Updated: Realignment Meetings to Continue for South Huntington Schools

The South Huntington school district plan to reconfigure grade alignments at its buildings will get another look Wednesday night at a meeting at Walt Whitman High School.

The district is considering four plans that would reorganize the grades at each of the elementary schools, and return the Memorial building to district use after years of leasing it to private schools. The plans would mean that pupils spend more years in one building than under the current system.

Under the proposals,  pre-k would be available all families in the district that want it. There are 60 families on the pre-k waiting list this year, Dr. Vito D’Elia, school superintendent, said.

The district would have more control of transportation by owning, rather than contracting out, bus service, D’Elia said. Busing has been a significant problem in recent years for several districts, as transportation companies struggle to find enough drivers.

The precise plan, meaning where the lines would be drawn for each school, was of major concern, with several parents asking how they could be assured that the schools would remain diverse unless the district could tell them precisely what the zones would be. The district has posted maps of the new zones for all four proposals.

Mixing kids of different ages on buses, as well as the impact on special programs such as music, had numerous parents raising questions and objections at the unveiling of the four proposals last week. Several said at last week’s meeting or afterward that fifth graders would expose younger children to behavior such as bullying, or to inappropriate content from their phones. Others asked about providing matrons on buses to improve student behavior.

The Wednesday meeting at Walt Whitman High School will start at 6:30 pm.

South Huntington Outlines Proposals for School Realignment