Groton Redistricting Delayed Until Mid-June

Groton's redistricting plans will be finalized in mid-June so a consulting firm has time to review them, according to a briefing memo by Acting Superintendent Mary Anne Butler.

The memo, posted on the school department website, said the district will postpone the kindergarten lottery and families will receive letters in mid-June about their children’s school assignments.

A lawyer for the Connecticut Department of Education told Butler last week that and five schools “have impending imbalance issues in need of attention,” the memo said.

Consultant Hired

The memo said the school department has hired the Branford consulting firm Milone & MacBroom and see if they meet the state racial balance requirements.

The firm has done similar work in Bristol, Manchester and Hamden, the memo said. Information on the cost of the work was not immediately available.

“The experts submit this process will not take longer than four weeks,” the memo said. If the redistricting plan doesn’t meet requirements, the plan will be adjusted, the memo said.

State To Send Letter

The State Board of Education met on May 17 to discuss school districts with pending or existing racial imbalances, and will send Groton a letter next week identifying the schools with issues and giving the district a time frame to come up with a plan.

The state lawyer, who was not identified in the memo, said Groton may need to take more than one step to bring schools into compliance.

“She indicated our plan may be two-pronged and include, in addition to the redistricting plan from Milone & MacBroom, a course of action to re-vitalize Catherine Kolnaski’s status as a magnet school to support racial balance across the district,” the memo said.

Ongoing Struggle

Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School has struggled with the state's racial balance rules for at least nine years.

The school was cited for an imbalance in 2003, and its numbers have bounced up and down since, but have been worse in recent years.

In 2009, the school's minority population exceeded the district average by 25.7 percent. That figure then increased to 27.4 percent.

A school is considered racially imbalanced if the minority population is greater than 25 percentage points above the district average.