VVS Enrollment, Demographic & Capacity Study
We invite the entire VVS community to learn more about the Enrollment, Demographic, and Capacity Study and share your perspective. All community members are invited to:
Learn More:
- Monday, January 27: BOE Meeting at 7 PM (MS/HS Media Center)
- Monday, February 10: BOE Meeting at 7 PM (MS/HS Media Center)
- Monday, February 24: BOE Meeting at 7 PM (MS/HS Media Center)
- Visit our website: www.vvsschools.org/edc-study-team
Share Perspectives:
- ThoughtExchange Survey: https://tejoin.com/scroll/262080634
- Wednesday, January 22: Community Cafe at 7 PM (MS/HS Media Center)
- Thursday, February 6: Public Forum at 7 PM (MS STEAM Commons)
Save the Dates! More information, including meeting location and information items, will be shared in the coming weeks. We hope that you will be able to share your questions, ideas, and concerns in this important process, and look forward to working with our community to shape the future of our district.
VVS Enrollment, Demographic and Capacity Study Team
This effort is in response to our declining enrollment and the recent Facilities and Strategic Planning Committees’ recommendations to the VVS Board of Education that VVS complete a study of our enrollment, demographics, and building capacity. The VVS Board of Education accepted the recommendation and the data is ready to share.
VVS is assembling a team of individuals across the schools and VVS community to review and discuss this information to plan for the future of our district. The team will review the data and discuss future enrollment projections, school building uses, and grade-level configurations. Your perspective and insights represent an important point of view in our work.
The Team’s roles and responsibilities are as follows:
- To review and discuss the enrollment, demographic, and capacity data analysis and report that was recently presented to the Board of Education.
- To discuss that data and how it might impact the district’s programs, school building uses and grade configurations, staffing, and resource allocation.
- To develop questions for the Board to investigate and request additional relevant information for the team to study and discuss.
- To identify options to address the team’s findings and any benefits, challenges, conflicts, and opportunities for the school and the community associated with each.
- To share the findings and options for consideration with the Board of Education.
The full team will meet five times from October 24 to December 19, 2024. Members will have the option to participate in a subcommittee and/or community cafe. The team's work will culminate on January 13, 2025, with a presentation to the VVS Board of Education. The Board will then decide what direction to take based on the VVS mission, vision, goals, strategic plan, and resource capacity. Please click on the following links for a formal copy of this letter and a meeting schedule with tentative agenda items.
The community is invited to share their perspective via ThoughtExchange survey, at Community Cafes, Hours with the Superintendent, or the Public Forum. We will share those dates in the coming weeks.
Team Meeting #1: October 24, 2024
Team Meeting #2: November 7, 2024
Team Meeting #3: November 21, 2024
Team Meeting #4: December 19, 2024
Team Meeting #5: January 9, 2025
Board of Education Meeting #1: January 13, 2025
Articles on Impact of Declining Enrollment and Ways to Address:
- Challenges of Declining Enrollment in Upstate New York Schools: Strategic Responses and Long-Term Impacts
- Cost Implications of Declining Enrollment in Central New York School Districts
- Economic Sustainability and Declining Enrollment: Financial Implications for Central New York School Districts
- Financial Costs of Underutilized School Buildings in Central New York
- Impact of Declining Enrollment on New York’s Suburban Schools: Policy Options and Case Studies
- Reimagining School District Boundaries: The Role of Rezoning in Addressing Declining Enrollment
- Restructuring School Districts in Central New York: A Focus on Efficiency and Educational Outcomes
- Role of State Aid in Mitigating Fiscal Stress Due to Declining Enrollment in Central New York
- School District Enrollment Challenge: Strategies for Addressing Declining Enrollment
Article on Alternative Uses of School Facilities:
- Building Educational Success Together (BEST) briefs and reports
- From Schools to Community Hubs: Adaptive Reuse of Public School Buildings
- Urban School Closings and the Politics of Spatial Equity: The Case of Upstate New York
Articles on Realigning Attendance Zones:
- Addressing Opportunity to Learn Gaps in Early Grades: The Role of School Attendance Boundaries
- Balancing Enrollment: Evaluating the Efficacy of Redistricting Policies in an Upstate New York School District
- Saratoga Springs City School District (SSCSD) Flex Attendance Zones
- York County School Division's Elementary Attendance Zone Review
Articles on Reorganizing and Reconfiguring:
- A Practical Look at Grade-Level Reorganization: Lessons Learned from Middle and Primary-Level Implementations
- Beyond the Building: Community Perceptions of K–2/3–4 Reorganizations
- Challenging Transitions: The Effect of Grade Configuration on Student Engagement and Achievement
- Consolidation Reconsidered: Evaluating Academic and Social Outcomes of Elementary-Grade Mergers in Upstate New York
- Constrained District Budgets and Grade-Band Reconfiguration: Impacts on Resource Distribution
- Does Smaller Mean Better? Investigating K–2/3–4 Grade Splits in Suburban Districts
- Effects of School Consolidations and Reconfigurations on Performance and Equity: A Meta-Analysis
- Early-Grade Specialization: Evaluating K–2 Building Models in Rural New York Schools
- Elementary Grade Banding and the Pursuit of Continuity: Lessons from Two Upstate New York Districts
- Exploring the K–6 Model: Evidence from Upstate New York Elementary Reorganizations
- Rethinking Primary Education: K–2 Only Schools and Literacy Outcomes
- School Building Reorganization and Teacher Collaboration: A Case for Smaller Grade Spans
- Stuck in the Middle? The Impact of Grade Configuration in Public Schools on Student Outcomes
Articles on School Closure and Consolidation
- Assessing School Closures: Impact on Community Indicators in Central New York
- Best Practices Guide for Potential School Closure
- Closed Schools, Open Minds: How to Bring New Life to Shuttered Schools in the Hudson Valley
- Declining enrollment and school closures: How Districts Can Better Manage a Difficult Process
- Evaluation of District Improvement Efforts in New York: Understanding School Closure Decisions
- Fiscal Stress and School Closures: A New York Case Study
- Pressure to Close Schools Is Ramping Up. What Districts Need to Know
- School Closure and Consolidation: Community and Student Outcomes in New York State
- School Finance and Resource Allocation in Rural Districts Experiencing Enrollment Decline
- School Consolidation and Transportation Policy: An Empirical Analysis of School Activity Travel in New York
- Turning the Page: Reimagining the Small City School District