Avon Lake is examining options for the reconfiguring of the city’s four elementary schools.

According to a release from Avon Lake City Schools, in September, a committee was established consisting of stakeholders from all four elementary schools to look at how the district can look at reviewing enrollment.

The Building Excellent Schools Team included staff, parents, administrators and board members to develop a plan to be implemented during the 2019-2020 academic year to enhance the district’s educational resources.

After extensive dialogue, the group established three options for consideration with plans to present a formal proposal to the Avon Lake Board of Education in May.

The schools are Eastview, Erieview, and Redwood Westview.

The three options are:

• Redraw lines indicating which streets are designated as the enrollment areas for each elementary school.

Based on projected growth in the community, lines would be adjusted to balance out the buildings.

• Create two kindergarten-grade two buildings (Eastview/Redwood) and two third- and fourth-grade buildings (Westview/Erieview). This would maintain the neighborhood culture, but allow for reallocation of resources related to educational programming and support.

• Regroup buildings: create one school that contains all preschool and kindergarten students. The remaining three buildings would consist of grades one through four.

Avon Lake Schools Superintendent Bob Scott said the discussion is about looking forward and planning for the future as the city continues to grow.

With four small elementary schools, the district wants to manage student-teacher ratios to put their students in the best position to succeed, Scott said.

Part of that discussion includes looking at how the district allocates their assets, he said.

“We’re growing slowly and we know that there are a number of subdivisions that have just opened up,” Scott said.

In terms of enrollment levels, the district has at times had to close enrollment in order to keep the student-teacher ratio level, he said.

With Eastview at capacity, students living outside of the present boundaries were moved to other schools.

“It’s about the number of classrooms in each building and keeping the student-teacher ratio at a level we’re comfortable with,” Scott said. “We will deal with it how we always deal with it.”

With the first option, the district could address the problem by moving the boundaries over by a few streets.

Another option is looking to maintain neighborhood culture and support the overall needs of the student.

“What’s the best opportunity for our kids to be successful academically, emotionally and socially?” Scott asked. “That’s where the other options come into play.”

The Building Excellent Schools Team is meeting monthly and Scott expects a decision to be reached in the summer.

Scott said the district will give parents plenty of notice on which direction the district plans to take.

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