A Dale Street Grade 3-5 Could Result in 860 Kids in One School

CORRECTION on school committee meeting date below.

If Medfield school enrollment projections come true, a re-configuration of grades would place 860 students in one three-grade elementary school in the coming years, which is highly unusual in Massachusetts. That proposal also runs counter to significant, longstanding research that indicates once an elementary school goes beyond having 500 students in one school, academic achievement begins to suffer.

The significant longitudinal and peer-reviewed research on school size (also cited in National Education Association report) has been cited by many authorities and educational policy makers to help guide decision-making.

In Massachusetts, data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that the average number of students in a "regular elementary school" is 430 students. In addition, using recent January 2020 data from Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (use pull down to search by "school"), the vast majority of elementary schools with three grades in one building have fewer than 600 students enrolled.

In the city of Newton, its master plan states that Newton School Committee has a policy that caps the number of elementary students in one school to 500.

Even if Medfield elementary grades were re-configured today, the district would still be looking at 599 students all in one school building based on current 2019/2020 enrollment numbers.

At the May 19 public forum about the Dale Street School project, the presentation document stated one project challenge is that it would create "a larger student population in one building," however insights on that particular challenge and ways to overcome it were not shared.

Also to consider: MSBA has capped its gross square-foot incremental allowances for elementary schools at the 600-student enrollment mark in its regulations (page 15).

Also by looking through the MA school list, it is unusual to see high-performing districts with individual elementary schools with enrollments that exceed 500-600 students; one popular school ranking website, Niche.com, helps to illustrate that finding.

Using the 2020 Niche list of the Best Public Elementary Schools in Massachusetts, shown here is a chart with those top-10 ranked schools and their respective enrollments. Despite many having six-grade configurations vs. three, all schools noted here have fewer than 600 students enrolled.

Beyond the estimated $15-million extra project costs associated with a 860-student, grade 3-5 building, what educational costs or variables should be discussed before making the grade-configuration decision? Here are some key questions:

- How much extra staffing will be required to retain the Medfield "small-school feel" (a phrase often heard during the MSBA designer selection process) and to provide necessary services to children?

- How many extra school buses will be needed to provide a smooth drop off and pick up -- and to minimize student time spent on the bus? How long will the average bus route take? (If grade 1 also moves to Wheelock School, it could require transporting nearly 980 children in grades 1-5 based on current enrollment.)

- What new health and wellness measures (especially with regard to contagious disease prevention) will need to be implemented given such a large population of students all in one school (and potentially in close proximity to the existing two-grade Wheelock School)?

- What social-emotional initiatives or plans will be needed to counteract a large-school environment that could be potentially overwhelming to young students? Considerations include movement of students from place to place throughout the day, as well as during lunch time, recess, bus loading and unloading, and assemblies and special events.

There are many unanswered questions and details about how the proposed grade 3-5 re-configuration will play out, and community members are encouraged to share feedback via the Dale project survey that closes on May 27.

Community members are also encouraged to sign up on the Town of Medfield website to subscribe to automatic alerts about Dale Street School Building Committee meetings, and also Medfield School Committee meetings. The next school committee meeting is scheduled for June 4.

So far, on March 12, the Committee voted to approve the draft educational plans for both grade 4-5 and 3-5 configurations that were ultimately submitted to Massachusetts School Building Authority; a final vote on grade configuration as part of the Dale project plan has yet to be cast. It is unclear when that vote will happen.

Based on MA Open Meeting Law, all public meeting agendas are required to be posted 48 business hours in advance.