it matters: Plymouth’s enrollment has declined from roughly 2,284 students in 2016–17 to about 2,000 last year, a trend…