After speaking with a highly respected and hard-working member of our School Board yesterday, I became convinced that we're currently at a point at which voicing public opinions on issues of the current budget circumstances is a good thing. For what it's worth, I write to provide my two cents. As I understand it, the current situation essentially is that the amount of monies provided by the state (NY) for school districts (and other institutions of education) is being cut immediately and dramatically - creating these giant budget holes all over the state.
Such a giant budget hole seems to characterize the current situation for the New Paltz Central School District - and the appropriate leaders in our community (including, largely, the superintendent and the school board) are exploring different courses of action that could be taken to fill in the hole. Coming up with a comprehensive list of alternative courses of action is their job. So we need to realize this fact before commenting too strongly on any proposals that are being kicked around.
This said, I'd like to make a pitch to take a particular potential strategy off the table. Apparently, there is talk about closing one of our four schools (Duzine, Lenape, Middle School, High School). For reasons I delineate below, I think the possibility of axing one of these four schools should be taken immediately off the table. Clearly, doing so would have the effect of constraining / reducing the options being discussed, which may make things more difficult or may help streamline the budget process. On this, I’m not sure.
Our district structures things in a pretty unique manner such that each of the four schools has a unique niche. Duzine is "the little kid" elementary school"; Lenape the "big kid elementary school"; and the middle school and high school each hold a standard niche in their areas. This is a pretty unique set-up, one that, according to the lion's share of parents and students, works extremely well - and this structure plays a fundamental role in defining the identity of what it means to be educated in the New Paltz Central School District. All the kids in the district go to school with all the same kids (issues of moving and attrition, aside) from ages of 5-18. This fact is pretty unique - and it makes for real small-town feel and makes the kids in the district know the other kids quite well - all along. I've seen strong benefits to the structure and think it's great. And I think this defines the educational experience at New Paltz.
Closing a school in a district structured in this manner simply makes no sense. There are other districts with, for instance, eight K-5 elementary schools. Perhaps that's too many given population issues. So they redistribute and reduce to seven of them. OK. No huge deal. The structure stays pretty much the same. Kids from the closed school get redistributed across the others. Logistics are not complex.
The logistical implications of closing one of the four schools in New Paltz would, on the other hand, be riddled with problems and would, I argue, fundamentally change the identity of our school system within the broader context. One option discussed was to close Duzine elementary school to the little kids - have the little kids from that school go to Lenape - shuffle grades around - and have middle school kids go to Duzine (thus closing the Middle School). This plan would include retrofitting Duzine to be appropriate for middle school - including the installation of lockers, shop equipment, etc. Compared with a district that would simply close one of their several K-5 schools and redistribute, you can quickly see that closing a school in New Paltz includes a whole set of logistical complexities that are not present in these other situations.
Because of the unique structure in our district, which includes these four niche buildings, I really think that the idea of closing a building is just beyond what's logistically feasible - and any plan that is poor on logistics will ultimately have adverse consequences for teaching and, ultimately, for our students.
For such a logistically complex plan to make sense, the fiscal benefits would have to outweigh the logistical costs. That is, if this plan would be such a pain, it had better pay a bucketload. From all the information I could gather, the monies reaped from such a school closure would be small relative to the full amount of the budget hole that needs filling. From my understanding of this situation, I am unconvinced that the fiscal benefits would outweigh the logistics and pedagogical costs.
Importantly, due to the logistical complexities involved in closing a school in our particular district, I don’t think that this becomes an issue of prioritizing bricks and mortar over other factors. In a school district with multiple K-5 schools, closing an elementary school could be primarily a call to not prioritize bricks and mortar over other factors. In New Paltz, because of our unique structural organization, there’s just too much more to it. In my mind, teachers comprise the single most important members of the workforce for our community and for the future. Preserving teachers’ jobs and respecting the institution of tenure clearly, in my mind, are also crucial. And preserving small class sizes is (ask any teacher – ever) critical to our future as well. In my job, I am a teacher, so these beliefs are self-evident to me.
I realize that there are major budget woes due to shortfalls in the state - and I'd personally be willing to increase our tax contributions if that's what needed (note: "willing" to ... not "wanting" to!). And I fully support the administration and board in their efforts to come up with effective solutions to the current problems. And I hope that at a future point I’m better able to make novel practical suggestions regarding these kinds of situations. But for the reasons delineated herein, I strongly believe that the idea of closing one of the four schools should simply be taken off the table (in much the same way that the idea of not honoring union contracts or releasing tenured teachers should be completely off the table).
Genuinely, and with the greatest of respect for members of our administration and school board who are investing enormous energy into exploring these issues on our behalf,
Glenn Geher
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