Soft Borders Policy Discussion Fair Lawn Board of Education February 27, 2017

What are soft borders? Fair Lawn currently uses “hard borders” Students are assigned schools based upon where they live and when they moved into Fair Lawn Proposed soft borders policy would NOT impact any current students Soft borders would ONLY impact new residents after July 1, 2017

How do soft borders work? Elementary school students would be assigned to an elementary school that has room Milnes and Radburn are now at capacity If a new family moves into the traditional Milnes or Radburn area, they may be assigned to a school that is within 2 miles of their new home

Why do we need soft borders Significant enrollment growth Not possible to build a new school or add a new addition to an existing school in a quick and cost effective way Soft borders are cost effective No impact on current students

How significant is enrollment growth? Total of 219 new students enrolled in July, August, September Class size of 29 in some Milnes and Radburn homerooms There are 15 elementary classrooms with more than 26 students Milnes now has over 500 students Radburn now has 475 students

How did the Board respond in September? Conducted new demographic study Established position of general education paraprofessional Reviewed all master schedules Conducted housing market analysis

What were demographic results? There will be 273 additional students in next five years This includes Landmark at Radburn 65 students and 33 affordable units (can not fit at Radburn) Significant increase in births and “move ins” From May to October 2016, 203 single family homes sold

Other Board of Education Research Residency Verification Development of “Soft Borders” policy Investigate conversion of Edison School into traditional elementary school or kindergarten center

Other Options Permit students from Milnes and Radburn to attend other elementary schools on a voluntary basis Your suggestions? Questions and answers!