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MEDFORD SCHOOLS Middle school recommended for sixth-graders Move is part of several strategies to deal with space constraints Comment Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT MailTribune.com Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT Posted Aug. 16, 2016 at 4:55 PM Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT Posted Aug. 16, 2016 at 4:55 PM » Social News Medford schools Superintendent Brian Shumate is recommending the School Board move sixth-graders out of the elementary schools and into the middle schools. Shumate presented his recommendation to the board during an Aug. 3-4 retreat as part of his own three-phase, middle-school redesign proposal. The proposal comes after a task force of parents, teachers and administrators last fall researched the best placement for sixth-graders and strategies for optimizing the space available and concluded that “sixth-grade students would best be served in a middle - school setting with grades 6-8.” The School Board will not vote on the move until it knows the full impact of a 6-8 middle-school configuration on students and district resources, said board member Jeff Thomas. “The School Board needs to do its due diligence to make that recommendation a reality,” he said. The district currently is facing a two-fold issue, Shumate said. “One is what’s best for sixth-graders, and two is what do we do for space as the community continues to grow?” he said. According to forecasts, Medford’s population is projected to grow by about 2.4 percent per year. The district’s non-charter-school enrollment jumped from about 13,648 in October 2014 to 13,833 in October 2015, and it is projected to reach 13,976 this fall and 14,078 by 2018. Last year, with the increased enrollment, the implementation of full-day kindergarten and the addition of nearly 20 teachers to reduce class sizes, the district was forced to utilize all its available space and add modular units at four elementary schools. “I think we’ll be fine coming into this year,” Shumate said, adding that the district is still committed to maintaining small class sizes. “We can squeeze for another year or two and take back space from some community partners and repurpose some space. But, eventually, I think we’re going to need a new space.” As part of Phase 1 of Shumate’s plan, the district will inventory all available space and conduct a demographic study of Medford, Jacksonville and the Applegate Valley. It also will consider displacing community partners located in the schools, repurposing computer labs and other non-classroom spaces, and changing school boundaries “to relieve overcrowding in certain schools.” Community partners such as Head Start, La Clinica and the Southern Oregon Education Service District utilize about 10 elementary school classrooms districtwide. Shumate said he doubts boundary changes would be a long-range solution, because there is not enough space in any one school. After district officials and board members have looked at the data from Phase 1, they’ll begin Phase 2 and “consider adding spaces in strategic schools by adding classrooms and/or renovating current facilities.” The final phase of the redesign proposal will be to consider building a new school — an elementary school, a middle school or even repurposing the Central Medford High School facility. The district will need a new school — elementary or middle — in the next three to five years. It will take about 15 months to build and more time for planning, designing and getting the necessary permits, Shumate said. “If we believe sixth-graders should stay in elementary schools, then we still have a space problem, and if we believe they should move, then we still have a space problem,” Shumate said. “If we believe it’s best to move sixth-graders into a middle-school environment, eventually we’ll probably have to look at building a new middle school, which would take pressure off the elementary schools, and/or we could reconfigure Central Medford High School,” he said. Most sixth-graders nationwide are in a 6-8 configuration, he said. In Oregon, 321 schools serve middle-school students. About half — 158 — use a sixth- through eighth-grade configuration, 111 serve kindergarten through eighth grade, seven feature fifth through eighth grades, 25 serve seventh- and eighth-graders, and 20 use other grade combinations, according to data provided by the Oregon Department of Education. The Medford task force determined that grade configurations were not “the deciding factor in student success” and that the quality of teachers, number of transitions and the size of the school are significant contributors to student success. Based on information gathered from a family input session last fall, parents liked that their sixth-graders would have more access to electives, extracurricular activities and music/band offerings in a middle-school setting, but some also were concerned about their children growing up too fast. If sixth-graders were moved to the middle schools, Shumate said, the district would establish something like a sixth-grade academy in which the younger students could still be part of the bigger school but would be located in a separate wing and have different lunch, physical education and bell schedules. “The district just wants to be proactive in addressing an issue we're going to be facing in the next few years,” Shumate said. Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt . Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT MailTribune.com Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT Posted Aug. 16, 2016 at 4:55 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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