Wantagh Declining Enrollment Committee Report Nearly Finalized

A committee formed last year to examine declining enrollment in the Wantagh School District is finalizing a report that features potential actions, but does not offer a recommendation to act on.

The three areas the committee explored to combat declining enrollment were redistricting the elementary schools, a Princeton Plan model where elementary schools house two grade levels and closing a school. The commitee is chaired by Principal Dr. Lynne D’Agostino.

When the status of the report was asked about at Wednesday's Wantagh Board of Education meeting, the school board's president William Russack said the committee did not make a recommendation for the best plan to follow, but did indicate being against closing a school. Russack also said the committee explored options for adding full-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs in the district as a way of utilizing excess space in buildings.

Russack said the school board is taking a closer look at some of the figures in the report before releasing the information to the public. He said the committee members acknowledged that they were not “financial people” and may reconvene soon to reexamine some of their projected numbers. 

“I think the report at this point is a good road map,” said Russack, who did not give a timetable for when it will be available for public view.

Soon after the committee discussing declining enrollment was formed last year, the Board of Education emphasized at its Oct. 18 meeting that there of closing Mandalay Elementary School to dispel untrue rumors that had been circulating in the community. Russack said at Wednesday night’s meeting that closing an elementary school is currently unfeasible anyway since the district does not have the capacity to relocate students.

Former Wantagh Board of Education president Chris Wendt urged the trustees during the public comments portion of Wednesday's meeting at to keep an open mind to all possibilities and also explore possible shared services with neighboring districts like Seaford and Bellmore-Merrick to see if significant savings can be achieved.

“You paint yourself into a corner by knocking out options,’ Wendt said referring to how the Smithtown School District was recently forced to close an elementary school after rejecting the Princeton Plan model a few years ago. "All good intentions not withstanding, closing a school might become the last good option."

The Wantagh Board of Education is meeting next week with a consortium of neighboring school districts of how the new 2 percent tax cap rule passed by state lawmakers last summer is impacting budget planning. Wantagh school board vice president Robert Leuchtmann said options the committee explored for addressing declining enrollment will most likely be looked at for the 2013/14 budget cycle rather than next year’s spending plan.