Superintendent narrows consultant search for district alignment and school start-time options

Superintendent O'Neil told the Norton School Committee April 30 that she has narrowed a search to three consulting firms to help the district with school alignment, redistricting and start‑time analysis and that proposals will be ready for the committee on May 14.

O'Neil said the district has already conducted internal work—surveys, space reviews and committee work—and she does not expect a consultant to duplicate that work. Instead she asked firms to provide technical analysis using enrollment and demographic trends, birth-data forecasting and mapping to support decisions about boundary lines for elementary and middle-school alignments. “One of the biggest factors for us is that we already have a committee in place. We've done a lot of the work,” she said, adding that the final choice will come down to finances.

The superintendent emphasized the district wants a consultant that can provide verification and modeling (enrollment projections, space utilization and transportation implications) and allow the district to pick and choose the services the firm provides. She said proposals will be brought to the committee on the May 14 meeting so the committee can decide how to proceed with redistricting and potential start‑time changes.

No formal vote was taken on hiring a firm at the April 30 meeting; the discussion focused on scope and next steps.