West Seneca board unanimously accepts elementary reconfiguration plan, schedules capital ask for pools
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Summary
The West Seneca Board of Education voted 7–0 to accept a revised redistricting and reconfiguration plan that moves to a preK–2 / 3–5 model at targeted schools beginning in September 2026; district leaders said a capital project to repurpose middle-school pools will go to voters in May.
The West Seneca Board of Education voted unanimously on Nov. 18 to accept a revised redistricting and reconfiguration plan that would convert Clinton Elementary to preK–2 and Northwood Elementary to grades 3–5 in September 2026, with west-side elementary reconfiguration scheduled for 2027.
Superintendent Dr. Krueger told the board the decision follows three years of study, a June recommendation and an Oct. 8–31 public comment period that yielded 958 survey responses. "We had really high engagement," she said, adding that the majority of respondents were parents or family members and that the district revised the plan in response to stakeholder feedback.
The revised approach drops an interim elementary-only step and moves directly to a preK–2 / 3–5 reconfiguration to reduce the number of student moves and preserve peer cohorts, Dr. Krueger said. "If nothing else, I hope the community sees with full transparency that our minds were not made up on this back in May," she said.
The superintendent also outlined facility changes that would support the reconfiguration: filling in underused middle-school pools and converting that space into STEM/STEAM instructional rooms. She characterized middle-school pools as expensive to maintain and said the district cannot justify investing roughly "3 plus million dollars in each of those pools" without voter support. The board plans a capital improvement project to put the pool-repurposing proposal before voters in May.
Dr. Krueger said the district will purchase interim playground equipment for Winchester Potters Elementary using general-fund dollars because replacement parts were unavailable. "We are taking the step right now to do an emergency demolition of that playground," she said, and added the district expects to spend about $25,000 to $30,000 on a temporary replacement with no state-aid reimbursement.
Board members asked about transition supports for students, transportation logistics and special-education placements. Dr. Krueger said the district has convened subgroups for transportation, facilities moves and social-emotional transitional supports and that faculty meetings are scheduled at the most affected schools to answer local questions. She said the district’s capacity modeling accounted for space needs for related services, including reading specialists and occupational therapy.
Public comment during the meeting included a petition signer who urged the board to adopt the revised plan. Ken Thompson, a resident who identified himself during public comment, said he and other neighbors had gathered signatures and supported moving forward. "So I just I guess I just wanted to say I appreciated it," he said.
After discussion, the board adopted the resolution to accept the redistricting/reconfiguration plan; the motion passed by voice vote, recorded as 7–0. The superintendent said staff will finalize bus routing, start and end times, furniture moves and communications to families and will present architects (Young and Wright) and Campus Construction at the Dec. 9 meeting to outline the capital project scope.
Next steps: if the board’s long-range plan receives community support in May, the district will proceed with pool repurposing as a capital project; the immediate playground work at Winchester Potters will be funded from the general fund.
