WESTFIELD - Focus groups from Westfield and Brocton have been proposed to get information about a possible merger between the two school districts.
The district advisory committee for the feasibility study to centralize the Brocton and Westfield districts met recently at the Westfield Academy and Central School. Each district selected 12 members for the committee, including two students. Consultants from Western New York Educational Service Council led the committee through a three-hour session.
Each committee member was given a binder with information. One item included was a tentative timeline prepared by the state Education Department's Office of Management. Other items included a guide to the reorganization of schools, names of committee members, ground rules for the way the committee members will work with each other, ground rules for the consultants' work with the committee and proposed focus groups.
Article Photos
David Kurzawa from the Western New York Educational Service Council speaks to the Advisory Committee about the critical dates set by the State Education Department for the feasibility study concerning the centralization of the Brocton and Westfield school districts.
Photo by Diane R. Chodan
Marilyn Kurzawa, a member of the consulting team, explained the purpose of the focus groups.
"A focus group is a data collection tool," she said.
The focus group pulls together a group of people who have similar interests.
Examples of focus groups are senior citizens, students, faculty, support staff, community, fire departments and parents. In this area another group will be an agricultural group. The committee members suggested other types of groups for consideration, and other times for meetings to reach out to more members of the community. The consultants will finalize the groups and the times for each meeting shortly.
The next advisory committee meeting will be Nov. 20 at Brocton. The committee will walk through the school to learn about its facilities at 5 p.m. and then meet at 6 p.m. On Nov. 29, the committee will return to Westfield with a tour at 5 p.m. and a meeting at 6 p.m. The committee will meet at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at Brocton. All meetings are open to the public.