Middletown board to decide next month on redistricting
Recommendation would affect some special ed classes, Village School
Ask Middletown Schools Superintendent Jack DeTalvo about redistricting, and he will tell you it’s a lose-lose proposition.
After forming an ad hoc committee and mulling over a couple of alternatives on the subject, the final edict on school redistricting is that there’s no final edict yet, just some well-received ideas worth serious consideration.
When the need to balance enrollment in Middletown’s three middle schools first came up, it was met with expected angst, since the idea of bringing all three schools to an even capacity of 900 students per school meant uprooting a lot of students.
"There’s never going to be a way to please everyone with any kind of redistricting," said DeTalvo. "No matter what you do with it, it’s always a lose-lose proposition, yet one that’s necessary. Our job is to do it with as little disruption as possible."
DeTalvo went on to say that the most popular and least disruptive solution to the problem seems to be twofold.
It would involve the temporary move of some, not all, self-contained special education classes from Thorne Middle School to Bayshore Middle School, where, in light of renovations, capacity will increase from about 700 to 900 by the fall, and a long-term switch involving transitioning Middletown Village Elementary School students to Thompson Middle School and then High School South.
Concerning the temporary move of special education students to Bayshore, DeTalvo said, "It would involve probably about four to five classes comprised of 10 students each.
There would be an attempt to alleviate overcrowding at Thorne, which is bursting at the seams with a 1,000-student enrollment and to use effectively new unused space at Bayshore.
"Some of the classes would remain at Bayshore," DeTalvo said, "but we still have to consult with experts to determine parameters of moving a bulk of special ed students in the most feasible, beneficial manner possible."
DeTalvo said that a rumor about moving all of the special education classes from Thorne was not true. He also noted that planned construction at Thorne in the fall of 2001 "is, no doubt, going to be problematic.
"Though not set in stone, this [putting some classes at Bayshore] is an idea to provide the best, least disruptive environment to any students," he said. "We just figured that the new facilities at Bayshore would be a more optimum environment for the special ed kids to work in. Thorne is going to be in the throws of construction when and if the change takes place.
"Contrary to speculation, we can’t start haphazardly moving a lot of special ed classes around. This is just another option that was and is being tossed around. Particulars are yet to be determined. The fact is that it was an idea to use projected excess space at Bayshore for some special education classes. Which special ed classes, we don’t know. These are all factors still under consideration."
DeTalvo added that overloading any one school with special education classrooms is not now, and never has been, an option. His feeling is that though any kind of redistricting is bound to affect the entire student body adversely in one way or another, it’s not in anybody’s best interest to consider a mass move of special education classes.
"These kids are a part of the student body just like anyone else," he said. "They’re mainstreamed in one way or another in every school. It needs to be a positive move for them, which is why we have to consult with the powers that be to devise the best compromise."
DeTalvo and the ad hoc committee were criticized by Marjorie Pagan, president of the Learning Disabled Parents Support Group, for considering what she saw as a detrimental move to special ed students in an effort to come up with a "quick fix" to the dilemma. Pagan pointed out that her son had already been moved five times in elementary school.
She pointed out that he was matriculated into the mainstream at Thorne and had made "regular ed friends and is in the Thorne chorus." Pagan added that the adolescent years are fragile enough as it is, without special ed considerations in the mix.
Pagan accused the ad hoc committee and the Board of Education of not involving parents of special education children in such a critical process.
To her accusations, ad hoc member Fran Hanley countered that "there was plenty of public notice inviting interested parents to submit a written request to join the committee."
Hanley also claimed that not only were there parents of special ed students on the committee of 38, but all seemed overwhelmingly in favor of the special ed relocation idea. DeTalvo concurred that there are at least two parents of special education children serving on the ad hoc committee.
"I’ve served on many committees and boards throughout the years," she said. "There’s almost always an onslaught of diverse opinion or discord with respect to any inherently controversial situation. In this case, this was the first time I’ve seen what I would call unanimous agreement. Nobody opposed the idea, and people on the committee really did their homework. It was a well-studied and prepared group."
Hanley did concede that she was not present when the ad hoc committee made its presentation/recommendations to the Board of Education at its Nov. 21 meeting, but said that in the two meetings that they had in October, most members were present and all were in agreement. "As far as I’m concerned, it’s over," she concluded. "From the onset, this was more a matter of redistribution of numbers, not redistricting."
Regarding the long-term idea of rerouting Middletown Village’s elementary students to Thompson and then to High School South, both Hanley and DeTalvo said that they felt this was the least disruptive, most logical route to take in an effort to evenly balance enrollment over the next few years.
DeTalvo added that the ultimate goal for rerouting the Middletown Village School students is to balance enrollment between high schools. High School North is the largest of the two.
He noted that in the next two years, demographic projections indicate that without any changes, Thompson Middle School’s enrollment will be about 925, while Thorne, which is now about 100 over-capacity, will drop to under 900 and Bayshore is slated for a student body of about 700 (without the additional special education classes).
Thorne, in particular, he said is projected to lose 50 students a year for the next two years, bringing it down to reasonable capacity. "They’ll never be perfectly balanced," DeTalvo added, "and that’s OK. Orchestrating a complete redistricting from the elementary school level is just too disruptive."
Still, the interim problem of Thorne being overburdened remains. The special ed switch is viewed as the most amenable option, though not set in stone. "Everything is subject to law and board (of education approval)," DeTalvo reiterated. If the special education move occurs, it will mean transferring a total of 40 to 80 students.
The Board of Education will revisit the issue in January, DeTalvo said.