“We have exceptional schools and have been recognized for our education, but the reality, at least for the four years that I’ve been on this committee, is that we have yet to provide level services. We have made so many cuts and so many difficult choices. I just want to make sure we are moving forward with something sustainable for the long-term.” (Member Liz Fowlks).
This was the prevailing sentiment among the majority of School Committee members who voted 9 to 2 on January 22 to move forward with an ambitious elementary school reorganization plan that will close all five Acton elementary schools effective June 30, 2026 and “reset” by creating grade-banded schools in the Parker Damon Building and the Boardwalk Campus. Each building will house a K-3 lower school and a grade 4-6 upper school with 6-7 classroom sections per grade level and class sizes at the upper end of the School Committee’s guidelines. The four new, as-yet unnamed, elementary schools are scheduled to open this fall.
The Blanchard Elementary School in Boxborough will remain a K-6, albeit larger, school.
Acton TV livestreamed the deliberation and a record 600 community members watched the meeting remotely.
Reorganization is expected to save the District about $2M annually. According to Superintendent of Schools Peter Light, one-time costs associated with implementation, estimated at just under $1M, will be funded from a reserve account used for one-time expenses. Additional savings will be realized through avoided capital improvement and operating costs related to the aging Conant Elementary School building which will permanently close at the end of the school year.
A major source of contention among School Committee members was on the impact of such a large-scale reorganization on students and families. Members Andrew Schwartz and Vikram Parikh, who cast the two opposing votes, voiced concerns also expressed by many community members, that closing Acton’s K-6 elementary schools would maximize disruption, causing trauma and harm by breaking up peer groups, increasing transitions, disrupting community support structures such as Parent-Teacher Organizations, and potentially negatively affecting school rankings. “The trauma of moving everybody everywhere is immediate and lasting,” Schwartz said. The majority of Committee members held a different view, also expressed by many stakeholders, that maximum disruption would avoid selectively targeting and potentially stigmatizing students in Acton schools that had been slated for merger and closure under other options. Large-scale consolidation, members argued, creates opportunities for new social networks to form, new school identities and traditions to take root, and more inclusive school environments to take hold. One member noted that, from an educational perspective, grade-banded schools would also make it easier to adjust staffing to expand the reach and impact of specialist educators and deliver more targeted instruction to more students by matching staff more closely to student need rather than maintaining a one-per-building approach.
A separate vote on January 22 determined how students will be reassigned to schools. After a lengthy deliberation, the Committee voted 9 to 2 to discontinue a longstanding practice where students are assigned to a school by lottery based on family rankings of preferred schools and instead move to neighborhood schools based on geographic proximity. The Committee intends to continue discussion on geographic enrollment with the District’s selected consultant, Dillinger Research and Applied Data, Inc., at the next School Committee meeting on Monday, February 9 to better understand if and how the District might introduce limited, structured choice that would, under certain conditions, allow for personal preference.
Planning for the transition has already begun, with important updates and resources for families, an implementation roadmap with key dates, FAQs, and more on the AB Forward webpage.
The District kicked off a series of biweekly, online webinars last week for families to get the latest updates on the implementation process.
Elementary school principal reassignments were released to families on January 29 as follows:
- Blanchard: Michaell Votto
- Boardwalk K-3: Allison Warren
- Boardwalk 4-6: Larry Wolpe
- Parker Damon K-3: Christina Gavin
- Parker Damon 4-6: Christy Nealon
Conant Principal, Tricia O’Reilly, will not be returning to the District.
Administrative team placement decisions are forthcoming. Superintendent of Schools Peter Light told the Committee on January 22 that “one of our goals is to leave our administrative teams intact to the greatest extent possible because there is a deep working relationship that principals, assistant principals, counselors, school psychologists and, oftentimes, special education coordinators have over time that will allow them to build the new culture of a school effectively.”
The District’s leadership team is also working with the Acton-Boxborough Education Association to collect feedback from elementary educators about their priorities for their own placements next year. “One of our goals is to be able to match educators’ priorities to student needs and to deeply involve educators in the placement process of students into cohorts next year,” Light said.
Families will also have an opportunity this spring to identify peers they feel would be a good fit for their child as classroom cohorts are being developed and families are notified of their school assignment. “We can’t guarantee individual students can be placed together,” Light said, “but we want to try to have a combination of family and educator input in placing students into logical cohorts within classrooms.”
Notification of school placements will take place after April vacation and classroom placements just prior to the end of the school year.
The District also plans to offer school tours to students and families at the end of the school year which will include educators who may be moving into new spaces so there is a sense of familiarity. Light shared, “We are also hoping to reach out to groups of families to coordinate informal gatherings by classroom so students can begin to form connections. We will be doing additional summer tours, as well, for new families and vulnerable students.”
Diane Baum is the Acton Exchange beat reporter for the School Committee.
