EAST LYME, Conn. — Parents and residents in East Lyme have gathered close to 700 signatures on a petition asking the Board of Education to drop any plan that would repurpose Niantic Center School, one of the town's three elementary schools, a parent told the Board of Selectmen on Wednesday night.

The parent, speaking during public comment at the Nov. 4 meeting, said the signers include families from all three elementary schools, not just Niantic Center. The petition urges the school board to "eliminate from consideration any proposals that involve repurposing" the school, calling such a move "an unnecessarily drastic measure with potentially lasting consequences" for students, families and teachers.

The petition remains open, and organizers may give an update at the Board of Education's Nov. 16 meeting, the parent said.

Four options remain

Earlier in the meeting, the Board of Education chair briefed selectmen on the district's effort to rebalance elementary enrollment, which he said is still in an exploratory phase.

He said the district has 637 fewer students than it did in the 2010-11 school year and now enrolls 2,447 students from preschool through 12th grade. Enrollment has been flat recently, and an independent study projects it will stay relatively stable over the next decade, he said, though he noted uncertainty over how much hiring by Electric Boat could affect the town.

Uneven enrollment across the three elementary schools leaves some classes much smaller than others in the same grade, he said. Board members also want to address a long-standing dip in test scores between fourth and fifth grade, and the district is under budget pressure after a budget referendum failed last year and then narrowly passed, he said.

The board has ruled out leaving things as they are and has narrowed its options to four, the chair said:

• Redraw attendance boundaries among the three existing elementary schools, which he described as the minimum the board will do.
• Consolidate elementary students at Lillie B. Haynes and Flanders schools, repurpose Niantic Center for district and community use, and set up a fourth- and fifth-grade academy and a separate sixth- through eighth-grade academy in the middle school building.
• Consolidate preschool through fourth grade at Flanders and Lillie B. Haynes and repurpose Niantic Center, with no change at the middle school.
• Put kindergarten through second grade at Niantic Center and Flanders and make Lillie B. Haynes a third- and fourth-grade school, with no change at the middle school.

Under the two plans that repurpose Niantic Center, the district's central office would move there, and the district would no longer need the original schoolhouse near Flanders that now houses the office, the chair said.

Two other options, returning fifth grade to the elementary schools and turning Lillie B. Haynes into a fourth- and fifth-grade school, were set aside because the buildings lack the space, he said.

The district's enrollment consultant is scheduled to present at the Board of Education's Dec. 7 meeting, along with firmer cost estimates. Public forums are likely in January and February, the chair said. He said he expects the board to choose an option next summer, with changes taking effect no earlier than the 2028-29 school year.

Selectmen do not have a vote on the decision. The selectmen's liaison to the school board noted that the district's superintendent is leaving and said the timing was not ideal for a change of this size.

Residents back redistricting

Several residents who spoke said redrawing boundaries is the simplest fix. The parent who presented the petition said moving fourth-graders to the middle school, as one option would do, could worsen the test-score dip the board is trying to fix.

Two speakers said Niantic Center was recently ranked the 25th best elementary school in Connecticut. One said its state test scores are higher than those of the district's other elementary schools.

Another resident said she supports responsible financial management but worries that budget pressure is "potentially leading us to solve the wrong problem." She said three of the four options go well beyond fixing the enrollment imbalance, and that the district has not said how any savings would be reinvested in the schools.

A third speaker said that filling more of Lillie B. Haynes would mean dealing with mold in the building's north wing, which she said would be a certain cost rather than a possible one.

The Board of Education is also scheduled to brief the town's Board of Finance on Nov. 12, according to remarks at the meeting.