Lawrence School District plans a restructuring

A restructuring plan that calls for closing a school and shifting students to Lawrence Middle School to create “upper” and “lower” schools in that building will be presented at a Lawrence Board of Education meeting on Monday at 8 p.m. at the middle school.
The plan calls for the district to close the Number Five School in Cedarhurst. But instead of selling the building, as it did with the Number One and Number Six schools, Lawrence would retain ownership, and lease space in Number Five to an agency or institution that caters to special-needs students. “We’re looking for a partner that would have the most lucrative arrangement for the district,” said Superintendent Gary Schall.
Third- and fourth-graders from the Number Two and Number Five schools would be moved to the middle school, where a lower school — third through fifth grade — and an upper school — sixth through eighth grade — would be created. The middle school would be renamed. The proposal is based on the Princeton Plan, which assigns students to schools based on grade levels rather than geography.
The Number Two School, which currently houses first through fourth grade, is filled to capacity, according to Schall, and would keep only its first- and second-graders. Pre-kindergartners and kindergartners would continue to attend the Number Four School.
“The real appeal is the vertical alignment of entire grades, as it adds to a certain unity,” Schall said. Leasing the Number Five School is expected to save the district approximately $800,000 annually, he added. In the process of a district building analysis, he identified 11 empty classrooms in the middle school.

Number Five School Principal Rina Beach would be the principal for the proposed lower school, while Willis Perry, the current middle school principal, would head the upper school. Teachers and staff from the Number Five School would also move to the newly created lower school. The plan calls for separate entrances and building access for the lower and upper schools. The upper school would use the new gym, and the lower school would use the old one.
Also under discussion is a proposal to have school uniforms for first- through eighth-graders, Schall said.
Lawrence Teachers Association President Lori Skonberg said that the organization is “neither in favor of or against” the restructuring, and doesn’t think the changes will have any impact on academic achievement. “The same teachers will be teaching the same students, only in a different location,” Skonberg said.

High school changes, too
Ninth through 12th grades would remain at the high school, but it would undergo changes as well, with all central office functions, including administration, business, human resources, accounting and transportation, moving from the middle school. The main office and guidance area would be renovated.
If the plan is approved by the trustees, work at the high school would likely begin over the holiday break in December, and reconstruction would be expected to be complete by spring break. Central office employees would be working in the high school when the vacation ended, Schall said.
Renovation of the lower portion of the middle school would start as the school year winds down, and likely be done by July 1. A music and art suite would also be built.
Atlantic Beach resident Jesse Lunin-Pack, who has two sons in the district, said the parents he spoke to are concerned about having grades three through eight in the same building. If those concerns are addressed and the plan creates a financial cushion, however, he said, then it makes sense. “If repurposing the Number Five School and leasing it out provides the district with a revenue stream that takes budgetary pressure off our programs,” Lunin-Pack said, “then this seems like a reasonable plan.”
Residents can submit suggestions for a new middle school name and ask questions using the email address feedback@lawrence.org. Lawrence Middle School is at 195 Broadway in Lawrence.