ONTARIO – The Ontario School District announced a series of public meetings to discuss the closures of two rural elementary schools and a shift among other elementary schools.
The shift, dubbed by Superintendent Nikki Albisu as an “elementary reconfiguration,” consolidates all students in each grade in the same school. Three of the district’s five schools will be used, a change now anticipated at the start of the next school year. Cairo and Pioneer Elementary Schools will be mothballed.
The district has scheduled simultaneous meetings at all five of its elementary schools, which include Pioneer, Cairo, Aiken, May Roberts, and Alameda Elementary Schools, at 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30.
Other meetings scheduled:
•4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, at Cairo and Pioneer Elementary Schools.
•7:45 a.m. Monday, Feb. 12 at May Roberts Elementary School.
•4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13 at Aiken and Alameda Elementary Schools.
Taryn Smith, the district’s communications manager, said in a Tuesday, Jan. 16 email that the district is still looking into streaming the meetings online. Staff used Zoom at the meeting in November and the audio “was not favorable,” she said.
According to the district’s Facebook post, administrators are “excited to provide” the community with “additional opportunities to learn” about the elementary reconfiguration plan.
“We will go over our proposed structure, answer your frequently asked questions,” the post noted, “and share our plans for the shift.”
EDITORS NOTE: This story has been updated from its original version to reflect comments from Taryn Smith.
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