{"id":107870,"date":"2026-02-07T13:38:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T13:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107870\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T13:38:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T13:38:38","slug":"board-moves-closer-to-elementary-rezoning-plan-final-decision-expected-jan-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107870\/","title":{"rendered":"Board moves closer to elementary rezoning plan; final decision expected Jan. 21"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Wednesday, January 7, the Bethlehem Central Board of Education moved closer to finalizing an elementary rezoning plan designed to balance enrollment and class sizes across the district\u2019s five elementary schools.<\/p>\n<p>After reviewing a presentation from mapping consultant Tyler Technologies that outlined four newly developed rezoning options, the Board identified two preferred plans\u2014Options 3A and 3B (described below)\u2014for further consideration. The Board is expected to make a final decision on one of these options at its next meeting on Wednesday, January 21.<\/p>\n<p>At the Jan. 21 meeting, the Board is also expected to discuss the feasibility of \u201cgrandfathering\u201d current fourth-grade students under each plan. If approved, grandfathering could allow those students to remain at their current schools for fifth grade in the 2026-27 school year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>District administrators will also outline plans to ensure a smooth transition for all students and staff following any changes approved by the Board.<\/p>\n<p>Final Rezoning Options Under Consideration<\/p>\n<p>The Board is expected to make a final decision on one of the following options at its meeting on Wednesday, January 21.<\/p>\n<p>Option 3-A\u00a0 \u2013 Moves 145 Students\u00a0<br \/>\n<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BethlehemCSD_Option3a-1-scaled.png\" alt=\"district map\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1978\" class=\"wp-image-67441 size-full\"  \/>This map is best viewed as a PDF. A link to the PDF version of the map can be found below.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bethlehemschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BethlehemCSD_Option3a.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">View Option 3-A map<\/a> [PDF]<\/p>\n<p>NPU 8:\u00a0From Glenmont to Hamagrael (40)<br \/>\nNPU 16:\u00a0From Glenmont to Hamagrael (35)<br \/>\nNPU 40:\u00a0From Slingerlands to Elsmere (15)*<br \/>\nNPU 53\u00a0From Eagle to Slingerlands (0)<br \/>\nNPU 54\u00a0From Eagle to Slingerlands (33)<br \/>\nNPU 57:\u00a0From Eagle to Hamagrael (8)<br \/>\nNPU 58:\u00a0From Eagle to Hamagrael (1)<br \/>\nNPU 89:\u00a0From Eagle to Hamagrael (11)<br \/>\nNPU 90:\u00a0From Eagle to Hamagrael (2)<\/p>\n<p>*If approved, students in NPU 40 would move to Elsmere beginning in the 2028-29 school year. All other moves would be effective in 2026-27.<\/p>\n<p>Option 3-B\u00a0 \u2013 Moves 154 Students<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BethlehemCSD_Option3b-scaled.png\" alt=\"district map\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1978\" class=\"size-full wp-image-67440\"  \/>This map is best viewed as a PDF. A link to the PDF version of the map can be found below.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bethlehemschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BethlehemCSD_Option3b.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">View Option 3-B map<\/a> [PDF]<\/p>\n<p>NPU 8:\u00a0From Glenmont to Hamagrael (40)<br \/>\nNPU 16:\u00a0From Glenmont to Hamagrael (35)<br \/>\nNPU 40:\u00a0From Slingerlands to Elsmere* (15)*<br \/>\nNPU 51\u00a0From Eagle to Hamagrael (31)<br \/>\nNPU 53\u00a0From Eagle to Slingerlands (0)<br \/>\nNPU 54\u00a0From Eagle to Slingerlands (33)<\/p>\n<p>*If approved, students in NPU 40 would move to Elsmere beginning in the 2028-29 school year. All other moves would be effective in 2026-27.<\/p>\n<p>Jan. 21 Board of Education Meeting at BCMS<\/p>\n<p>The next Board of Education meeting will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. at Bethlehem Central Middle School, in the Library Media Center. The meeting will also be livestreamed.<\/p>\n<p>Comments or questions regarding rezoning can be emailed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bethlehemschools.org\/board-moves-closer-to-elementary-rezoning-plan-final-decision-expected-jan-21\/mailto:districtoffice@bethlehemschools.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">districtoffice@bethlehemschools.org<\/a>. These will be shared with Board members in advance of the Jan. 21 meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday, January 7, the Bethlehem Central Board of Education moved closer to finalizing an elementary rezoning plan&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-107870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}