This Q & A was presented as part of the November 20 Community Forum. Information will be updated periodically.
Information last updated on December 5, 2025.
Q. Why is there a sudden need to make changes to enrollment zones?
A. Three of five elementary schools are experiencing serious operational challenges due to enrollment. Glenmont Elementary School is over capacity, Eagle Elementary School is at capacity, and Elsmere Elementary School did not have enough students this year to fill two kindergarten sections. The district announced in May 2025 that there was a need to examine attendance boundaries because demographic trends have shifted enrollment toward Glenmont and Eagle, and away from Elsmere, Slingerlands Elementary School, and Hamagrael Elementary School. A bump in enrollment this year has compounded the problem, and more students are being placed in schools outside of their home school.
Q. Have there been any formal recommendations for changing elementary school boundaries?
A. No. On Nov. 19, Tyler Technologies presented five initial options for community feedback. Feedback is being reviewed by the Zones of Attendance Committee and will be incorporated into new options that will be presented publicly for consideration at the Board of Education meeting on December 17. Information on those revised options will be shared with families as soon as it is available.
Q. In previous presentations, it was noted that modest increases were expected in grades K-5. Has that changed?
A. The district uses the Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC) to provide enrollment projections. These projections have been very reliable over the past several years. The most recent 2025-26 enrollment projections — provided on Nov. 12, 2025 — show a slight decrease of 1.0% in K-5 enrollment between 2025-26 and 2030-31. These new projections are being used by Tyler Technologies in the modeling presented. The new CDRPC report differs from the 2024-25 report, which projected modest K-5 enrollment increases through 2029–2030. However, it’s important to note that K-5 enrollment in 2025-26 grew at twice the rate of previous projections. It is also projected that enrollment will grow at Glenmont and remain high at Eagle, while declining at the other elementary schools.
Q. I keep hearing about low enrollment at Elsmere. Why is having at least two sections per grade so important?
A. Having at least two sections allows schools to support differentiated learning, gives students more peers to interact with, and offers opportunities to reshuffle peer groups each year through grade 5. Two sections per grade also support teacher collaboration, sharing of materials, and more stability within the grade.
Q. Why not give current students the opportunity to be “grandfathered in” so they can stay in their current school?
A. A blanket grandfathering for all students would not address the imbalance in enrollment that’s affecting students, staff, and families. The need is immediate. However, Tyler Technologies has agreed to present a model for grandfathering 5th-grade students; that model is not yet available but will be shared with the committee and the Board of Education once completed.
Q. Is the goal to keep siblings together in the same school once boundaries are redrawn?
A. Yes. Keeping siblings together is one of the stated goals.
Q. Could you explain why schools that are not at capacity may still have students reassigned?
A. The Elementary Zones of Attendance Committee has identified class-size targets and equitable distribution across the district as top priorities. To achieve those goals — while maintaining contiguous attendance zones and preserving neighborhood integrity — movement may be required even for students at under-enrolled schools.
Q. Will there be a plan to support students who are rezoned?
A. Yes. There will be a support plan involving administrators, teachers, counselors, and parents for students changing schools. Also, students who remain but may get new classmates will receive guidance and support through the transition.
Q. Will redrawing boundaries try to keep new students within their home attendance zones?
A. The district aims to reduce the need for out-of-zone placements, which have increased due to the enrollment imbalance. Out-of-zone placements are used only when necessary. Every effort will be made to keep students in their home school attendance zones.
Q. Are the plans considering future development — for instance, a large housing development (Kleinke Farm) in Kenwood that will add many school-age children to Elsmere’s area?
A. Yes. Future and planned housing developments have been taken into account in the revised enrollment projections presented at the forum.
Q. Wouldn’t it make more sense (cost-wise and less disruptive) to add on to crowded school buildings rather than re-zone students?
A. The district reports that existing school buildings already have adequate space: there are 15 K–5 classrooms not currently used for general instruction. Also, there are no enrollment projections indicating growth that would justify expanding physical capacity.
Q. Has using “flex zones” — where families are assigned to a school based on capacity — been considered?
A. Yes, flex zones have been considered, and administrators have spoken with other districts that use them. However, flex zones are typically used where large surges in housing development are expected. The district says its current needs are more immediate, and that housing development is not expected to significantly boost K–5 enrollment over the next five years. So flex zones would not serve the district’s immediate requirements.
Q. If some schools see increased census, will that lead to capital improvements at those facilities?
A. The district ensures that all schools are maintained to meet their maximum enrollment capacity. If specific needs arise due to enrollment changes, those needs would be addressed in future capital projects.
Q. How are “related service rooms” (e.g., for OT, PT, speech) being factored into building-level classroom counts?
A. In buildings with available rooms, related services currently use some of the unused spaces. But for buildings at capacity, there is no ability to repurpose large spaces. Efficient use of space is intended to give flexibility so that all buildings have appropriate room for these services.
Q. How will rezoning benefit special-education students, especially regarding class sizes, access to services, and proximity to specialized programs?
A. Rezoning — by distributing enrollment more equitably — aims to benefit all students, including special-education students. It should help with class-size balance and improved access to services and programs.
Q. Will students in co-taught special-education classrooms be moved again under the new zones?
A. In the presented models, any students already placed in a particular school for special-education programming will remain there; they are not included in counts for reassigning back to home zones for 2026–27 or future projections.
Q. Will changes to elementary enrollment affect after-school programs such as “School’s Out”?
A. Once a final plan is approved by the Board of Education, the district will notify before- and after-school care providers. They will coordinate with these providers to ensure proper adjustments and preparation for any changes.
Q. Have you considered centralizing Kindergarten in one building and using existing buildings for grades 1–5 only?
A. Yes — this was done previously (1997–2008) when Kindergarten was located at Slingerlands Elementary School. Kindergarten was returned to the elementary schools after it was determined that having K–5 in the same building is better for students and families.
Q. What about placing universal pre-K (UPK) classrooms in under-enrolled buildings?
A. That option has been considered. However, placing UPK in under-enrolled buildings would mean those children would have to move again for Kindergarten. In addition, UPK programs have different schedules and requirements than K–5 programs. The district determined that balancing K–5 enrollment districtwide provides a more effective and stable solution, both programmatically and educationally, ensuring greater stability for students and families.
Q. Why not start with flex zones or another transitional plan, like grandfathering of all current students?
A. A transitional plan would take years to produce change. Meanwhile, overcrowding would continue, underenrolled buildings would stay underused, and staffing and class-size challenges would persist. A partial grandfathering of rising fifth graders could be considered, depending on the number of students, and could only be considered once formal options for rezoning have been agreed upon. The committee discussed “future-focused” flex zones that could be created for new developments only (i.e. former Kleinke Farm); flex zones in established neighborhoods would not address the immediate problem of overcrowding and underutilization.
Q. Can a family waive transportation to be exempt from being moved?
A. No. By law, the district must provide transportation to eligible students. Waiving transportation would create equity and liability issues.