Bedford Central School District

The purpose of this special edition is to ensure all community stakeholders are aware of the status of BCSD's Long-Range Facilities Plan Development. This is important because BCSD has engaged in three demographic studies, which all drew similar conclusions.

1. Enrollment in BCSD is declining, much like many Westchester County and New York State School Districts.
2. BCSD's five elementary schools all have excess capacity, which will continue to grow into the future.

The District has been engaging in the work for three years in a methodical and transparent manner and will continue to do so in this most critical year of the process.

• The work began in 2016-17 with a District Space and Enrollment (S & E) Committee consisting of representative stakeholders from each current elementary school sending zone.
• In 2017-18, the District addressed a significant component of that committee's recommendation, which resulted in our Dual Language School of Choice at Mount Kisco Elementary School.
• In 2018-19, another major recommendation of the S & E Committee was addressed by working with a demographic and strategic planning firm to complete a year-long study including enrollment trend analysis, space and capacity analysis, and program implementation analysis.

This work has been thoughtfully and purposefully transparent with frequent public updates and information shared and placed on our website.

BCSD crafted a Request for Proposals in the fall of 2018 to engage a consulting firm to assist the District in the development of a Long-Range Facilities Plan. Since January 2019, BCSD has been working with Interactive Inc. to assist the District in facilitating a process to evaluate alternatives and identify a prudent course of action that will serve our school community and students as we move into the future. During the 2019-20 school year, the District with the guidance of Interactive Inc. will engage community stakeholders to provide input. This will culminate in a recommendation of a Long-Range Facilities Plan to the Board of Education in the spring of 2020.

• Enrollment in BCSD is declining.
• There is an excess capacity across all five District elementary schools.
• Our latest demographic study suggests alternatives for action in three categories:

1. Operate 5 elementary schools: or
2. Operate 4 elementary schools: or
3. Operate 3 elementary schools.

To date, Interactive Inc. has completed the following:

• Initial and continued meetings with Dr. Manno, Superintendent of Schools, the Central Office Team, and Board of Education members.
• Review of supporting documents
• In collaboration with the Superintendent, the review and refinement of the project process and timeline.
• Spring and summer site visits and re-visits to each BCSD school
• Introductory meetings with principals, District administrators, and Board of Education members
• Finalized the timeline and scope of work for the LRFP plan development

In partnership with the BCSD administration and Board of Education, Interactive Inc. aims to accomplish the following during 2019-20:

• Provide the District with educationally-grounded documentation of current space utilization
• Provide documentation of classroom and other space capacity and utilization
• Collect and report community attitudes and opinions
  
• Provide information to the District regarding increased efficiencies

As we, as a school community, consider this matter, we keep five key objectives in mind:

• Preserve the quality of education for our students
• Increase the efficiency of our organization
• Minimize disruption for our school community
• Be responsible stewards of taxpayer resources
• Invest in maintenance and repair

In partnership with BCSD, Interactive, Inc. is on track to launch “Stakeholder Engagement” activities this fall. They will be convening focus groups and community forums, supplemented with web-surveys. Interactive, Inc. will share the results of its analysis, along with earlier demographic and program analyses, and the results of the community engagement activities to the Board of Education. The Board and Superintendent will consider and evaluate this information to begin to finalize the BCSD Long-Range Facilities Plan. “Stakeholder Education” activities will acquaint Bedford stakeholders with the content and implications of the Long Range Facilities Plan. In June 2020, the Board of Education will adopt a resolution of the Bedford Central School District's Long-Range Facilities Plan.

Our partners at Interactive Inc. will present an overview of their work to date and preview the next steps on October 2, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. during our regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting.

Process Phases:

1. CONTENT AND PLANNING (January - September 2019)
2. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT (October 2019 - February 2020)
3. SUPERINTENDENT & BOARD IDENTIFY PREFERRED OPTION(S) (March 2020)
4. STAKEHOLDER EDUCATION (April - May 2020)
5. SUPERINTENDENT RECOMMENDS & BOARD ADOPTS LONG RANGE FACILITIES PLAN (June 2020)
6. PREPARATION FOR IMPLEMENTATION (School year 2020-21)

Cultivating curiosity and passion for learning.

Providing challenging educational opportunities.

All students achieving their full potential.