Peabody Forms Nine-Member Team to Redraw Elementary School Boundaries

PEABODY — December 15, 2020 — Peabody launches first serious elementary redistricting effort since roughly 2002, forming a nine-member ad hoc committee. School Committee member Jared Hockman, who chairs the group and has pushed for redistricting since 2009, opened the December 15 inaugural meeting by reviewing a draft mission statement and 17 project principles drawn from a 2015 process, with both documents left open for revision before a January 5 follow-up meeting. The committee — which includes Superintendent Dr. Joshua Vidala, City Councilor-at-Large Ryan Melville, Center Elementary Principal Jackie LaFanos, and Carroll School PTO President Christina Tadiello, among others — is tasked with producing multiple boundary plans for the city's eight elementary schools and feeding recommendations into fiscal year 2022 budget planning. A key financial note surfaced during discussion of the Welch Elementary building project: Hockman said that approximately $1.9 million earmarked for swing space could be redirected to building improvements or instructional programming if the redistricting committee identifies alternative swing-space solutions within the existing district inventory.