Jackson board begins task of reassigning students

Jackson board begins task
of reassigning students
By Joyce Blay
Staff Writer

JACKSON — A group of determined parents braved the raw, rainy weather to express their opinions at the Board of Education’s redistricting discussion held in the Fine Arts Center at Jackson Memorial High School on Nov. 12.

"I’m delighted that so many of you came out tonight," said board President Kathleen Kelly Mallette. "This (issue) affects our community. The solution will be community-based; help us solve this problem."

Mallette’s invitation to her audience was based on the board’s proposal to put fifth grade classes back into the district’s elementary schools beginning in the fall of 2003, instead of having children in that grade level move on to middle school as they have in the past.

Although the proposal would affect only students now in the fourth grade, some students in overcrowded schools would be sent to less crowded schools no matter what decision is made on redistricting, according to Allison Erwin, a spokeswoman for the board.

"That just makes sense with a new elementary school about to open," she said several days after the meeting. Her reference was to the Elms Elementary School, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2003.

The redistricting proposal was the result of projections made by professional demographers and their significance was explained to parents attending the meeting by LuAnne Meinders, director of curriculum, staff development and grants, as well as by school board members. One board member said the projections are for the two middle schools to get relief from redistricting, but noted that by 2003-04 those schools will be nearing capacity again.

That projection was a source of concern as well as humor for some parents.

"Do we have any walkers or does everyone in this town get bused?" asked one resident to the amused laughter of the audience.

The question may have produced levity among those listening, but it was of particular concern to Penny Fullerton Weber, a bus driver, since she said that so-called courtesy busing is only reimbursed by the state under very specific conditions.

Courtesy busing generally refers to transportation that school district administrators provide to students that they are not legally required to provide. The service is provided as a "courtesy."

"We fill up five buses to drive students a half-mile to school — for which Jackson is not reimbursed," said Weber. "That’s a lot of money.

"Sixty Acres children get bused and the town gets no money back. Robins Acres children get bused and the town gets no money back. And if your property touches a school, there is no money given back to the town for busing your children to that school. That’s a lot of money we don’t get back from the state because of their policy requirements on courtesy busing," Weber said.

Ted Koch, the board’s vice president, sought to clarify exactly why courtesy busing had to be given to so many students — even if the state did not reimburse the town for its cost. He said students who live 2.5 miles or more from their school must be provided with transportation. However, he noted that in Jackson, where some schools do not have sidewalks in close proximity, children who live closer than 2.5 miles to their school are provided with transportation.

Those are the unreimbursed costs that Weber was discussing in her comments to the board.

However, whether paid for by the state or the school district, some residents were not happy with the idea of busing their child far from the nearest school to home.

"I would much prefer my kids going to a school that’s closer to my part of town," said one resident.

Courtesy busing was not the only concern of parents and board members. Equally pressing was the April defeat of the school budget — and any possibility of additional schools being built to absorb the exploding population of students waiting to attend them.

"We’re going to spend millions of dollars on trailers because of the ‘no’ vote on the budget that the seniors voted down," said one angry mother. Other residents were more philosophical about the defeat.

"We must try to get seniors on board," said one resident. "If you want your budgets passed, you better work with (them)."

Some residents blamed themselves for the budget’s defeat rather than seniors who had come out in greater numbers to vote it down.

"I expected more people to be here tonight and I’m disappointed that there are not," said resident Barbara Haines. "We need to reach out to the people that don’t think this problem affects them."

Mallette agreed with Haines’ assessment.

"If you don’t have a strong school system the value of your land goes down," she said. "It’s going to take all of us to make a difference."

In the end, redistricting remained the predominant topic of discussion and new Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella had the last word on the matter.

"I’ve found that you can shuffle the deck, but you’ve still got 52 cards and they’re not going to fit in the box if it’s not big enough," he said. "We should be discussing expanding opportunities for our children, not limiting them."