Narrow vote rejects K-5 plan backed by some parents and supports administration recommendation.
By: David M. Campbell
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Board of Education narrowly approved the administration’s recommendation on elementary school grade configuration this week, reversing the district’s long-range commitment to a kindergarten-to-fifth-grade configuration.
In a 5-4 vote Tuesday, the board endorsed Superintendent John Fitzsimons’ recommendation to keep the district’s current grade K-3 and grade 4-5 model by establishing a second 4-5 school at Village School.
Opponents of the superintendent’s recommendation expressed regret following the vote, with one resident in tears as she addressed the board, and challenged the board and administration to develop a transition plan that will make K-3/4-5 work.
The change is expected to be implemented in September 2002, when the Town Center Elementary School is planned to open as a K-3 school.
The board has struggled with the decision since Dr. Fitzsimons asked in June to revisit the district’s decision to go K-5, which many in the community believed to have been finalized by the $59.7 million building referendum approved by voters in 1996.
In the week preceding the vote, tensions rose and the community and board were polarized.
Board Vice President Stephen Smith on Tuesday night called the decision the most difficult he has had to make while on the board.
Board member Barbara Friis called the last week "emotionally exhausting."
In prepared speeches read prior to the vote Tuesday night, which was made before a gathering of almost 100 district residents, board members expressed a range of mixed feelings, from optimism to frustration, but the overall mood was one of resignation.
Many on the board, conceding that either choice presented difficulties, said that in the end they were left to vote their conscience and personal judgment. Board member Stan Katz called the decision "a toss-up."
The board also said whichever configuration it chose, the district, board and community would make it work.
"Both are meritorious. They both are valid in their own way," said board President Cheryl Larrier-Jemmott. "This is also a beginning. We’re moving forward after we bring closure to this issue."
The vote split the board roughly in half, with Ms Larrier-Jemmott, Linda Geevers, Dee Dee Dodson and Stan Katz voting against the superintendent’s recommendation and supporting K-5; and Barbara Friis, Stephen Smith, Matti Prima, Elliott Korsen and Henry Wieck supporting K-3/4-5.
Ms. Geevers said she favored K-5 for its stability, community bonds and, citing words from previous reports that reaffirmed the district’s earlier commitment to K-5, because it was "educationally superior."
Ms. Dodson said she based her decision on community values and the educational benefits of K-5, and said she had encountered no evidence "compelling enough" to force her to reverse the district’s long-range planning.
Mr. Katz called the district’s past decisions to adopt K-5 "proper and correct," saying the configuration was a long-term solution, "always with the caveat that if things changed drastically, we could adjust." He said the board had "a moral and political obligation to maintaining the course," and said that "changing course now would be a disservice to long-range planning."
Ms. Friis, in explaining her support of the superintendent’s recommendation, said she had "overwhelming doubts" about the district’s ability to deliver equitable programming over the long term under K-5.
"I believe our programs and equity can be most effectively maintained under the K-3 configuration," she said.
Mr. Smith, who said he had gone into the discussion expecting it would lead quickly to a reaffirmation of K-5, said considerations of cost, busing and educational merit favored K-3.
Mr. Prima said he favored K-3 as the best way to maintain socioeconomic balance.
"My judgment now is that it’s going to be very hard to get the equality that we’d like in six K-5 schools," he said before the vote.
Mr. Korsen cited cost, attendance areas and equity as major factors in his decision to support K-3, and said duplicating programs in six schools under K-5 would be "very, very complicated and very, very difficult."
Many residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting expressed regret with the board’s vote, with one woman walking out of the room saying, "The staff is more important than the parents," in reference to the superintendent’s recommendation, which he said in June was based on staff recommendations.
Kevin Chapman, founder of the parent advocacy group Keep K-5 Alive Committee, said, "Naturally, I’m disappointed in the board’s vote, although I appreciate that the board members seem to have taken their responsibility seriously and given thought to the issues."
Mr. Chapman said he was disappointed many board members let cost considerations sway their decision – the administration had estimated that K-5 would cost the district more than $3 million in start-up costs alone.
"I’m also distressed that the board has made a major policy decision in a very short period of time, without adequate study and discussion," he continued. "There are still major questions about this plan and whether it will cause a capacity shortage, requiring hundreds of first- through third-grade students to be housed in the UES (Upper Elementary School), and it creates unused classroom space at the UES building – about 500 seats – at a time when the K-3 schools will be crowded."
Dianne Hasling, a member of the advocacy group, was crying as she addressed the board. "I have great concerns in so many ways about what the ultimate cost of this decision will be," she said.
At the end of Tuesday night’s meeting, the board resolved to move quickly in its transition planning now that the decision has been made, with Ms. Larrier-Jemmott recommending a joint committee of board, administration and community members to develop a plan of action, and with Mr. Katz calling for "resurrecting" long-term strategic planning to address booming enrollment.
On Wednesday, Dr. Fitzsimons said he is happy with the board’s decision.
"At this point, the administration will move forward and put together a solid transition plan for K-3/4-5," he said. "With this plan, I am confident that West Windsor-Plainsboro will continue to offer excellent educational opportunities for all students."