The ConVal school district is faced with an issue that has no easy solution. The citizens who created the school district from nine towns in 1967 had every reason to believe the population of the region would continue to grow. In the 1990s, the district built or renovated the elementary schools. However, the population of students in the ConVal district peaked in 2002, and has declined for two decades.
For over a decade, the board has struggled with this topic. We have looked at enrollment data by school monthly, made significant cuts to programs and services at the middle and high schools to keep budget increases minimal and studied the option of moving middle school grades back to increase small-school population. I believe we have exhausted the options that would meet the educational needs of our students while balancing our fiscal responsibility to the taxpayer.
After three terms on the school board, this is the most-challenging decision I have contemplated. Article 10 will result in increased student support from having learning, technology, library, reading and special education specialists in the building full time, as well as before- and after-school care, more specialty programming, field trips and enrichment programs.
Residents in the affected towns are understandably dismayed at the prospect of school consolidation, but from the perspective of students, reconfiguration perhaps will not be as scary as it seems at first glance. My own three children attended three different elementary schools (Greenfield, Francestown and Peterborough), while we remained Greenfield residents. In fact, I had three children in three different ConVal elementary schools at the same time. My husband and I had many if not all of the same question you are all asking now. What will their day look like? Will my child have better educational and social opportunities. Will my children thrive in this new environment? Not only were they quickly welcomed and accepted into all three school communities, but we have lifelong friends from each community as a result.
Should the voters support this change, I imagine, when the students walk into their new buildings that first day, they will see many familiar faces, including children and adults from their old schools, from outside activities and from the broader community. Once the school day starts, the routines, curriculum and expectations around culture of the schools will all be consistent and familiar. While each community may have some unique traditions and activities, I am confident based on my experience that those traditions will be incorporated and new traditions established.
Unlike my situation, where my children were placed for special education reasons where appropriate services were available, families will have the choice of which of two neighboring schools to attend. They will be able to coordinate friends and neighbors staying together if they choose. They have a choice between a “larger” elementary school setting like Antrim or Peterborough, or a smaller school setting which would be very familiar, as Temple, Greenfield, Hancock and Francestown are nearly identical in facility design.
The purpose of reconfiguration is to offer the same education services to every child in the district. Currently, students in the larger elementary schools have access to full-time support staff and special service providers who can provide more-immediate access for academic support, services and more programming. With the current school configuration, some support staff and specialists spend a large portion of their day in the car, traversing our 250-square-mile district (largest in the state) to give children services they need. There is no room in the schedule for access to extra support in a day if a child needs it.
With an unlimited budget, the board would hire additional dedicated staff members and specialists per location, but the reality is we could never justify these costs to the taxpayer. We cannot justify budgeting a full salary and benefits for one person to teach a class of five children, when we could consolidate classes and have one educator teaching 15 or 17 children. This classroom teacher would have the benefit of full-time support all day from special education, reading, library and technology support teachers.
Bringing multiple grade-level teachers together in one school, rather than having them teach alone, is proven to have huge benefits to educational instruction. Not only can a team of two or three teachers at the same grade level share ideas and best practices, they can work on projects together, share equipment and supplies, coordinate coverage when needed, take field trips together, etc.
Another argument against consolidation is the assertion that the tax savings are not enough to make a difference for families. Our primary responsibility is ensuring that every student in our district is receiving the best education we can provide, and that every student has access to the same quality of education. Savings from consolidation will be partially reallocated to taxpayers, but mostly, the funds will be reinvested in the schools not only so we can offer the educational services we are required to provide by law, but so we can provide a competitive education to our middle and high school students.
Currently, our only option to hold the line on massive budget increases and keep small schools running is to slash the budgeted programs and services at the upper grade levels. Parents with very young children should consider what will happen when their children leave elementary school; they may be shocked when their children get to middle school and high school and find cuts that will impact their child’s elective curriculum choices and fewer extracurricular opportunities. Cuts that I can speak to personally, as my own children, were impacted by them as they were preparing and planning for life post-high school.
Many residents have expressed concern that their property values will decrease. Any town who recently conducted a property revaluation has experienced a huge increase in valuation. With out-of-state developers coming into our region and buying up tracts of open space for luxury housing projects, property values will only continue to increase. And as a double-edged sword, the increase in property valuations and continued housing shortage drives up prices, making it even more difficult for young families to move to the ConVal district, and the families that do move here increasingly choose private school or other options. Greenfield had 16 new children this year, with none enrolling at GES. Job opportunities, quality of life and high-quality schools drive home values. In order to compete with private schools and attract students to ConVal, we need to be able to expand elective courses offered at the middle school and high school levels.
I understand some towns are looking to study withdrawing from the ConVal district; this is the choice of each town and its voters. No one can fully predict what the ConVal school district will look like two or three or five or 10 years, but when you vote on March 12, please make a choice based on what works best for all of the children in our district. Public schools have the responsibility of educating all children – at all levels and ability, regardless of town of residence and to do so equitably.
Katherine Heck represents Greenfield on the ConVal School Board.