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.