Warren Township exploring new ideas for changes to the fifth grade

Justin Beattey knows first hand the challenges of transitioning a young student from elementary to middle school.

He says his daughter, now a freshman in high school, first encountered vaping when she was in fifth grade. She was first approached in the bathroom at school by an eighth grader. It happened again later that year.

Beattey believes that the exposure may not have happened so early had his daughter not been grouped with older grades. But in Warren Township, where Beattey lives, fifth graders are assigned to intermediate schools where they’re grouped in with older students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

“There is a pretty good maturity difference between the fifth and sixth grade,” Beattey said. “Just thinking about puberty, the stuff you’re exposed to that just comes naturally that has nothing to do with school, just the way your brain develops.”
 

Beattey is not the only parent who feels that way. It’s a big part of why the eastside school district has been looking at making changes to the fifth grade.

Several months ago, Warren Township administrators set out to explore whether they could move fifth graders into their elementary schools. District leaders brought the idea to the community over the summer. Administrators at the time said they had hoped to have plans finalized this winter to make changes by the start of the 2026-27 school year.

But district leaders were sent back to the drawing board this month after a consultant’s presentation showed increasing birth rates could create a squeeze on available space in Warren’s lower grades.

“If we made the K-5 change today, we’d be at 96% (capacity) overall at our elementary schools,” consultant Karen Jackson told the board during a presentation Monday, Jan. 5. “In the next two years, we would be over 100% overall.”
 

Now administrators are considering new ideas for making the fifth grade transition possible. Could they build onto existing elementary schools? Could they renovate a former elementary school and reopen it to the district’s youngest students?

District leaders say these new ideas are in early stages and require further study. That means timelines communicated last year will almost certainly change. Some parents say that’s a good thing.

“We’re very supportive of doing something correctly,” Beattey said. “Whatever timeline that takes, that takes.”

Shifting direction with new ideas

The Jan. 5 meeting became tense after Jackson, a consultant with the firm Woolpert, explained some of the elementary school constraints.

Moving fifth graders back without making other changes could mean increasing class sizes or displacing services for students with disabilities, she said.

“When talking to principals, this was not popular,” Jackson said. “Those are obviously well loved programs in their schools.”

District administrators suggested Warren Township could instead keep its fifth graders in place but focus on improving their experience in intermediate schools.

Parents left the meeting frustrated. Board member Gloria Williams called the turn of events “devastating.” Before the consultant’s presentation, parents and board members were supportive of making changes to the fifth grade.

“Everybody was so excited,” Williams said during the meeting. “How can we rectify this problem?”

Then, at a meeting just two days later, Superintendent Tim Hanson released a wide range of proposals, including:

• Move fifth graders into the district’s nine elementary schools with no other major changes.
• Add onto each of the district’s nine elementary schools to move fifth graders back.
• Renovate and reopen a closed elementary school to move fifth graders back into 10 elementary school buildings.
• Keep fifth graders in intermediate schools, but find ways to improve their experience.
• Move fifth graders into a single-grade academy in one existing intermediate school and place all sixth, seventh and eighth graders in the remaining two intermediate schools.
• Renovate and reopen a closed elementary school as a kindergarten center to make way for fifth graders in Warren’s nine elementary schools.

Beattey, who was among the parents who left the Jan. 5 meeting frustrated, said he’s since been impressed with the district’s quick response to parents’ concerns.

He called the difference between the two January meetings “night and day” and says he remains cautiously optimistic for the future.

“Overall, it shows the need for community physically showing up,” Beattey said. “You can’t expect the school to do all the work. They need community engagement and involvement and support.”
 

Can it be done?

The superintendent and school board discussed the pros and cons of each idea in a meeting Wednesday, Jan. 7, that can be watched on the district’s YouTube channel.

Many of the ideas would require big spending to support new building additions or renovations.

While Hanson didn’t have estimates in his Jan. 7 presentation, the superintendent pointed to recent projects in the range of $7.65 million for classroom additions to four elementary schools to $23 million for a single elementary school’s renovation.

The former elementary building administrators would need to upgrade, if they chose to renovate, is Heather Hills Elementary. The building, also referred to as Highlander Park, houses an online academy for K-12 students and adult education programs.

The superintendent said he was confident the district could find other space to relocate existing programs, but stressed that the building would need attention before inviting younger students back in.

“Heather Hills needs a lot of love right now,” Hanson told board members. “We would want to bring it to the same standard our nine other elementary schools have.”
 

The discussion comes at a time when school districts across the state are tightening their belts in anticipation of collecting less property tax revenue than expected following changes made by state lawmakers.

Warren Township, however, has the flexibility to issue new debt and could take on some new projects without increasing taxes. The district is currently in the process of seeking approvals to issue bonds that would finance up to $40 million for intermediate school renovations and athletic facilities improvements. The district, however, could decide to put that money toward elementary schools instead.

What’s next?

The school board’s next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Warren Education & Community Center, 975 N. Post Road. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been released.