Stratford Elementary Student Placement Letter To Go Out

Stratford parents were notified today that placement letters will be going out this Friday, May 25th. Only children who will be placed at a school they do not currently attend will receive letters. kindergarten placement letters were sent out today, May 23rd. Children who will be staying at their current elementary school will not be receiving letters.

Due to the recent vote by Board of Education elected members to De-magnitize Stratford Academy and realign some school district lines, all elementary students are at risk of being placed at a different school.

Dr. Robinson states in an email, " This process would normally take more time but it became more urgent when the district received a deep budget cut for next year." The State recently passed their budget for the upcoming fical year and reinstated cuts to ECS funding which was factored into the BOE budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The Stratford Board of Education asked the Town Council for $2.2 million less than what they required to opperate. Some parents are confused by that statement.

Many parents were against the Realignment and De-magnitizing of Stratford Academy for various reasons. One reason was that they felt the Board of Education did not prove sufficient savings in cutting busses and no savings in De-magnitizing. They also felt that schools would fall out of legal percentages for racial balancing, and would need to bus students to balance elementary schools regardless. These were touched on in the email from Dr. Robinson as well.

Dr. Robinson stated that, "cutting bussing will save a great deal of money." The Stratford Academy neighborhood has over 1,000 elementary school students. More than 300 students will still be required to be bussed to other elementary schools in town.

Dr. Robinson also states that, "Racial equity will remain as we have a culture of rich diversity." While Stratford is a diverse town, Clarence Zachery stated at a recent speical meeting of the BOE that, " only some areas of stratford are balanced."

The email ends with, " We all want your children to have a successful school experience."