Cheshire School District staff recommend ‘B2’ attendance‑zone plan; board schedules Dec. 18 vote

Cheshire School District staff recommended that the Board of Education adopt attendance‑zone scenario B2 for the 2026–27 elementary school year and said the board plans to vote on the proposal at a Dec. 18 meeting.

Dr. Solon, the district presenter, said the B2 plan would redistrict 536 students districtwide and advised the board to offer a priority legacy‑waiver process for affected families. "I would recommend to the board adoption of the B 2 scenario," Dr. Solon said during the presentation.

Why it matters: staff told the board the district designed the scenarios to align enrollment with new building capacities at Barnum and Norton and to meet the state’s 10‑year enrollment guidance, which affects eligibility for state reimbursement. Using the district’s projection model, staff reported that about 166 Chapman students would move to Highland, roughly 50 Doolittle students would move to Barnum and more than 300 students would be redistributed among Highland, Barnum and Norton.

Waivers and family options: Dr. Solon explained the district’s proposed priority legacy waiver would give preference to Chapman families with students in grades 4–6 and to younger siblings, and would give Moss Farms families priority to remain at Highland. The district emphasized that the priority waiver increases an applicant’s chance in later waiver decisions but is not an absolute, permanent guarantee if future growth (such as a large housing project) materially changes enrollment.

Survey results and timing: staff said they had received about 53% of expected survey responses from affected families at the time of the update and had corrected an audit issue in which nine families did not receive the initial email. The presenter told the board the PowerPoint and updated data would be posted to the redistricting page and emailed to the community.

Transportation and budget tradeoffs: the district presented a preliminary estimate of about $180,000 for two buses to serve families requesting district transportation under the waiver program. "That's the consideration of a $180,000 on transportation. That's 2 buses," Dr. Solon said. Several board members objected to adding recurring fleet costs before finalizing classroom staffing, with comments emphasizing priorities for teachers and current classroom resources.

Board discussion and next steps: board members probed waiver mechanics (how priority would be applied, whether older siblings would be prioritized if bound‑bumping were needed), available‑seat petitions and routing constraints. Transportation lead Luther and staff answered routing and safety questions, noting some streets cannot accommodate bus turns and that safety and efficiency drive route decisions. The board agreed to aim for a decision at a scheduled Dec. 18 meeting and asked staff to provide refined projections and to open the waiver commitment process following a board decision.

Administrative note: the meeting closed after a unanimous voice vote to adjourn; the board scheduled a town‑hall meeting at 7:30 p.m. on the 18th to accompany the decision process.

What the board did not do: no final vote on adoption was taken at this meeting; the board only scheduled the Dec. 18 vote and discussed implementation details. The district did not commit to providing transportation to out‑of‑zone waiver students as an entitlement and said families would be asked to indicate whether they want transportation when the waiver commitment period opens.

Next steps: staff will post the presentation and updated survey results to the district’s redistricting webpage, complete the waiver‑commitment window, finalize staffing and, if necessary, propose one‑year transitional transportation options to the board when the Dec. 18 vote occurs.