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Mentor Schools Consolidation Planning: Community Feedback

About School Consolidation
Mentor Schools is continuing to study a long-term school consolidation plan for implementation beginning with the 2027-2028 school year. The purpose of consolidation is twofold: To reduce operating costs in a strategic and sustainable way while preserving as many educational opportunities and supports for students as possible.

As you know, our district has experienced declining enrollment over time. As enrollment has decreased, we have reduced staffing proportionately, redistricted students and closed and sold school buildings to better align our operations with the number of students we serve. We are now at a point where we once again have more school building space than we need for our current and projected student population. At the same time, district expenditures have continued to increase while revenue has remained relatively flat. As part of our ongoing financial planning, the district needs to identify approximately $3.4 million in additional annual savings for the 2027-2028 school year. (That is in addition to the $6.6 million in cuts already made going into this current school year — read more about those reductions here.)

Consolidating schools allows us to meet that goal by reducing costs associated with operating and staffing more buildings than our enrollment requires, rather than achieving those savings entirely through reductions that would more directly affect classroom instruction, student programs and services if we kept our current school configuration.

A Thoughtful Planning Process
This is a significant decision, and district leadership has spent months studying dozens of possible configurations.
Each potential configuration has been evaluated based on factors including:
  • Student-centered learning experiences and alignment with our Framework for the Future
  • Projected student enrollment through the 2030-2031 school year
  • Capacity and available classroom space in each building
  • Current building usage rates based on capacity
  • Staffing needs and potential cost savings
  • The needs of students receiving special education and other specialized services
  • The student experience at each grade level
  • Appropriate grade-level groupings
  • Individual school communities, cultures, traditions and student connections
  • Space for our Integrated Preschool to stay together
  • Transportation and the number of bus runs required
The Board of Education has held two public work sessions to discuss this work in detail. We encourage families, staff and community members who would like to better understand the considerations behind consolidation to watch those conversations:
July 21 Board Work Session: LINK
August 27 Board Work Session: LINK
Making Better Use of Space While Preserving the Student Experience
To achieve the level of savings needed through consolidation, the district is working toward a plan that would allow us to close three elementary school buildings. That requires us to look at available space across the entire district — and consider whether changing where some grade levels are housed could help us use that space more efficiently.

Mentor High School currently has available building capacity. The high school has capacity for up to 3,000 students, while current enrollment is approximately 2,050 students — meaning MHS is currently operating at about two-thirds of its capacity. That available space is why there has been significant discussion about the possibility of moving eighth grade to Mentor High School as part of consolidation — particularly when some of the other configurations studied would leave other district buildings at or near capacity while space at MHS remains unused. Moving eighth grade to MHS would also open additional space in our two current middle school buildings, creating more options for how students in grades 4-7 could be organized.

If eighth grade ultimately moves to Mentor High School, the district would work to create an age-appropriate experience for those students. The high school administrative team is already studying ways to give eighth graders their own spaces within the building, along with separate lunch periods and scheduling strategies that would help create a distinct eighth-grade experience while still allowing students to benefit from being part of the larger high school environment. Having eighth grade at the high school could also open additional academic opportunities for students by providing access to a broader range of courses and resources available at the high school. The team is also thinking about how eighth grade could serve as an intentional transition year — giving students a year to become comfortable at Mentor High before beginning the four years reflected on their high school transcript.

Similarly, if 4th and 5th grade students move into a current middle school building, the intention would be to preserve as much of their current elementary experience as possible, including recess, age-appropriate schedules, class parties, parent and family volunteers, field days, concerts, graduation celebrations and other traditional elementary activities. Any building serving 4th and 5th grade students would have appropriate playground space, and younger students would not simply adopt the same schedules and routines as older students in the building. For example, 4th and 5th graders would not follow a traditional middle school bell schedule or use lockers simply because they are housed in the same building. If a configuration includes students in grades 4-7 together, the experience can be designed differently for younger and older students within the same school.
Configurations Under Consideration
As we shared earlier, district leadership studied dozens of possible grade configurations as part of this process. More recently, the Board of Education and the district’s Framework for the Future Guiding Coalition group have continued to review and discuss the options, helping us better understand the potential benefits, challenges and community considerations associated with each. Those discussions have included looking at:
  • Three K–2 schools, two Grades 3–6 schools, one Grades 7–8 school and Mentor High School serving Grades 9–12
  • Four K–3 schools, with Grades 4–7 organized either in two Grades 4–7 schools or in one Grades 4–5 school and one Grades 6–7 school, and Mentor High School serving Grades 8–12
  • Four K–4 schools, one Grades 5–6 school, one Grades 7–8 school and Mentor High School serving Grades 9–12
Each configuration presents different considerations related to building capacity, transportation, student transitions, grade-level groupings, staffing and cost savings.

Community Feedback
We know families, staff and community members are already thinking several steps ahead and asking important questions about what consolidation could mean for the everyday student experience — from schedules, lunch and transportation to school traditions, sports and activities and more. There are also important details to work through related to special education programs and services, including where districtwide special education unit classrooms and programs will be housed.

Those questions are important, and many of those details are already part of the district's planning. But we are not yet at the point of designing every operational detail for each building. Right now, the focus is on determining the larger structure that will best meet the needs of our students and district today and into the future — while making effective use of our available space, achieving the necessary savings and preserving opportunities for students.

Once that structure is determined, there will be significant work ahead, with opportunities for students, staff and families to help shape the details by sharing what works well today and what will be important to carry forward.

This survey is not a vote or a choice survey. There are many operational, financial, enrollment and educational factors that ultimately must be considered before a decision is made. At this stage, we are asking you to focus on the larger structural considerations and share the questions and priorities you would like district leadership to keep in mind as the plan is further developed. Thank you!
1.Before reviewing this information, how familiar were you with the reasons Mentor Schools is considering school consolidation?
2.After reviewing this information, how well do you understand the reasons Mentor Schools is considering school consolidation?
3.One goal of consolidation is to achieve necessary cost savings while preserving educational opportunities, programs and student supports as much as possible. As the district works toward that goal, what is most important to you to protect or preserve for students?
4.Mentor High School currently has available building capacity. Moving eighth grade to the high school is one possibility being studied to make better use of that space while creating additional capacity elsewhere in the district.

What questions, concerns or considerations would you want the district to address if eighth grade moves to Mentor High School?
5.After learning more about the available capacity at Mentor High School and the districtwide space needs described above, how comfortable would you be with eighth-grade students attending Mentor High School if appropriate separation, scheduling and student supports are put in place?
6.What factors most influenced your level of comfort with eighth-grade students attending Mentor High School?
7.Some of the configurations being studied would keep Mentor High School serving grades 9–12 and instead reorganize students across the elementary and middle school buildings. What benefits or concerns do you see with those approaches?
8.As part of the configurations that would move eighth grade to Mentor High School, the district is considering different ways to organize students in grades 4-7. Two possibilities currently being discussed each offer different potential benefits and tradeoffs:

Two Schools Serving Grades 4–7
  • Fewer building transitions, with students remaining in the same school from fourth through seventh grade
  • Schools closer to home for many students
  • More years together within the same school community, providing more time to build relationships, connections and school culture
  • Simpler, more geographically efficient transportation routes

One Grade 4–5 School + One Grade 6–7 School
  • Narrower age groupings, allowing each school experience to be designed around a smaller range of developmental levels
  • The entire graduating class would come together in one school beginning in fourth grade
  • Students would make an additional building transition after fifth grade, with the full graduating-class cohort transitioning together
  • Transportation routes may need to serve two different school destinations within the same run
Which approach would you prefer?
9.What is most important to you about the option you selected in Question 8?
10.Some of the configurations being considered would keep Mentor High School serving Grades 9–12 and organize elementary and middle school students in different ways. Two possibilities currently being discussed each offer different potential benefits and tradeoffs:

Three K–2 Schools + Two Grades 3–6 Schools + One Grades 7–8 School
  • Younger elementary students would attend smaller grade-band schools serving K–2
  • Students would transition to a Grades 3–6 school and remain there for four years
  • Students would experience two school transitions before entering Mentor High School, and would come together as a graduating class in 7th grade
  • Transportation routes may need to serve two different school destinations within the same run
Four K–4 Schools + One Grades 5–6 School + One Grades 7–8 School
  • Students would remain in an elementary school through fourth grade
  • Maintains a more traditional elementary grade grouping
  • Students would experience two school transitions before entering Mentor High School, and would come together as a graduating class in 5th grade
  • Transportation routes may need to serve two different school destinations within the same run
Which approach would you prefer?
11.What is most important to you about the option you selected in Question 10?
12.Consolidation will also require new (or combined) attendance boundaries for our elementary schools. As those boundaries are developed, the district will look for opportunities to keep current school communities together by combining buildings rather than completely re-drawing attendance maps, helping students transition to a new school alongside familiar classmates and families.

How important is keeping current school communities together when developing the new attendance boundaries?
13.What questions do you still have about school consolidation that you would like the district to address as this process continues?
14.Which best describes your connection to Mentor Schools?
15.If you are a parent/guardian, which grade levels do your children currently attend?
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about this work and share your thoughts.

School consolidation is a significant undertaking, and we know there are many details and questions still to work through. Mentor Schools has successfully navigated school consolidations and other significant changes before, and we will bring that same thoughtful planning and care to this process.

As we move forward, we will continue to listen, communicate openly and keep our community informed every step of the way. Together, we can make this transition thoughtfully while continuing to provide the high-quality educational experience our students deserve.