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Burlington School Board Second Work Session.
The Burlington School Board gathered for a second public work session at Edward Stone Middle School Monday night, a crowd of roughly 40 people was in attendance, compared to around ten at the first meeting a week ago.
The meeting began with Superintendent Pat Coen covering the history behind the need to reorganize the district, which is shrinking enrollment at the district’s schools. Coen pointed to an aging demographic in the district and the unlikely probability that there will be a large number of children born in the district in the coming years. Coen then walked through the various other options that the board had considered and explained why each option was not a workable solution and had been dropped from consideration. The chief reason for most of the plans not being viable was the cost to the district. One plan that was dismissed by the district would have closed one of the Middle Schools, that would mean that a building with a value of 22 million dollars and still under bond would have been lost. Another option was to close the High School and move the students to one of the districts Middle Schools. That plan was dismissed by the board because of a lack of property to build the needed infrastructure for a high school the need to purchase land and the cost of construction to the district.
Cory Johnson and Pat Coen present floor plan options to the board.
The board also looked at floor plans and discussed meeting the needs of classrooms and special education in the various remaining schools after Course Elementary was closed. Corey Johnson walked the board through the various floor plans for the options being discussed. A major focus for the administration in planning has been to avoid over-crowding in the elementary schools and ensure there is a balance of students and room for future growth. The floor plans also include the idea of a “Home” for students within the school system. That is an area of a building and teachers, as well as classmates that stay as a group through middle school. The creation of an “Intermediate School” for fifth and sixth graders in a key component of the idea of keeping students in a group as they transition from one grade level to the next till high school. The administration feels that this concept will provide stability for students and allow teachers to better work with students.
The discussion about the process by which Corse Elementary school would be closed was also discussed. In past years, as schools were closed, alumni were invited to an open house where the schools’ flag was lowered and a ceremony was conducted to say goodbye to the building was a community event was held. Members of the administration that have been through school closings in the past, suggested that something of that nature should be considered when the latest school is closed. Unlike past closings, the building would not be disposed of by the district. Plans to have Headstart and other programs reside in the building are being discussed. Maintaining possession of the building also allows flexibility for future growth if the dynamics of enrollment change in the future.
A major issue that arose at the last work session a week ago was the concept of the “Bus Hub”. It was a major factor in the plan to keep children in a school or “Home” even when they move from one part of the district to the other. Transportation Director Alan Mehafyy stunned everyo0ne when he announced that the planned hub was not a workable plan. At this weeks meeting, Mehaffy brought a slight change to the bus routes to the board. The new plans allow for the “home” concept to be used and it also does not increase the cost to the district or require more buses as did the “hub” idea.
Finally, the result of a staff survey was presented to the board. The staff survey favored “Option 1” slightly over a third option that according to Coen, would crowd the Elementary Schools and eliminate one Middle School, with a very high price tag to the district. The idea of building a “community school system” versus “neighborhood schools” appears to be on favored by most of the staff.
At this time, no other “work sessions” are being planned by the board. They are all still asking the public to contact them with comments, ideas, and concerns as they work toward a final decision for the district. The Burlington School Board will meet on Monday, December 17th for their regular meeting. At this time, there is no word as to if the vote on what plan the district will move forward with will be on the agenda.
