Public meeting on possible school closing tonight; district Web site lists pros and cons of alternatives

By PETER HUSSMANN

Whether to close one of Newton's five elementary schools and then how best to align students attending the remaining four at the same time coming up with program and staff reductions that will pull more than $2 million out of the school district's budget is the topic tonight when the fourth public meeting on the matter is held at 6 p.m. at Berg Elementary School.

The Newton school district is holding the meetings on its elementary school boundary and alignment study to gain input in advance of decisions expected to be made next month that could close a school building beginning next fall. The situation is being exacerbated by the district's continuing declining enrollment trends and state budget cuts that removed more than $1.5 million from the district's budget in the current school year.

Since the first meeting earlier this month, Newton School District Superintendent has been outlying a number of proposals the school board could consider in meeting the district's financial challenges.

And information on the district's Web site outlines several alternatives and provides a pro and con analysis of each as comprised by the District Improvement Team. They are as follows:

Alternate 1- Maintain Current School Structure

Pros

• Less short-term controversy. Current set up is familiar to all stakeholders
• Maintain current relationships with students, families, neighborhoods and PTAs
• Student backgrounds and needs communicated among staff from grade K-6
• Uninterrupted progression (building-wise) from kindergarten through 6th grade
• Increased opportunities to learn from students of different ages
• Opportunities to establish peer tutoring, role models, mentoring, relationships, etc., between grade levels
• Siblings together in the same building longer
• Transportation patterns for families already established (walking and riding)
• Busing expenses remain the same

Cons

• Continued forced involuntary transfers of students due to uneven class sizes at individual buildings
• Continued enrollment decline and reductions will cause single sections in some grades in schools
• Class size inequities
• Class balance inequities in terms of academic abilities, behaviors, gender, etc.
• Lack of consistency of grade level curriculum across all five buildings
• Limited opportunity for ability grouping within each grade
• Limited opportunities for teacher collaboration within each grade level
• Difficult to reduce staff positions at all levels including support staff, teachers and administration
• Inefficient from a cost standpoint
• Challenges with shared teaching positions for special classes

Alternate 2 - District is divided into two halves, each with a primary and intermediate building. This plan would also include an Early Childhood Center for all 4 and 5 year olds in the district.

Pros

• Increased collaboration opportunities within grade levels
• Easier differentiation of instruction and academic ability grouping
• Increased opportunities for teachers to specialize and departmentalize in certain subject areas
• Increased flexibility for section adjustments
• Solves many current challenges facing band, orchestra and vocal music
• More consistency of curriculum and instruction in each grade
• Ability to disperse students with IEPs in more sections
• More balanced sections in terms of the number of students, behaviors, academic abilities, gender, etc.
• Physical Education and Art can be offered more consistently and efficiently
• Can withstand enrollment fluctuation
• Staff development could be more specialized resulting in improved instruction
• Cost savings with reduced administration, support services, and instructors as well as more efficient use of facilities
• Streamline teaching assignments requiring fewer teachers, teacher collaboration
• Facilities could become more specialized (PE, LMC, etc., focused on age level appropriate material)
• Decreased/eliminated travel time for shared teachers
• Age appropriate learning centers

Cons

• Increased travel for some students (transportation changes)
• Neighborhood concept expanded/altered
• Long-term relationships impacted
• Siblings may be attending different buildings periodically even though same side of town
• One additional transition for students in their K-12 school career (two schools for K-6 rather than one)
• Possible remodeling
• Neighborhood/family ties altered

Alternate 3 - District is divided into two halves, each with primary and intermediate schools. All district 5th and 6th graders would be housed at the current Berg Elementary School.

Pros - All of the pros listed in Alternative 2 plus:

• Minimal student moves over the years
• More of a middle school concept for 5-8

Cons - All of the cons listed in Alternative 2.

Alternate 4 - 100 percent grade-like centers (Example: all 4th graders in district attend same school).

Pros - All of the pros listed in Alternate 2 minus age appropriate learning centers.

Cons

• Multiple transitions for students that would be attending several buildings over time.
• Unfeasible logistics and expenses for transportation.

The District Improvement Team, comprised of local residents, school administrators and teachers, also were asked to provide their impressions of each of the elementary schools following tours of the facilities. The school district has listed team member responses on its Web site.

What facility features surprised you most?

• High quality and size of classrooms at Thomas Jefferson, Aurora Heights, and especially Emerson Hough
• Emerson Hough extremely nice facility
• Berg Elementary classrooms' general lack of windows and natural light
• Nice computer lab at Aurora Heights
• Great art room at Emerson Hough
• Thomas Jefferson's stage
• Berg's classrooms small compared to those in other buildings
• Emerson Hough beautiful building with lots of windows
• Woodrow Wilson is confusing, spread out over several levels and wings
• Aurora Heights playground was really nice
• Whole Thomas Jefferson facility spacious and nice
• Emerson Hough is a great building - gym, lunchroom, LMC, etc.
• Emerson Hough space and layout are great - feels warm and inviting
• Thomas Jefferson, Aurora Heights and Emerson Hough have great space and are most versatile
• Some classrooms at Berg made me feel claustrophobic
• Each building has its own unique character
• Berg school needs updated
• Woodrow Wilson facility is jumbled up and landlocked
• Berg seemed dark and some rooms were small, Thomas Jefferson and Aurora Heights were brighter
• Aurora Heights special rooms nice
• Aurora Heights' layout nicer than I expected

What facility features disappointed you the most?

• Berg classrooms small and outdated
• Woodrow Wilson's layout
• WW flow is broken and office is in funny location
• WW entrance
• WW office not easily accessible
• WW needs gym and lunchroom separated
• WW chopped up and confusing
• WW gym is small and used for lunchroom
• Poor design of WW with many levels and combined small gym/lunchroom
• Small, limited classrooms at Berg
• Berg needs an overall upgrade
• No real computer lab at Berg

In light of the tour, how would you rank the five facilities in terms of overall functionality? (1=High, 5=Low)

1. Thomas Jefferson
2. Aurora Heights
3. Emerson Hough
4. Berg Elementary
5. Woodrow Wilson

In light of the tour, how would you rank the five facilities in terms of overall appearance (1=High, 5=Low)

1. Aurora Heights
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. Emerson Hough
4. Berg Elementary
5. Woodrow Wilson

What facility appears to have the greatest need for additional maintenance or upgrade? Please briefly explain

• Berg classrooms need to be expanded
• WW new additions are nice, but gym/lunchroom still needs updated
• Berg needs cleaned up and upgraded, hallways and rooms
• Berg has updating needs
• WW is a logistical nightmare

Other lasting impressions?

• Renovations at Aurora Heights are impressive
• Emerson Hough and Aurora Heights flowed so well
• Thomas Jefferson was very nice as expected
• Berg looked shabby compared to the other four schools
• Amazed at TJ, EH and AH ... noticeably renovated and utilized efficiently
• Berg has nice total space to offer, but needs remodeling
• Each building has its own strengths and unique features
• Every building needs to be CARDINALS
• Pleasantly surprised by the look, feel and appeal of AH and EH
• AH's overall size is small, 15 classrooms, and that's a drawback
• EH is a neat old building that's well-maintained
• We have nice facilities, but not ones that provide equitable learning environments for all students