By KAREN RICE
Marcela Gomez, a grandparent of a first-grader in the Number Five School, feels that making a transition to another school at this point would be too difficult for her grandson.
It would definitely be too hard, she said. How are they going to do it? There are too many kids in each school. And it will be especially hard on the little ones.
Monica Sethi, whose brother attends the Number Five School, said the district should not close the Number Four School either, or move the pre-K or kindergarten programs, because it would be too hard on the district's younger students.
I don't think it is a good idea, she said. I don't think they should be moving the younger kids. The system works well the way it is. I don't think they should change it.
As its discussions continue, the Lawrence Public Schools Redistricting Committee has come up with five major options. They have been written into a draft report that will be presented to the school board for review. The options are alternatives to the current distribution of the district's elementary students and include the possible conversion of school facilities to other uses.
However, the committee does not make the final decision; it will simply present a report to the school board based on its research and discussion. After the report is presented, the board must take action by mid-February if any change in building use is to be implemented for September 2003 and to have a positive effect on the 2003-2004 budget.
Option 1 would involve no change in attendance zones for building use. This would help the district avoid any dissent associated with such changes, but no new revenue would be generated, and with elementary enrollment numbers expected to remain the same, classroom space would continue to be underused, according to the committee.
Option 2 would make use of natural boundaries and modify the use of existing schools. Attendance zones for the four elementary schools would be redrawn using major thoroughfares, railroad tracks and other well-defined structures as natural boundaries to determine which school students would be eligible to attend, according to the committee. The current elementary schools would also be assessed and, where feasible, a child-care center for district employees, new special-education classes and alternative programs such as an early-childhood transitional class would be implemented.
The committee recognizes, however, that this plan would require about 100 students to change schools, which might be an unwelcome change for the students and their families, committee members said.
The change in the district's boundaries would also make many schools more racially balanced, according to the committee, an effect that many parents may oppose. The reality is that some people believe that the racial mixing at the Number Five School is lower [and therefore better], said committee member Robert Douglas. I completely reject that notion, but there are people that have this erroneous perception. We must reject that as a legitimate consideration for the board to take into account.
Options 3A, 3B and 4 all involve converting one of the existing elementary schools to use by the Peninsula Public Library, with the other half of the building to be used for administrative purposes or leased to another tenant. Another option would be to lease the entire vacated school to a community agency, BOCES, or another appropriate tenant.
In the draft report, the committee emphasized that no existing school facility would be sold, that the Peninsula Public Library's relocation would be an integral part of the proposal and that both the full-day kindergarten program and the experimental pre-kindergarten program would continue to be provided regardless of any other changes. Also, there are no plans to eliminate any programs or make any changes to existing classrooms such as the science labs, art rooms, ESL rooms and computer rooms.
Marguerite Engelman, committee member and PTA co-president for the Number Six School, felt that converting, or repurposing, a school could help the district become a more vibrant learning community. As a parent, when I walk into the Number Six School, it's a little sad to see that there's not so much activity and not all the building space is being used, she said. It gives the impression that we are a declining district. I know other schools are filled but I think if we repurpose [a school] we would have four filled, active, alive buildings. The district and the staff make a school, not the building itself. [If we repurpose a school] we'd be an alive, vibrant community instead of something that seems like it's just limping along.
Robert Pape, director of transportation and central registration and a member of the committee's support staff, said that over the next 2 1/2 years there will be a decline in the number of elementary students, following a seven-year trend. He added that since the district would be maintaining all of its property, the district could always return to a converted building if more space is needed.
The numbers show that our community will not have to stand up and say, ÔWhy are you raising class sizes?' Pape said.
The committee also discussed when any changes should be made, if any were to be implemented at all.
By being inactive, the district is failing to address the financial needs of the community and is failing to plan for the future, Douglas said. It may help to get the 2003 budget passed [if the district were to make changes soon].
Committee member Rose Harris warned that with the hiring of a new superintendent planned for the summer, any changes could be problematic. We have a new superintendent coming in August and having him or her close a school right away would be devastating, she said.
Engelman felt that a change might be necessary in order for the district to have a favorable budget this year, and for it to begin getting ahead instead of just barely getting by. One of the things parents feel strongly about is that we have zero percent growth year after year, she said. We need to save money, to put money back into the school district. We keep going from budget to budget without putting anything back into the district.
Parent Merryl Makabali of Woodsburgh would like to see the district create a community center if it chose to close a school and give the building to the Peninsula Public Library, which is in desperate need of more space. I would like to see the district put in a community center wherever the library goes, she said. That would bring everybody together to mutually use it. The district should try to get the community together instead of always being separate.
