District staff presented a preliminary plan on Tuesday recommending that Sycamore consolidate half-day kindergarten for the 2025–26 school year at two sites: Mapledale Elementary and Sims Elementary.

The presentation, given by a district staff member, said registration data through early April showed uneven demand across the district. The snapshot provided at the meeting listed total registered kindergarteners by building as: Blue Ash 106, Mapledale 95, Montgomery 78 and Sims 85. For the half-day program specifically, the counts were 23 at Blue Ash, 9 at Mapledale, 13 at Montgomery and 12 at Sims.

District staff noted the board’s prior guidance that a half-day section should contain a minimum of 15 students to be fiscally viable. With that threshold in mind and with limited classroom space at Blue Ash, staff recommended moving Blue Ash half-day students to Mapledale and Montgomery half-day students to Sims. The recommendation is designed to free room at Blue Ash for intervention and special-education needs and to allow more efficient staffing by concentrating half-day sections at two sites.

The superintendent and staff emphasized this is a recommendation, not a permanent change, and that the decision could change if registration trends shift between now and the start of school. The superintendent told the board that pending registrations are treated as enrolled for planning purposes, and that staffing decisions were being scheduled to support posting positions next week if needed.

Board members asked about transportation and family impact. The district said it will provide transportation for half-day kindergarten students assigned to the centralized half-day sites. By contrast, families choosing full-day programs at a school other than their home school historically must transport their child themselves; the district said that practice would continue unless the board decides otherwise.

Staff also recommended keeping a fourth full-day section at Montgomery despite enrollment that would normally justify reducing it to three sections; the recommendation seeks to preserve capacity for families who choose full-day tuition options but comes with a risk that low enrollment could increase per-class costs.

Ending

Administration will finalize staffing and notify families in a consolidated communication so parents can make informed choices before open houses and before staffing is posted. The board did not vote on the recommendation at Tuesday’s meeting and asked staff to proceed with routine planning and to return any major changes for board review.