Ardmore, PA - Monday, September 8, 2008 - District administrators presented the first draft of a redistricting plan to the Board of School Directors during a public Board meeting on Monday night. The proposed plan draws upon extensive community feedback and months of data analysis by District officials and consultants. The plan presentation begins Phase III of the redistricting process, a three-month period of public input and refinement of the draft plan. The first phase of redistricting - facilitated community engagement - yielded a set of community values that guided the initial planning process. Also directing the process was a set of "guiding principles" approved by the Board last April. Phase II of the process included data analysis and the development of enrolment projections for individual schools and the school district.

To develop the specifics of the proposed plan, District staff and consultants completed a comprehensive demographics and facility analysis, exploring enrollment projections and classroom utilization on a district-wide and individual school basis. With the aid of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the planning team reviewed existing and projected student population patterns on a map of the District. The team considered numerous scenarios before arriving at the proposed plan.

Highlights of the proposed plan include:

• No redistricting at the elementary schools
• All students remain with cohorts in grades K-8
• All current high school students will have the option to stay at the high school to which they have been assigned.
• Students entering high school in 2009 will attend the school for which they are zoned.

In an effort to balance enrollments at the two high schools (a Board "guiding principle"), the plan offers the following recommendations:

• Penn Wynne ES will feed into Welsh Valley MS and Harriton HS.
• Penn Valley ES will feed into Bala Cynwyd MS, with most Penn Valley students (including the current walk zone) eventually matriculating to Lower Merion HS.
• All Narberth Borough students will matriculate to Lower Merion HS.
• Choice areas will be eliminated.
• All other feeder patterns will remain the same.

A significant outcome of the proposed plan is the ability to maintain continuity at the elementary level, preserving identical boundary areas and walking zones at each elementary school. "Walkability," especially at the elementary level, was a key community value that emerged in public forums. Projections indicate that the elementary schools can accommodate current and future enrollments for at least the next five years, while maintaining appropriate class sizes for each grade (based on existing LMSD guidelines). The physical location of the elementary schools makes any practical redistricting difficult with regard to keeping communities intact. Actions taken last year by the District such as removing MELC child care classrooms from elementary schools have helped to ensure that all elementary school programs can be accommodated.

The proposed plan also alleviates concerns about transitioning students out of their current schools. All current high school and middle school students will have the option to stay at the school they are currently attending. School-to-school transitions at lower levels will continue to occur at natural intervals - after 5th and 8th grade. For those communities with new feeder patterns, the plan seeks to keep cohorts together - Penn Wynne students, for example, will move together from elementary through high school. In sustaining and developing these patterns, the planning team sought to address community values related to maintaining "social networks" and facilitating "comfortable learning environments."

The planning team believes that Lower Merion's academic and co-curricular excellence - a core community value - will not be affected by redistricting; the redistricting process should result in enhanced, expedited student access to the opportunities afforded by two, new high schools of equal and ideal size.

The next step in the redistricting process is a period of public comment on the first draft of the plan. On Thursday, September 11 at 8 PM in the Lower Merion HS auditorium, the Board will host a special redistricting meeting to gather public feedback; the Board will continue to accept public comment on the first draft of the plan via email ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and mail for a two-week period concluding September 25th. On Monday, October 20, the District will present a revised, 2nd draft of the redistricting plan, followed by a special meeting for public comment on Thursday, October 23. This process will repeat itself through the completion of a 3rd draft in November and and 4th (and final) draft in December.

The LMSD redistricting plan presentation from Monday evening will be rebroadcast on the local educational access channel (Comcast Channel 6, Verizon Fios 36) at the following times:

Tuesday, September 9: 12 PM, 4 PM, 8 PM
Wednesday, September 10: 9 AM, 12 PM, 4 PM, 8 PM
Thursday, September 11: 9 AM, 12 PM, 4 PM, 8 PM

Additional information, including a slideshow and maps from Monday's presentation will be available online in the redistricting section of the District website by Tuesday evening (9/9). A video of the presentation will also be available online in the redistricting section, beginning Wednesday, September 10.