By EVAN NEMEROFF
"There are so many people here of different walks of life who are concerned for one thing - our school district," said Steve Jackson, a parent from Inwood. "This board does not care about our children, and their decisions are irresponsible."
On March 24, the school board approved a motion to consolidate the elementary schools by closing Number Six and moving all of its first- through fourth-graders into the two remaining schools, Number Two in Inwood and Number Five in Cedarhurst. Pre-K and kindergarten students will remain at the Number Four School in Inwood. According to Lawrence Superintendent Dr. John T. Fitzsimons, the closure of the Number Six School will save the district an estimated $7.7 million in the 2009-10 school year.
"I heard that the board decided to close the building, and this is not fair," Harris Feldman, a fifth-grader from Cedarhurst who is the student council president at the Number Six School, told the trustees. "I don't want to move to a new school because I am used to being there."
Lori Skonberg, a fifth-grade teacher at Number Six and vice president of the Lawrence Teachers Association, said the school board's decision to move fifth-graders to the middle school and close a school will have a negative effect on students throughout the district. "The children will experience an unhealthy overload of changes for the next year," Skonberg said. "It is not too late to roll back on your decision, which I urge you to do for everyone in the audience."
Last year, Gregory Wright's daughter was in kindergarten at the Number Four School. She is currently a first-grader at the Woodmere school, and in September she will move to another building for the third straight year. "I am furious with the decision to close the Number Six School," Wright said. "My 7-year-old will be ripped away from many of the friends that she's made. She no longer will have comfort at the school she became accustomed to, and will have to move to a smaller building where more kids are going to be in the classroom. I ask the board to think about their decision and reconsider before it is too late."
Sophia Coleman of Inwood, a graduate of the Number Six School who now has a child at Lawrence Middle School, said that because the Number Six School was not included in the school board's presentation on improvements planned for district buildings - which was sent to the state for review before March 24, when the community learned that the Woodmere school would close - the board knew what its decision was going to be. "This board knew their intentions," Coleman said. "They don't have any concern for our children. I ask that you please reconsider what you've done for the benefit of everyone in the community."
Some attendees claimed that the board plans to sell the school to a yeshiva, reasoning that Dr. David Sussman is the only board member who sends a child to the public schools, while the six other members are private-school parents. Sussman shot down these claims. "There are no plans to sell the building," he said. "If we do sell the building, we would follow what we did with Number One School. We would go to a professional who would value what the building should be worth. Then bidders will have the chance to purchase the building. After the highest bidder is selected, the public will have the last opportunity to decide whether or not to sell the building."
Trustee Uri Kaufman said the board has not held any meetings to discuss what might happen to the building, but if it is put up for sale, it would go to the highest bidder. "The Number One School property was sold to the highest bidder, despite many yeshivas wanting to acquire the land," Kaufman said. "With this extra revenue, capital projects were done to the schools - repairing the ceilings, building new science rooms, fixing the tennis and basketball courts and plans to install a turf field at the high school."
Kaufman said the possibility of closing a school has been studied for more than two years, with many public meetings that were not attended by the majority of people who crowded into this meeting. "This board put a lot of time and energy into this decision," Kaufman said. "For people to scream and shout at us and say we do not care about the kids is ridiculous. We have been up front with the community about closing a school, and were told by experts that this should be done."
Despite the outpouring of anger, Superintendent John T. Fitzsimons said he does not see the decision being reversed, and he hopes to help the community make the transition into next year. "Many people are concerned with the consolidation, and I am looking into putting together information answering the concerns and issues that have been raised by the public, like classroom size, special education classes and after-school programs," Fitzsimons said. "The board has also indicated that they are more than willing to sit down with people to answer questions. They understand the anger and emotion that it takes to close a school."
Comments about this story? ENemeroff@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
