Southington School Reconfiguration Plan On Hold Indefinitely

SOUTHINGTON, CT — A controversial proposal to redistrict and, possibly, close elementary schools in Southington that caused a bit of parent anxiety last school year is on hold.

Southington Superintendent of Schools Steven Madancy updated the Southington Board of Education earlier this month about proposed redistricting.

Last spring, a consensus of school officials decided tight application deadlines for potential grants, combined with staff issues at the state education department, prompted Southington to pause any redistricting talk.

At the board's last meeting Sept. 14, Madancy said that was a good idea, pointing to two more bits of information making a redistricting pause the better option in his eyes.

Starting in February, school board members were looking at the reconfiguration of several elementary schools — Kelley, Flanders and Derynoski elementary schools, with some options calling for Flanders' closure.

In February, the school district heard a massive presentation on the redistricting proposal, with the pause announced at the board of education's April 27 meeting.

Speaking at the Sept. 14 Southington school board meeting, Madancy said new information not included in the enrollment study has confirmed pausing the proposal was the right move.

Those include higher-than-expected birth rates in Southington, according to updated figures, and newly approved state legislation that changes the eligible age for a student to enter kindergarten.

He said the pause was, definitely, the right choice.

"That's been compounded a bit. It's a good thing we paused," Madancy said. "So all of that now needs to be factored into our enrollment."

Starting in the 2024-25 school year, a child can enter kindergarten if he or she turns 5 prior to Sept. 1 of a calendar year.

Previously, the age cutoff was the end of the calendar year, meaning a child, theoretically, could be 4 years old and still be in kindergarten as long as they turned 5 prior to the end of the year.

That was changed because of educational concerns caused by younger kindergartners not being ready for school, according to educators and proponents.

The move, finalized over the summer, is something Madancy said the school district must take into account, essentially rendering enrollment projects in the prior report moot.

Madancey said, as a result, a new enrollment study is necessary to look at future class sizes and how buildings are being utilized.

Last spring, Southington school officials were discussing a report by the SLAM Collaborative, a national consulting firm, that suggested Southington had several options to reconfigure schools to deal with enrollment issues.

Some of those issues called for the closing of some schools, namely Flanders Elementary School on Victoria Drive.

That, however, appears to be off the table, for now, according to Southington education officials.

Now, school officials will look at redistricting again only after a new study is done at a yet-to-be-finalized time frame.

"So this is a good year to think about redistricting once we have updated enrollment numbers," Madancy said. "I'm going to start working about taking those factors into account relative to the enrollment study."

From April 3: 'Concerns Raised Regarding Southington School's Future'

For the minutes of the Sept. 14 Southington Board of Education meeting, click on this link.

For the minutes of the April 27 Southington Board of Education meeting, click on this link.

For the minutes of the Feb. 23 Southington Board of Education meeting, click on this link.