West Jefferson Hills School District: Redistricting considered for elementary schools

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

Students and parents in the West Jefferson Hills School District may soon see changes to the district’s boundaries that determine which schools students attend.

At the WJHSD work session Tuesday, school officials were given a presentation from Jon Thomas of Pittsburgh-based construction management firm Thomas and Williamson on how new home construction in the area is affecting enrollment and capacity at each of the district’s five schools.

Thomas’ presentation focused on five topics that included a building capacity study, enrollment and demographics, K-2 enrollment projections, viability of a previous redistricting plan and projected enrollment versus capacity of the district’s buildings.

Thomas said the main focus of the study is on the district’s two primary schools, Gill Hall and McClellan elementary schools.

“The district area is split in half so some kids go to Gill Hall and McClellan,” Thomas said. “My process is to calculate capacities on your current space utilization and to identify repurposed spaces.”

According to Thomas, Gill Hall Elementary’s kindergarten capacity is at 93%, first grade capacity is at 99% and second grade capacity is at 92%.

At McClellan Elementary, the kindergarten capacity is at 149%, first grade capacity is at 119% and second grade capacity is at 116%.

Thomas said even after a redistricting to the enrollment zones, projected kindergarten capacity at Gill Hall Elementary is estimated at 71%, while McClellan Elementary’s projected kindergarten capacity will be at 112%.

“We can see that an adjustment needs to be made,” Thomas said. “The attendance zone that is feeding McClellan needs to get smaller, and the attendance zone that is feeding Gill Hall needs to get larger so that we can make it balance.”

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