WOODLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 404

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

RESOLUTION NO. 18-2

WHEREAS, the Board of Directors finds that it is in the best interest of the children served by the district to transition the Woodland Primary and Woodland Intermediate Schools from the current configuration of serving tiered grade levels to a configuration that serves K-4 students in a regional attendance area beginning in the 2019-2020 school year.

We find that shifting from the current tiered configuration of elementary schools (P-1, 2-4) to a neighborhood model, wherein Woodland Primary School will serve students in grades P-4, and Woodland Intermediate School and Yale School will serve students in grades K-4 will have the following benefits:

• Increased efficiency of transportation routing, resulting in reduced time on school buses for many students and reduced operating costs

• Greater educational continuity for students (fewer transitions, behavioral supports, academic supports, etc). Research suggests that increased continuity correlates with better academic and behavioral outcomes for students, both short-term and long-term

• Increased parent participation of families with multiple elementary schools

• Opportunity for siblings to attend school together throughout their elementary career

• Opportunity for more effective professional collaboration within and between teachers

• Increased opportunity to serve specialized populations more effectively. (e.g. one

  elementary school can effectively support K-4 students with autism and another can

  support K-4 students with significant cognitive or behavioral disabilities)

• Increased ability to equitably distribute enrollment between schools, mitigating the need

  to add additional modular classrooms at Woodland Intermediate School

• Mitigate surface transportation challenges within the Woodland Community

• Opportunity for positive interaction within a wider range of students, including positive

  older role models/buddies

• Fewer transitions for students

• Greater continuity of school program

  We declare, by this resolution, that beginning in the fall of 2019, all elementary schools in the Woodland Public School District will be K-4 neighborhood schools; further,

  We direct the superintendent to develop a preliminary transition plan and deliver that plan to the board for approval no later than December 17, 2018; and,

It is the intent of the board to offer and support open enrollment between the schools, allowing parents who wish to provide transportation for their children to select, on a space-available basis, a school outside of their attendance area.

Adopted this 29th day of May 2018.