By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
South Portland School Superintendent Suzanne Godin says redistricting isn’t going to make anyone happy, but it’s a reality the school department must face.
Speaking to members of the Ferry Village Neighborhood Conservation Association last week, Godin outlined a “redistricting” plan for the city’s five elementary schools and two middle schools to address enrollment trends and inequities in educational programs and opportunities. The process would also seek to better align the schools with the district’s policy to educate students in their neighborhood schools by returning English as a Second Language (ESL) students to their home schools. Currently, ESL programs are only offered at Brown Elementary School, Mahoney Middle School and the high school.
Throughout the month of January, Godin has been meeting with an advisory committee of parents, school board members and school officials and she will present her plan during budget hearings at 6:30 p.m. this Wednesday, Jan. 30, at the South Portland Community Center.
Godin said she is considering redistricting in the context of a five-year plan.
“I don’t want to redistrict every year,” she said. “Believe me, it’s not fun.”
In March, former Superintendent Wendy Houlihan proposed transferring a group of 26 Thornton Heights area children from Skillin to Kaler Elementary School. The plan met opposition from parents and failed to get approval from the school board.    
Godin called the earlier proposal “stop-gap” and said it failed to address district-wide population and enrollment trends.
The 2008-2009 projected total elementary enrollment is expected to reach 1,429 students – an increase of 11 students from the 2007-2008 school year. Middle school enrollments are expected to decrease from 685 students to 677 students next year.  
Skillin enrollments, for example, are expected to exceed the school’s target of 400 students by 32 students, while Kaler is expected to remain below capacity, Godin said.
“When you put in the projected enrollment, Skillin is severely overcrowded and it’s beginning to get pretty tight,” Godin said.
Brown and Dyer elementary schools are both expected to come close to their target enrollments of 260 students next year. Special education rooms at those schools are currently used for regular classroom instruction, Godin said. At Skillin, three special education programs are currently housed in one classroom.  
Godin said another goal of the “redistricting” plan is to ensure all students have access to the same educational opportunities regardless of what school they are attending. Using the percentage of students in the district’s free/reduced lunch program as an indicator of socioeconomic status, Godin said there are discrepancies throughout the district.
According to 2007-2008 school enrollment figures, nearly 48 percent of Kaler students are enrolled in the free/reduced lunch program, compared to 15 percent of Dyer students. Nearly 31 percent of Mahoney Middle School students receive free/reduced lunch compared to roughly 27 percent of Memorial Middle School students.
While Godin said moving ESL students from Brown Elementary School and Mahoney Middle School to their neighborhood schools will likely create more enrollment issues, she said some students are currently not taking advantage of the ESL program because they do not want to leave their home schools.
According to enrollment figures, there are currently 144 ESL students attending South Portland schools, including the high school. There are currently 62 ESL students attending Brown – a number that would decrease to four if students were transferred to their home schools.
The majority of the ESL elementary students – 43 children – would attend Skillin. Mahoney is the home school for only four out of the 20 students that currently attend its ESL program. Thirty students would be transferred to Memorial.
Godin said she was still considering whether the process should be implemented all at once or in phases.
The school board is responsible for making the final decision.