The Calcasieu Parish School Board unanimously voted Tuesday to reconfigure six district elementary schools from grades pre-K to 5 to either grades pre-K to 2 or grades 3 to 5.

Westwood, J.D. Clifton and J.J. Johnson elementary schools will be made pre-K-to-2 schools; Western Heights, Combre-Fondel and Ralph Wilson elementary schools will be made schools for grades 3-5. The changes will start with the 2015-2016 school year.

Tommy Campbell, district chief academic officer, told the board the reconfiguration will increase the effectiveness of the schools and allow them to thrive. He said some of the schools are struggling with low enrollment and low school performance scores.

Campbell said there were many advantages to reconfiguration. He said that since some of the schools only have one or two classes for each grade, the changes would increase the number of teachers at each grade level, enabling them to share lesson plans and instruction strategies.

He said it would also increase the emphasis and resources in the literacy program in early childhood education.

“In grades K-2, you learn to read,” Campbell said. “In grades 3-5, you read to learn.”

Additionally, he said the changes to the schools would increase viability and lessen the chance of future school closures. Campbell said the schools were paired together — Westwood/Western Heights, J.D. Clifton/Combre-Fondel and J.J. Johnson/Ralph Wilson — because they are close in proximity and that transportation issues would be minimal.

Campbell said possible challenges with the reconfiguration would be that the paired schools would have to share school performance scores since grades K-2 don’t take state standardized tests. Also, he said, some siblings might not attend the same school anymore, so parents may have to drop off and pick up their children at two different schools.

Karl Bruchhaus, district superintendent, said staff would work hard with the schools and parents to make the adjustment easy and also work with them on any issues or challenges.

“This is an effort to make sure that we are providing opportunities for students and also increasing professional development,” Bruchhaus “It provides a better opportunity for those schools to be successful.”

Board member Billy Breaux was absent.

(MGNonline)