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Original Document Distributed by R14 BOE to explain the 5th grade Move: |
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An Effort Worth Our Time… |
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IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT RESIDENTS OF WOODBURY AND BETHLEHEM REMEMBER TO VOTE NO ON FEBRUARY 17, 2010 TO RECLAIM OUR HOMETOWN K THROUGH 5 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS! The amendment question pertaining to the configuration of the Region 14 elementary schools shall read as follows: Shall the Regional School District No.14 plan, as approved by the State Board of Education on May 1, 1968, be amended by a) eliminating those recommendations providing for grades kindergarten through 5 elementary schools in Bethlehem and Woodbury and b) replacing them with recommendations providing for a primary school in Bethlehem housing grades kindergarten through 2 and an intermediate school in Woodbury housing grades 3 through 5?
Yes_____________ No______X_____
A “NO” vote is a vote to reject the reconfiguration and to restore the prior K-5 configuration of the elementary schools for the 2011/12 school year.
Polls will be open on Thursday February 17, 2010 from 6am to 8pm at the Bethlehem Town Hall in Bethlehem and at the Woodbury Senior Center in Woodbury.
On Thursday, February 17, Vote NO to Reconfiguration and Reclaim our Local K-5 Elementary Schools
Reconfiguration: In 2007, Region 14 Superintendent, Dr. Cronin's sworn testimony in a court of law was that but for overcrowding, he would not have reconfigured our elementary schools. The elementary school population has dropped by almost 25% since reconfiguration was implemented in 2006. Now it is time to un-do reconfiguration, lower our costs, and give our children a better start to their education.
The Thursday, February 17 Referendum Vote will determine the elementary school configuration for the 2011 school year. A “NO” is a vote to reject reconfiguration and reclaim local elementary schools.
Reasons to Vote “NO” on Thursday, February 17
The Children: The end result of reconfiguration is that we are actually busing the youngest students in our district the furthest. Families are losing upwards of an hour and a half per day with their 5-10 year old children; and they’re losing this time to a school bus! Additionally, in grades 6-12, children are losing excessive blocks of class time (in order to bus the younger children across the region). Class times in the upper grade levels have been slashed two hours each week due to reconfiguration busing. At a time when school systems across the state (Region 15, Newtown, Hartford, etc). have increased class time and the CT Governor’s educational task force has advocated the same- cutting our students’ educational time to increase bus time, is counterproductive and educationally unsound.
Busing: Reconfiguration increased busing by over 40% region-wide. The Region 14 Board of Education has reported that they have added 118,000 additional bus miles each and every year to bus our children between elementary schools. The Region 14 Board has conservatively projected an almost $190,000 annual recurring cost in busing due to reconfiguration. Taxpayers are not insulated from these costs due to the current contract, Region 14 is currently paying for additional buses outside of our present contract due to reconfiguration.
Test Scores: Elementary School CMT test scores are flat or falling in almost all categories since reconfiguration began. In the transition 3rd grade, test scores are below the state average. The Connecticut State Department of Education specifically recommends comparing test score results against schools in our Region’s District Reference Group, Region 14’s elementary school test scores now fall below the AVERAGE test score results of our District Reference Group in almost every category. In fact, in referring to these test scores, Superintendent, Robert Cronin was quoted in the Voices as saying, “The data showed we were in the lower quadrant of the reference group pretty consistently.” (Cura, Jamie. “Region 14 Board Approves Report.” Voices 9 Jan 2011.)
Needless Transitions: Reconfiguration requires a transition between 2nd and 3rd grade. Studies show (and common sense supports) that children need consistency, not transitions. Educationally speaking, the K-2/3-5 configuration is the least practiced in the state of Connecticut; fewer than 10% of Connecticut schools have adopted a K-2/3-5 configuration. Generally, the research supports that the more grades a building services, the better students perform.
Community: Families are discouraged from buying homes where there are no local elementary schools. Out of 160 or more towns in Connecticut that all maintain local elementary schools for the youngest children, families are unlikely to choose Bethlehem and Woodbury thereby undermining the vitality of our communities, support for education, and decreasing the value of our homes. Woodbury and Bethlehem depend very much on parents invested in our school system to support our budgets and advocate for our kids
Facilities and Long Term Budget Costs: Reconfiguration is a short-sighted use of our facilities. The Region 14 BOE has already reported that they are currently running over-capacity at BES due to reconfiguration. Reconfiguration, incongruously, places a higher student population at Bethlehem than Mitchell, yet Bethlehem is 40% smaller than Mitchell School. It is clear looking at the Region 14 Board’s long term projections that the previous Board has essentially created a new overcrowding problem at Bethlehem which would not otherwise exist at either school in a K-5 configuration. Additionally, in a K-2/3-5 configuration, the board has no flexibility to redistrict to alleviate overcrowding because all of the Region’s students attend first the K-2 and then the 3-5 facility. In the recent Board of Education Amendment report, the Board cited future facility modifications, higher class sizes, or modifications to the existing all-day kindergarten program to deal with facility constraints at BES.
Disrupted After School Programs: Reconfiguration has had a devastating impact on after school activities, i.e. religious instruction, park and rec. programs, scouting, etc. Long days due to longer commutes make participation in many programs impossible.
Harmful to Young families: Reconfiguration is extremely challenging (scheduling & transportation) for families with 2, 3 and 4+ children. Additionally, reconfiguration divides siblings and neighborhood communities.
Purported Reasons to Adopt Reconfiguration that Simply Do Not Hold Water
Cost ?: Local K-5 schools only add two additional classroom teachers to our current school budget, a worst case scenario additional cost of $120,000. But as cited in the Region 14 Board of Education amendment report, these numbers do not reflect how a new administration might better allocate our resources to deal with this possible deficit. There are a number of administrative positions that have been created since reconfiguration was introduced in 2007 (see 2010 Region 14 School budget); a future administration may opt to re-prioritize Region 14 resources: fewer administrators, more staffing that has a direct impact on our kids. Plus, any small sum associated with staffing costs is clearly offset by the almost $190,000 in annual costs related to Reconfiguration busing.
Library Costs ?: The budget costs related to our libraries in Region 14 is historically VERY low. The entire library budget prior to reconfiguration was roughly $16,000 annually for all Region 14 schools and is projected to be roughly $23,000 for all region 14 schools this year. The library costs average around $17,000 annually, which represents about .05% of the Region 14 school budget. There has not been any swing in this very modest line item since reconfiguration was introduced, and it is a highly dubious suggestion that there will be a swing if we revert back to K-5 elementary schools.
Gym Equipment ?: The Region 14 administration was asked to produce a document of recorded benefits of reconfiguration, both fiscal and educational, in the year preceding reconfiguration and in the years that have followed; a document was never produced. There has never been any demonstration made by the previous Region 14 Board or the Administration that we have saved money on gym equipment, gym balls, or the like. It’s extremely unlikely that there are any meaningful costs associated with K-2; 3-5 gym classes versus K-5 gym classes- this is simply an oft-repeated mythical cost-savings that has never been documented.
Moving Costs ?: The Region 14 Administration went to great lengths in 2006 to inform the public that there were no meaningful costs associated with moving classrooms when we reconfigured. In 2006, the Administration relied on teachers to pack their classrooms immediately following the end of the school year (an event that can occur absent any change of configuration) and custodial staff was reportedly used to facilitate the move.
Professional Development ?: Under reconfiguration, teachers have daily meetings for professional development. But this is not a product of reconfiguration. In 2007, when the schools reconfigured, Dr. Cronin and the Region 14 Administration hired a number of paraprofessional to handle the lunch and recess duty that was previously part of the classroom teachers’ job description. Paraprofessionals can be used in either configuration to facilitate daily teacher meetings, if that is in fact a recognizable benefit.
Unified Curriculum ?: This is a task for administrators- children should not be shuffled between two towns to accommodate deficiencies in management.
Special Programming ? The Strings program will continue in either configuration, and in fact, extra space was allocated to accommodate this program in a K-5 configuration.
On February 17, Vote NO and Restore Local K-5 Elementary Schools
Polls will be open 6AM-8 PM, Memorial Hall in Bethlehem Absentee ballots available at the Registrar of Voters, Bethlehem Town Hall
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Email: saveregion14elementary@yahoo.com Phone: 203-228-4582 |
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Save Region 14 Elementary |
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Reconsideration Not Reconfiguration |
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Article on “Reconfiguration Refugees” Litchfield County Times Dec 13, 2007…
http://www.countytimes.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19112497&BRD=2303&PAG=461&dept_id=478976&rfi=6 |
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NO ON FEBRUARY 17, 2011 TO RECLAIM OUR K THROUGH 5 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS |
