Vote confirms reconfiguration

Mentor School Board approves plan with unanimous vote

The Mentor School Board on Jan. 22 unanimously approved three resolutions, two suspending the use of as many school buildings and another approving the reorganization of district boundaries. The district will close Brentmoor and Garfield elementary schools, while Ridge Middle School will be closed and converted into an elementary school, district officials decided Jan. 22.

Plans call for Brentmoor students to attend the new elementary school at Ridge. The zone for Garfield will be redrawn and students will attend either Fairfax or Hopkins elementary schools, or the new elementary school at Ridge. With the closing and conversion of Ridge, Mentor will go from operating three middle schools to two. All of Mentor’s Middle School students will be assigned to either Shore or Memorial.

These changes resulted after the district, with input from staff members, students, community members, a community task force, board members and parents, spent the last year working on a facilities plan, according to a news release.

These changes will all be implemented for the 2018-19 school year.

Following the 5:30 p.m. special meeting at the Paradigm Center at which the vote was made official, school board president Mary L. Bryner said she’s confident the district made the right decision, especially considering the thoughtful process it went through with the district’s parents, students,

faculty and staff in weighing what should be done in the face of declining enrollment.

“You know, I can’t say enough about the process,” she said following the roughly 15-minute special meeting Jan. 22 during which the vote was finalized. “(Interim Superintendent William Porter) and his staff did a great job of assembling a task force... The community couldn’t have been better informed and this should

come as a surprise to no one.”

Porter said he was thankful for the board’s and the community’s attention and cooperation throughout the process.

“I’m extremely appreciative of the board’s support... The board and the various stakeholders have been involved throughout the whole process,” he said.

The changes approved Jan. 22 will begin at the start of the 2018-2019