Dear Parents,
We have had many opportunities throughout this year to collect feedback from faculty, staff, students, parents and the community. We have also worked with an outside consultant from the Western New York Educational Service Council to complete a Long-Range Enrollment and Facilities Usage Study. The Community Survey results were recently shared with the Board of Education in January and the Long-Range Enrollment and Facilities Usage Study was shared at the February meeting. The website has a link to the infographic and presentation that provides the results.
Utilizing the Community Survey results, we have begun to plan for next school year. There were 228 people that completed the survey. We have begun looking specifically at our current student enrollment, staff utilization, community use of buildings, building configuration and course considerations. This analysis has prompted us to do the following:
- Recommend to the Board of Education a reconfiguration of building grade levels based on survey results and consultant recommendations. The board voted at the March 9th board meeting to reconfigure the buildings to PreK-4 in Dalton and 5-8 and 9-12 in Nunda for the 2023-2024 school year. A request to the State Education Department was made for this reconfiguration and approved on June 16th.
- This will mean that the current 3rd grade class will remain in Dalton next year as they move to 4th grade. Current 4th grade teaching staff will transition to the Dalton building. The Community Survey results showed 58% of those that responded supported this change. An additional 16% supported other variations of grade levels moving back to Dalton.
- This will mean that next year 5th-8th grade students will work with Mrs. Kanner and 9th-12th grade students will work with Mrs. Bennett for the 2023-2024 school year. A period of transition will occur where Mrs. Kanner and Mrs. Bennett will work closely together to support all students.
The study has created an opportunity for the District to create a transparent process for making decisions related to enrollment, section size and staff utilization. This will mean that when a grade level's enrollment reaches a certain threshold, a reduction of sections will occur. This reduction will currently take place as staff retires or leaves the district. It also provides the opportunity to plan for better building utilization for instruction and community use.
Moving forward, we will provide communications related to these changes on the Keshequa District website and through Talking Points to keep you informed.
Sincerely,
Lesley Powers
Superintendent