Below is one forwarded today:
Subj: School Board Meeting Response
School Board Meeting Response
I attended the May 6th school board meeting and was disappointed in the comments made to Mr. Schriver after he addressed the board regarding the feasibility study. His speech to the board was received with comments from board members saying they were tired of hearing people complaining about the study. Mr. Schriver and his wife care deeply about the educational opportunities of their five children. It is no secret that the Schrivers and everybody else whose children attend Crafton Elementary believe Crafton Elementary offers the best in education and don’t want to see that school closed.
So far every public address to the board on this subject is received with “let’s wait and see what the study says”. Kimball Associates are businessmen, not educators, and putting the future of Crafton and Carnegie Elementary in their hands is quite frankly, scary. Kimball Associate’s final recommendation while professional will be what is in the best interests of Kimball. Kimball did this study for essentially nothing and they are going to want to recoup their money. Kimball will skew the results to serve them first and Carlynton second.
Mr. Schriver cited multiple studies in support of smaller schools but one board member responded that he could find just as many articles supporting school consolidation. That may have been true in the 1970’s but it is not true today. I did my own Google search and the main benefit (if any) for school consolidation is economics, not better education. In the majority of the articles I have read, consolidating schools does not result in improved education. Studies have consistently stated consolidation leads to poorer academic performance, along with other negatives factors. As Mr. Schriver noted, smaller neighborhood schools generally perform better than larger schools. In fact, this is true in the Carlynton School District. The collective performance of the Carlynton schools (Crafton & Carnegie Elementary) drops off when the students go from the smaller elementary schools to the larger Jr Sr High School.
Forty years ago the decision was made to consolidate the junior and senior high schools and locate them not only out of the neighborhoods but out of school district itself. That is an irreversible decision and one our school district has had to live with forever. Now we have come to the crossroads again and the threat of closing the best performing school, Crafton Elementary, in the district is a possibility. This decision lies in the hands of a few people but affects thousands of residents, not for one year but for decades, maybe forever. Just like 40 years ago, the people of Rosslyn Farms, Crafton and Carnegie don't want to see another bad decision made for the school district.
The school board is saying the decision process is transparent but every effort to discuss the subject is met with a degree of apprehension. Let me suggest that we do make this process transparent and hold a series of town hall meetings, in Rosslyn Farms, Carnegie and Crafton. Let's give the people a chance to discuss this most important issue openly without the architects involved and have a true “give and take” forum.
Michael Kozy Sr
