Language within the original enabling legislation from 1991 that regionalized the Bristol and Warren school districts has at least one concerned resident questioning whether or not the district can legally change its middle school configuration from a 6-8 school to a 5-8 school, which is planned if the $200 million bond passes next week.

A caller who wished to remain anonymous recently raised a question to staff at the Phoenix, which essentially posited that the original legislation creating the regional school district specifically stated that students in elementary school would not have to leave their home communities — which would be the case if 5th graders from Bristol eventually began to be transported to Kickemuit Middle School in Warren with the reorganization of the middle school model.

We found the inquiry curious enough and the potential implications significant enough to check the original legislation and follow up with district officials.

Upon reviewing the enabling legislation, which outlines everything from how the district will be formed, how the school committee will be comprised, and how the district will raise funds from each town, the section that appeared to be in question came from Section 7, titled “Type of District,” which we will print unedited below.

“The regional school district shall include all grades and programs now provided by Bristol and Warren, and any other grades and programs so specified by the Regional Committee [there is an addendum here stating ‘Beginning in September 1993’]. At a minimum, regional facilities that students from both towns will attend shall include the senior high school and the junior high school or middle school, whichever organizational structure may be deemed most appropriate for educational reasons. Elementary students shall remain in their own community schools, except in special circumstances where the needs of the child will clearly be better met by combining students from both towns.”

When asked about the inquiry, Bristol-Warren Superintendent Ana Riley said that the district was aware of the issue prior to going forward with their middle school reorganization plan, and they feel as though the wording of the legislation leaves an opening for the change to occur.

“The legislation does not define ‘elementary’, which gives us the flexibility to determine which grades will be in our elementary schools, and is not in violation,” she wrote in an email.

Riley added in a follow up message that this opinion was determined following a review by the district’s legal counsel.