Consultant Joe Costello told the Acton‑Boxborough Regional School Committee on Tuesday that the AB Forward planning process has reached a phase of gathering community feedback on a set of reorganization options and that a public survey is open through Friday, Nov. 7.

The presentation summarized three “dimensions” that produced nine distinct reorganization scenarios: facility consolidation (four elementary buildings into three, maintaining four, etc.), different ways to organize schools and programs within those facilities (keep six elementary schools, merge to five, or create grade‑banded schools), and options that shift sixth graders into secondary grades or consider long‑term regional expansion. Cost and sustainability were emphasized as drivers: the consultant said some options would produce administrative and facilities savings while trying to “minimize disruption for students and families.”

Why it matters: The committee and steering committee have framed AB Forward as a tool to address ongoing budget pressure and facility needs; any chosen path could change where students attend elementary school, how specialized programs are located, and staffing patterns districtwide.

Costello asked the committee to help get the survey into more hands and said the project team had already run roughly 35 focus groups with varied stakeholders. He said the plan is to distill feedback and present a winnowed set of two or three actionable options to the steering committee, with a target of presenting formal options to the school committee on Dec. 4.

The reorganization options Costello described ranged from maintaining the current six‑elementary configuration through several consolidation variants: closing the Conant building while keeping six schools operating within three buildings; consolidating to five schools by closing a building or closing the school with the fewest primary choices (identified in the consultant’s materials as Merriam); merging the two smallest elementary communities (McCarthy Town and Merriam) into one; and multiple grade‑banding models that would, for example, convert Blanchard into a pre‑K/K center with other grade bands in remaining buildings. Two options considered including junior high and high school configuration changes or regional expansion with neighboring districts.

Committee members and members of the public pressed for more detail on projected classroom sizes, the effect on specialized programs, and the capital savings from closing or renovating buildings. Committee member Ben asked specifically how consolidation would affect classroom size; Costello said the analysis used current district class‑size averages and the committee’s class‑size guidelines to test whether current enrollment could fit in reconfigured spaces.

Several community speakers said the consultant’s materials had cast Merriam in a negative light. “It seems that Merriam is being thrown under the bus,” said Vikram (identified in the meeting as a school committee member). Lea Lally, who identified herself as a steering‑committee member and CPAC co‑chair, said staff at Merriam experienced the proposals as a closure of their school rather than a merger: “what that actually is is Merriam and McCarthy Town closing — or that’s what it feels like to staff.” Costello responded that focus‑group work had surfaced pride in Merriam’s approach and that the team was taking those perspectives into account as feedback was analyzed.

Parents and committee members also asked for clarity about how special‑education and multilingual programs would be preserved. Costello said all options were mapped to protect “the integrity of special education and multilingual programs” and that program locations might shift, but the consultant committed that specialized services would be maintained even if the building that housed them changed.

The meeting included questions about potential long‑term district expansion and capital implications. When asked whether closing a building would materially change the district’s fiscal picture, Costello pointed to estimated deferred renovation needs for Conant in the consultant materials — “17 and a half million, maybe 18 million” — and noted that avoiding future capital work on a building could be an important part of long‑term savings even if annual operating savings were smaller.

What’s next: The district’s AB Forward survey was publicly launched and is live on the AB Forward page and the district homepage; the consultant requested committee help in getting broader participation. The steering committee is scheduled to receive distilled feedback and an initial model of fiscal and operational impacts; the project team plans to return with refined options in time for a Dec. 4 school committee discussion.

Community members who spoke urged the district to emphasize transparent timelines, clear statements about where programs will reside, and support plans for staff during any transition.