District data show enrollment decline; superintendent says large-scale redistricting not advised now
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
A superintendent-led feasibility review found most elementary buildings below recommended capacity and declining enrollment across grades; preliminary recommendation was not to pursue district-wide reconfiguration now, while staff will continue data analysis on fifth-grade outcomes, transportation, and space use.
The Kingston City School District superintendent presented a preliminary feasibility review on whether the district should redistrict or change grade configurations. The presentation focused on building capacity, enrollment trends by grade and the consequences of moving grades between elementary and middle schools.
Key findings presented included: • Most district schools are operating at or below the commonly cited 85% capacity "sweet spot," and several are significantly below that threshold. • Kindergarten-to-fourth-grade cohorts show a declining trend (for example, cited counts: K=394, 4th=474 in the presentation), indicating lower incoming cohorts that will roll through grade levels. • Moving fifth grade back into elementary schools or a wholesale reconfiguration could require breaking up existing neighborhoods, changing sibling placements and would trigger complex feeder-school changes.
The superintendent said an enrollment study has limits and that in-migration during the COVID years complicates projections. He recommended additional space-usage analysis and more detailed study of fifth-grade academic outcomes before considering major reconfiguration. "Preliminarily... redistributing and reconfiguration is not recommended at this time," he concluded, while leaving open future consideration if trends continue.
Trustees raised further concerns about how capacity metrics are calculated (including special-education room needs and mobile program spaces), the influence of special-permission enrollments, transportation budget impacts and possible schedule changes to make transportation more efficient. No redistricting action was taken during the meeting.