Schools

Long Beach Study Group to Present Facilities Study Findings

Written by Rosemary Leonetti/Syntax

The Long Beach School District’s facilities study group will present the conclusions of its months-long research into district facility utilization at a Board of Education work session next week.

Follow Long Beach Patch on Facebook.

Find out what's happening in Long Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Since the facilities study group’s origination in the spring of 2013, this team, comprised of residents, staff, teachers and administrators, has spent the last several months analyzing the current structure of the district’s buildings and developing the possible benefits and challenges for a variety of potential reorganization concepts.

The formulation of the study group was spurred by various factors, including the impacts of Hurricane Sandy, a steady decline in student enrollment, the evolution of instruction and the ongoing financial constriction facing all public schools. The committee was tasked with studying all organizational structures, including the possibility of school repurposing. The data will ultimately be addressed by the district’s administrative leaders with the Board of Education.

Find out what's happening in Long Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We had more than 20 individuals who collaborated on this effort,” said Superintendent David Weiss. “All of the reasonable options to address district priorities were evaluated. These include maintaining safe and orderly schools, improving the quality of the instructional program and the delivery of services to students, employing effective business operations, and finding efficiencies and cost savings in facilities use.”

The presentation, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Long Beach Middle School on Nov. 26, will be led by individual study group members who will present the benefits and challenges for each of the 11 options to the board and the public. A public forum on the options will be held Jan. 21. Residents are encouraged to attend this forum to contribute to the future direction of the Long Beach public schools.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here