Superintendent Seeks Input at Meetings on Repurposed Schools

David Weiss, superintendent of Long Beach School District, will speak on various proposals to repurpose the district’s schools at a PTA meeting at East School on Monday.  

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At the meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the school at 456 Neptune Blvd., Weiss will present the proposals that were deemed the most educationally viable in a report of the Facilities Utilization Study Group, which were present to the Board of Education at meetings in November and December, and he will listen to input from parents. 

The four proposals currently on the table are as follows: 

Option B detailed the repurposing of East School as an administration building, without any change in grade configurations at the other three elementary schools.

Option C involved reconfiguring Lido School as an early learning center for pre-K through first grade. Under this plan, East, West and Lindell schools would serve grades two through five.

Option D called for reconfiguring Lido, East and West schools to serve pre-K through grade two. Under this plan, Lindell would serve as an intermediate school for all students in grades three to five and administration offices would be housed at Lido School.

Option E called for the repurposing of East School as an administration building, while reconfiguring Lido and West schools as primary schools serving pre-K through grade two. Under this plan, Lindell would serve as an intermediate school serving all students in grades three to five.

“This is a PTA meeting, not an open meeting,” Weiss told Patch about Monday’s meeting. “There will be an open board of education meeting on Tuesday and a forum on the issue next Tuesday. I am soliciting thoughts and comments from the parents.”

Weiss will also make a presentation of the four options at the board meeting at Middle School on Tuesday, starting at 7:30 p.m., in which he will also speak about projected staffing, costs, transportation details and transition plans for each option, and during at an East School PTA meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

“Please make every effort to attend at least one of these meetings,” reads an announcement about the Monday and Wednesday meetings on East School PTA website. “Decisions that the Board of Education are going to have an impact on your child, other children of the community and the future of our district. These decision may also impact class size and home values.”

The board will hold a community forum to gather further input on the proposals on Jan. 21.