Stoughton committee reviews heat maps as district weighs new elementary school vs. temporary modulars

Stoughton Public Schools’ Redistricting Committee reviewed student heat maps and planning trade-offs Feb. 13 as staff laid out how a proposed new elementary school and a fallback modular-classroom plan would affect student assignment, transportation and site logistics.

Dr. Baeta, a Stoughton Public Schools staff member who presented the maps, told the committee the “dot the squares represent our current schools” and that the new elementary site shown on the maps is “physically still in South Stoughton.” He said the district’s analysis of 2022–23 enrollment heat maps shows a concentrated population in the southernmost portion of town that would be hard to serve with nearby schools if South School were closed and no new school were built there.

The distinction matters, Baeta said, because a newly built elementary school would likely require fewer student shifts than a plan relying on modular classrooms. “There'll be less students impacted with a new elementary school than with a modular project,” he said, and added that modulars would cause broader reassignment across multiple schools.

Why it matters: The committee is doing redistricting work now to prepare for either outcome. Baeta told the group a successful April vote on…