The Comprehensive Budget Binder for the Superintendent's Preliminary Budget for FY2026.
Understanding the ABRSD Reorganization Options: A Guide for Our Community This document was created using Google’s Notebook LM, a generative AI tool. It was edited by district staff. The document is based on the reorganization slides from District Management Group and is intended to help the community better understand each of the possible options for discussion. We suggest using this document along with DMGroup’s Reorganization slides and our beiref video as a way of gaining deeper understanding of potential reorganization options. 1.0 Introduction: Why is ABRSD Considering Reorganization? Welcome to this guide on the potential reorganization of the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District (ABRSD). The purpose of this document is to provide our community members—parents, staff, students, and residents—with a clear and comprehensive overview of the different options being considered for the future of our schools. Understanding these possibilities is the first step toward providing meaningful feedback that will shape the final decisions. Our district is at a critical juncture. The way we have structured and funded our schools for the past 50 years is no longer sufficient to meet the fast-changing needs of today's students and community. This process, part of the AB Forward Strategic Plan , is driven by a commitment to build an excellent and sustainable school system for decades to come. The primary challenges facing our district are: ● Financial Pressures: The funding we receive is not keeping pace with rising costs. This has led to difficult choices, including the recent elimination of about 40 positions, and the shift of about 45 positions to general education to more specialized support roles. We must find a more efficient and sustainable financial model. ● Changing Student Needs: Our student population has evolved significantly. While overall enrollment has declined by 10% in the last decade, the number of English learners has doubled (from 4% to 8%), and the number of students from lower-income backgrounds has increased fourfold. Our current structure struggles to meet these diverse and growing needs equitably. ● Long-Term Sustainability: The goal is to move beyond temporary fixes and create a district structure that is resilient and can provide outstanding education for decades. This requires us to think strategically about our facilities, programs, and resources. To address these challenges, the district is exploring several reorganization options. Each option is built from a combination of changes across three fundamental "building blocks," which we will explore next.
2.0 The Three Dimensions of Change Every potential reorganization option is a combination of choices made across three key areas, or "dimensions." Understanding these dimensions is essential to understanding the options themselves.
Dimension
What It Means
Examples of Possible Changes
Facilities
The physical school buildings that the district uses.
• Maintain all 4 elementary buildings
• Shift from 4 elementary buildings to 3 (by closing one)
Schools & Programs
How individual schools are organized and operate within the physical buildings.
• Maintain 6 individual schools with varying enrollment
• Shift to 5 schools by closing one
• Shift to 5 schools by merging two
• Shift to 5 schools organized by grade bands
• Shift to 3 larger schools
Grade-Leve ls
How students are grouped by age and grade across the district's elementary and secondary schools.
• Keep the current K-6 elementary model
• Organize schools by grade-level bands (e.g., K-3 and 4-6) • Move to a K-5 elementary model (shifting 6th grade to Junior High)
The specific options that follow are different combinations of choices made within these three dimensions.
3.0 Exploring the Reorganization Options The District Management Group (DMGroup) has identified several potentially feasible reorganization options for community consideration. These options are grouped below into thematic categories to help clarify their primary focus. 3.1 Category 1: Options Focused on Elementary School Buildings & Structures 3.1.1 Option 1: Maintain Existing Structures (Status Quo) ● Key Features: ○ The 6 current elementary schools remain in their 4 buildings. ○ Grade levels stay K-6. ○ Programs and open enrollment policies do not change. ● Main Benefit: This option causes no disruption to students, families, or staff and preserves existing school communities. ● Main Drawback: It fails to solve two core issues. First, it does not address the district's long-term financial unsustainability, leaving it vulnerable to future budget cuts. Second, it maintains facility inequities, as some students are in new buildings while others are in buildings needing significant renovation. ● Cost & Sustainability: Minimal short-term investment is required, but significant long-term renovation costs (estimated at $17.5M for Conant) are deferred. This option has Less Sustainability as resources remain tied up in maintaining an inefficient structure. 3.1.2 Option 2: Shift to 3 Elementary Buildings (Facility Consolidation) ● Key Features: ○ Consolidates from 4 elementary buildings to 3 by closing the Conant facility. ○ Maintains all 6 separate K-6 schools. One of the large buildings would house 3 schools together. ○ The school community from the closed building would be relocated to one of the other twin-school buildings. ○ It is unlikely the building with 3 schools co-loaced would be able to house all of the current students, so some students would need to be re-assigned. ● Main Benefit: It avoids the costly renovation of the Conant building and moves students into higher-quality facilities while preserving the identity of all 6 individual schools. ● Main Drawback: Relocating a school community can lead to resistance and a perceived loss of school culture. The buildings receiving more students may feel crowded, and shared resources could be stretched. ● Cost & Sustainability: Avoids major renovation costs and reduces long-term operational costs. It has Medium Sustainability as it provides some financial stability, though it requires trade-offs.
3.1.3 Option 3: Consolidate to 5 Schools (by Closing One) ● Key Features:
○ Consolidates from 4 elementary buildings to 3 and reduces the number of schools from 6 to 5. ○ Two versions are proposed for closing a school: ■ V1: Close the Conant school and distribute its students among the remaining schools, given that its building would also be closed. ■ V2: Close Merriam (the school with the lowest enrollment preference), distribute its students, and move the Conant school community into the available space. ● Main Benefit: Creates greater efficiency by reducing administrative and operational costs, allowing the district to reallocate savings to other priorities like specialist staff. ● Main Drawback: Deciding which school to close is a challenging and potentially controversial process that can erode community trust. ● Cost & Sustainability: Avoids major renovation costs. Generates an estimated $400K–$500K in long-term operational savings and creates the potential to reallocate $700K–$800K in staff resources to other priorities. This option has Greater Sustainability . ○ Reduces the number of schools from 6 to 5 by merging Merriam and McCarthy-Towne, the two schools with the lowest enrollment preferences. ○ The Conant community would be relocated into the space made available by the merger. ● Main Benefit: Generates operational efficiencies and frees up resources for reallocation, while preserving a high-performing school community (Conant) by moving it to a more updated facility. ● Main Drawback: The merged school communities risk losing their individual traditions and culture, and those families may feel their schools were sacrificed to preserve another. ● Cost & Sustainability: Avoids major renovation costs ($17.5M). Creates operational savings ($400K–$500K) and allows staff resource reallocation opportunities ($700K–$800K). This option has Greater Sustainability . 3.1.4 Option 4: Consolidate to 5 Schools (by Merging Two) ● Key Features: ○ Consolidates from 4 buildings to 3 (closing Conant).
3.1.5 Option 6: Consolidate to 3 Larger K-6 Schools ● Key Features: ○ Consolidates from 4 buildings to 3.
○ Reduces the number of schools from 6 down to 3 larger K-6 schools. ○ Students are reassigned to one of the three consolidated schools.
● Main Benefit: This option generates significant operational and administrative savings, streamlines district operations, and preserves the K-6 model, which supports continuity for students. ● Main Drawback: This would be a significant short-term upheaval, and families tied to their current school identities may strongly resist the consolidation. Some may feel that larger schools are less personal. ● Cost & Sustainability: Provides significant long-term savings ($700K–$800K) that create financial capacity for reallocation to other district priorities. This option has Greater Sustainability . 3.2 Category 2: Options Focused on Changing Grade-Level Groupings 3.2.1 Option 5: Reconfiguration through Grade-Level Bands ● Key Features: ○ Consolidates from 4 buildings to 3 and from 6 schools to 5. ○ Moves from a K-6 model to schools organized by grade-level bands. Two versions are proposed: ■ Full Grade-Band Model: Blanchard would become a PreK-K early childhood center, Douglas/Gates would house grades 1-3, and McCarthy-Towne/Merriam would house grades 4-6. ■ Hybrid Model: Blanchard would remain a K-6 school, while the other buildings are split into K-3 (McCarthy-Towne, Douglas) and 4-6 (Merriam, Gates) schools. ● Main Benefit: Allows for highly targeted instruction and specialized staff tailored to specific developmental stages. It also creates a more equitable experience, as all students progress through the same sequence of schools. ● Main Drawback: This model increases the number of school transitions for students, which can be disruptive. Families may resist losing the traditional K-6 community model, and busing times may increase. ● Cost & Sustainability: Avoids major renovation costs. Creates long-term operational efficiencies ($400K–$500K) and opportunities to reallocate staff resources ($700K–$800K). This option has Greater Sustainability .
3.2.2 Option 7: Create a K-5 Elementary Model (No Facility Consolidation) ● Key Features:
○ Maintains all 4 elementary buildings and all 6 individual elementary schools. ○ Reconfigures elementary schools to a K-5 model. Two versions for secondary reconfiguration are proposed: ■ V1 Middle School Model: Move all 6th-grade students to the Junior High, creating a 6-8 middle school. ■ V2 Expanded Upper School Model: Move 6th graders to the Junior High and also move 8th graders to the High School, creating an 8-12 high school. ● Main Benefit: Aligns 6th graders with a more developmentally appropriate middle school model, giving them earlier access to specialized teachers and electives. It also preserves all elementary school identities. ● Main Drawback: This option does not address the unresolved facility issues at Conant, which will still require eventual renovation. It also creates new facility pressures at the secondary schools to accommodate the influx of students. ● Cost & Sustainability: Requires short-term costs for modifications at the Junior High and/or High School. Long-term renovation needs and operational costs at the elementary level persist. This option has Medium Sustainability .
3.2.3 Option 8: Create a K-5 Elementary Model (With Facility Consolidation) ● Key Features:
○ Combines the K-5 grade-level shift with any of the elementary consolidation options (Options 2-6).
○ Consolidates elementary facilities from 4 buildings to 3. ○ Two versions for secondary reconfiguration are proposed:
■ V1 Middle School Model: Move all 6th-grade students to the Junior High, creating a 6-8 middle school. ■ V2 Expanded Upper School Model: Move 6th graders to the Junior High and also move 8th graders to the High School, creating an 8-12 high school. ● Main Benefit: This approach combines the benefits of a developmentally appropriate middle school model with the financial and operational efficiencies of elementary school consolidation. ● Main Drawback: This option involves multiple layers of change, creating disruption at both the elementary and secondary levels. It also creates capacity pressures at the Junior High and/or High School. ● Cost & Sustainability: Allows for significant long-term savings by avoiding elementary renovation costs and reducing operational overhead, creating more sustainable staffing and resourcing. This option has Greater Sustainability .
These options will be judged against a consistent set of criteria to determine which best serves the needs of our entire community. 4.0 How the Options Are Being Evaluated To ensure a fair and thorough analysis, the district and the AB Forward Steering Committee are using a consistent set of criteria to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each reorganization option. ● Projected Cost This criterion examines the financial implications of each option. It asks about the upfront versus ongoing costs, potential savings, and how well the short-term costs align with the goal of long-term financial sustainability for the district. ● Impact on Staffing This looks at how each option would affect our educators and staff. It considers how staffing needs might change, the potential effects on workload, and how the changes could impact staff recruitment and retention. ● Impact on Students & Families This focuses on the human side of the change. It assesses how many people will be affected, whether the impact is equitable across different student groups, and how the changes might strengthen or challenge community trust. ● Implications for Curriculum, Materials & Support This criterion evaluates the academic and support needs associated with each option. It asks if new programs or curricula would be required, what resources might need to be updated, and what professional learning would be needed to support educators through the transition. ● Summarized Strengths and Drawbacks This provides a final, high-level summary of the primary benefits and disadvantages of each option, helping to clarify the key trade-offs involved in making a decision. Beyond these criteria, there are other important concepts, like school mergers and enrollment policies, that are relevant to several of the options.
5.0 Important Related Considerations Three key topics—school closures, mergers, and enrollment policies—apply across multiple reorganization options and are important for the community to understand. It is important to understand that, other than Option 1 (maintaining the status quo), all reorganization options will likely require students to be moved into new schools (and possibly buildings). This would need to be done on a space available basis, and could impact all schools, including those not being closed or merged. 5.1 What Do “School Closure” and "School Merger" Mean? 5.1.1 School Closure: If a decision is made to close a school, it means that the school community would no longer exist any more. Students and staff from that school would need to be redistributed to other schools in the district. For the purposes of developing options, 2 methods of identifying schools for possible closure were used: 1. Closure based on the age and condition of the school facilities (Conant) 2. Closure based on preferences expressed by families in the open enrollment process over the last 5 years. (Merriam) Note: Blanchard is an older facility, but is in significantly better condition due to renovations that occurred. Additionally, the regional agreement requires the district to operate at least one school in Boxborough. 5.1.2 School Merger: If a decision is made to merge two schools, it does not simply mean one school disappears. Instead, a thoughtful plan would be developed with feedback from both school communities to build a new, unified school culture. There are three potential approaches to this process: ● Integrate into One Approach: The practices of one school would be absorbed into the practices of the other. ● Create a Combined Approach: The district would take the "best practices" from each of the two school communities to create a blended model. ● Develop a New Approach: A completely new school culture and set of practices would be developed using input from stakeholders from both of the original school communities. For the purposes of developing options, schools were identified for merger based on preferences expressed by families in the open enrollment process over the last 5 years.
5.2 How Might School Enrollment Change? Any reorganization may require an update to the district's enrollment policy to support the new structure. The following options could be applied to any of the reorganization plans: ● Maintain Open Enrollment Lottery: Families continue to rank their preferred schools, with placement determined by a lottery. This model might include modest procedural changes. ● Geographic Zone Assignments: The district would assign students to schools based on geographic zones where they live. ● District Assignments with Placement Methodology: The district would use its own internal methodology (such as a lottery combined with intentional placements) to establish enrollment at each school. ● Restrict Open Enrollment to Buildings, Not Schools: In a twin-school model, families would rank their preferred building (e.g., Boardwalk Campus), and a lottery would determine placement within that building.
6.0 Your Voice Matters: How to Participate Community feedback is a critical part of this process. The input gathered from you and your neighbors will be used by the AB Forward Steering Committee to narrow down the options and make a recommendation to the School Committee. Your voice is essential to making the best possible decision for our students and our community.
Here is how you can get involved:
● Attend a Community Forum: ○ Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 6:30-8:00 p.m., at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School Auditorium ○ Monday, October 27, 2025, 6:30-8:00 p.m., at Blanchard Memorial School Gymnasium ○ Thursday, October 30, 2025, 6:30-8:00 p.m., Virtual Forum (registration details to follow) ● Complete the community survey (available mid-October). ● Participate in a focus group (limited availability). ● Submit a written comment to the steering committee or the school committee. ● Attend an AB Forward Steering Committee Meeting or a School Committee Meeting .
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