"You can't be criticizing a program that has not seen day one".
William Lyons, Lynbrook parent and member School Board
Elimination of Latin riles Lynbrook North parents
The recent elimination of certain music and language courses, particularly Latin, at Lynbrook North Middle School has raised a chorus of complaints from local parents, which boiled over into a heated debate at last week's Board of Education meeting. Although about 50 parents attended to express their displeasure with the changes, the Board held out little hope that the courses would be restored this year.
"This is the first time I have ever spoken out against anything in this school district", said Maureen Marino of the Lynbrook North Parent Teacher Association(PTA), in criticizing the course eliminations. Her arguments were amplified by one speaker after speaker as they pleaded with the Board to reverse the administration's decision.
However, School Board President Harry Leonard offered little encouragement that the course selections would be changed, at least for the upcoming school year. "It is the Superintendent's decision, based on his evaluation of the situation. This board functions to monitor the actions of the administration but we are not here to arbitrarily overturn his decisions."
That response did not sit well with North Middle School parents, who argued that the elimination of Latin and General Music at North resulted in students being offered unequal levels of education within the same school district.
Lynbrook Superintendent of Schools William Metkiff claims that the courses in dispute had to be dropped due to a lack of qualified teachers and/or lack of student interest. He estimates that, under current district operations, an average of thirteen students are needed to establish and maintain a class. While Mr. Metkiff admits that numbers often play an unfair factor in deciding course offerings, he maintains that holding a course for two or three students is not practical for the district nor a cost-effective utilization of resources.
A spot check by the Herald of other school districts on Long Island which have more than one middle school produced mixed results regarding intra-district course consistencies. "It is not our district's policy to maintain a rigid rule of course conformity among our two middle schools," said Assistant Great Neck School Superintendent Arlete Sanders. "Our schedule of classes at each school is determined by the appropriate needs of the students in each individual school." She did note, however, that Latin is still offered at both Great Neck Middle Schools.
However, in the Merrick/Bellmore Central High School District, which also operates two middle schools, identical courses are offered at both schools, according to Fred Cohen, Assistant Supernatant for Instruction. "We have never had a situation where we did not offer the same course at both schools", he said.
Although there are several subjects involved with the curriculum changes at North, the elimination of Latin continues to be the object of most of the recent controversy. Currently offered at the county's most prestigious schools, Basic Latin was taught to sixth grade students at both Lynbrook middle schools based on their reading level. But the recent departure of the Latin instructor at North and the inability to immediately replace her triggered the recent switch in course offerings. In exchange for Latin, North Middle School will now offer an experimental program entitled "Strategies for Learning". The pilot course provides four elements of learning: critical thinking; a strong vocabulary concentration; Great Books, an analysis of well-respected pieces of literature; and "Literary Place", a specialized reading series from Scholastic. Instructors receive a two day training course, including specialized training by Scholastic.
Regardless of the merits of the new course, North parents and students remain upset because a full-time Latin teacher remains at South Middle School. Donna Murray of Lynbrook expressed her disapproval of recent North school changes through a letter to the Board of Education, as well as a letter published in a recent edition of the Village Herald. In her letter, Ms. Murray requested that "all students have the same opportunities, no matter where they live geographically."
A member of the Parent Teacher Association Council, she and her husband Thomas insist that more parent and student involvement is needed before the district reaches any final decisions regarding course eliminations. The couples two daughters Lynne, 13, and Joanna, 9, attend North Middle and West End Elementary Schools, respectively. While Lynne is about to enter eighth grade and complete her final year at North Middle, it is younger sister Joanna who will suffer less choice of subjects when she enters sixth grade.
"It's not fair", she groans.
Many parents and students agree, saying that they had late and little say over course eliminations. Ms. Murray learned of the new curriculum in mid-June, when the changes were first announced by the Board of Education. Members of the PTA had to raise parent awareness regarding the new curriculum via post cards. The PTA now requests that formal mailings be established to address current issues and inform the public of steps made to rectify problems. In response, the board of education plans to notify parents of the new curriculum changes by mail.
Parents also continue to question the process by which the Board of Education sought to replace the missing Latin teacher. Some accused the district of inadequate hiring procedure, based on knowledge that the district was apparently aware of staffing needs since May. But the Board called it's search "exhaustive", claiming the district placed two regional newspaper ads in it's search. After rejecting several applicants who were found to be unqualified, the district's language chairman later contacted several language societies in search of a suitable replacement. The district noted, however, that New York State faces a regional shortage of certified Latin teachers, a problem which led Lynbrook to discontinued the language at its High School about four years ago.
One proposal suggested by several speakers at the Board meeting was to share one Latin instructor between the two middle schools. Donna Murray feels this idea was rejected without proper consideration before the decision to eliminate the language was announced. While the Superintendent says Lynbrook is not closed to the option, he feels that such a move would "water down" the current language program at South, make teaching ineffective, and disrupt both middle schools. The Superintendent also believes that a single teacher split between two schools would only be able to teach one or two classes at each location.
. Board of Education member and parent Bill Lyons faces both sides of the recent change. His son Timothy just completed his sixth grade year at North, which included the disputed Latin course. As his daughter Aileen enters her sixth grade year, she will have to take the pilot language course instead. Mr. Lyons remains optimistic, and wants to give the new program a try.
"You can't be criticizing a program that hasn't seen day one..." he advises parents.
William Metkiff recalls how parents first objected when Latin was first introduced years ago in place of another language program. The idea was to improve a student's vocabulary. In addressing parents, Mr. Metkiff described this year's switch as another opportunity that will address the same educational needs. Assuring parents the new course parallels the language program at South, Mr. Metkiff concluded that it's not the subject of Latin itself, but the use of language to expand student vocabulary that is most important.
