The Onteora Board of Education is scheduled to vote on one of three possible reconfiguration plans for the district on February 28. Two of the proposed plans call for the closing of the Phoenicia Elementary School, either with clustering of the elementary grades at Bennett and Woodstock, or keeping Bennett and Woodstock as K-6 schools. Under the third plan, dubbed the "bookends" plan, all three schools would remain open, and elementary grades would be clustered, with grades K-3 at Phoenicia and Woodstock, and 4-6 at Bennett.
In this letter to the editor, Phoenicia parent Liz Potter argues in favor of the "bookends" plan.
In her letter, Potter writes that some opponents of the "bookends" plan are threatening to veto the school budget if Phoenicia School is not closed. We have not heard this directly from any Onteora parent, but the issue of reconfiguration has been extremely divisive and controversial in the community. --Ed.
Dear Onteora Community:
I feel, as a property owner, parent of two elementary children, and someone keenly invested in the wellbeing of my town, I have much invested in the decision you will make shortly.
I want to say, having attended the last Board of Education meeting, that I respect the degree of effort the superintendant and school board is making. I was deeply impressed that they, like I, care about the educational well-being of our children as well as the fiscal bottom line, as well as the communities as a whole.
When I first heard about the reconfiguration, I said to myself, “I will have to pull my children out of the local school system.” However, as I tried to really listen to what each plan proposed, I was surprised to find that my fears were replaced by a real sense of excitement about what was being offered by one of the reconfiguration plans.
I strongly favor K-3 clustering at Phoenicia and Woodstock, with a 4-6 clustering at the Boiceville Campus, and keeping all three buildings active. I will try to explain why:
1. Fiscal prudence is necessary. Keeping our district solvent, even if only for a few years longer that surrounding districts, is a tremendously worthwhile goal. There is a possibility that we can maintain local education (rather than regionalization) and that the economy and politics will eventually turn around.
2. That said, I agree that since our trajectory, as all districts, is designed to lead us to bankruptcy, picking the reconfiguration plan solely on the basis of cost doesn’t make sense. If we are going to hell financially, we might as well do it with a configuration that is optimal for our students.
3. The configuration decision cannot be made in a vacuum without factoring in the larger community cost. I urge you to keep Phoenicia School open for two reasons.
First, Phoenicia has been hit hard the last few years, between floods and two large fires on Main Street establishments. Don’t add a school closing to this.
Second, as the enrollment numbers have shown, Phoenicia School is gaining students, unlike the other elementary schools. I can’t tell you how many times new families tell me they moved here because of Phoenicia School. Phoenicia is an extremely vibrant town that is a growing center for the arts and spiritual exploration, wedded with a unique homegrown Catskills culture. Let’s support, not hinder, this community.
4. As a parent, I would welcome “clustering” as the kids enter 4th grade age range because it would offer more of a chance to challenge our best students.
I have been frustrated by the lack of math and subject material for children that are ready to excel at an early age. I and other parents feel that we have to supplement the school day with math, history, science, and language at home. My daughter’s teachers have been amazing at extending themselves to offer extra enrichment material but we need more in-school challenges for kids in areas they might excel.
The elementary schools teach reading and writing in a way that is excellent – very fine-tuned to that student’s ability on any given day. It’s highly individualized. They also offer a nurturing socialization process. Where we fail, in my opinion, is as in math and subject areas. Why is math, an equally important subject as reading, not offered in a way that allows students to learn at their own pace from kindergarten on? As it is now, both my kids are hitting a glass ceiling in math, and they are not math geniuses.
My hope is that with more kids clustered together you will be able to offer math according to ability and more subject material to the kids that are ready and focused. Otherwise, you will lose the best kids academically, and the success of the distinct as a whole will be harmed.
We meet the needs of the kids who struggle, as we should. Let’s start better meeting the needs of the kids that are ready to excel. I feel with clustering there may be more effective grouping of students and more levels of instruction taught in all the subjects other than reading.
5. I am against having two K-6 grade schools. This is a status quo model that doesn’t address the aspects of our schools that are currently not working. Right now, our test scores are very low given the natural talent of students and teachers in this great district. Also, our graduation rate is way less than desirable. And finally, we are experiencing a “talent flight” in the middle years by families that seek more academic challenge for their kids. I think the bookends clustering model will address these issues, while a K-6 model will only keep things the same, albeit in more crowded classrooms.
Finally, I doubt closing a school will realize much savings in the end, as an increase in budget in the years following the closing of West Hurley evidenced.
6. The two building option leaves us no room for expansion. Phoenicia is growing as a family community. Additionally, there is a possibility of a large community being created in the construction of the Belleayre land project. We need to have space to expand rather than having overcrowding as a default if we have a greater enrollment, especially on the western end of the district.
Finally, to those in the district that are now saying they will veto the budget if Phoenicia is not closed, I ask you to think about what you are doing. To achieve the goal of status quo for your own kids, you are threatening a “nuclear option” for the whole district. If the budget is voted down, the law says the school must operate at a 0% increase. This will mean all the programs we now have that we love – sports, the arts, band, electives –- programs that we can preserve with a 2% increase --will be cut permanently. Are you seriously willing to push our district there?
I keenly appreciate the effort that the board and superintendent are making to address this impossible situation of financial hamstringing. I can honestly say, whatever choice they make, I trust that at the very least each person is giving enormous thought and time to this question. Although I strongly favor the bookends clustering model, I will vote to support the budget under whichever of the three plans is chosen. The financial solvency of the district is at stake and is more important than my own preferences.
Sincerely,
Liz Potter
Phoenicia NY
Previous letters: A vote for the "bookends" plan for Onteora
Onteora reconfiguration: A Bennett parent pleads for a two-school solution
