As the school district continues to adjust to the pains of secondary school consolidation, parents and teachers learned Tuesday night of the recommendations of a subcommittee to shutter John Wickes …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
|
As the school district continues to adjust to the pains of secondary school consolidation, parents and teachers learned Tuesday night of the recommendations of a subcommittee to shutter John Wickes and Randall Holden elementary schools and re-purpose John Brown Francis School next June.
As required by the Department of Education before a vote to close a school, three public hearings will be held on the plan starting Oct. 6 at Vets Junior High School. Tentatively additional meetings will be held Oct. 13 at Pilgrim and Oct. 17 at Toll Gate. Meetings would start at 6:30 p.m. A committee vote is expected before the end of the year.
With elementary school consolidation on the School Committee’s agenda Tuesday, many didn’t wait to sound off.
“Are you out of your minds?” School Committee candidate Nathan Cornell said. “You are moving too fast.”
Parents agreed.
“Fix the mess you’ve made before you close more schools,” said one Randall Holden Elementary parent as choruses of “shame on you” directed at the school committee echoed behind her.
One Pilgrim High School parent, Pat Burton, said the influx of new students to the school and athletics department caused her son Ryan to be cut from the soccer team during his senior year because the teams were not split into varsity, junior varsity, and/or freshman. Another resident reiterated her point later in the meeting, saying such a move could have dashed seniors’ hopes for athletic scholarships.
Teachers said secondary school consolidation made things difficult for them, too. Class sizes ballooned to 20 to 30 students, with some teachers reporting that more than 20 percent of their students had IEPs, 504s, or otherwise required special attention. Sarah Bianco, a math teacher at Pilgrim, went so far as to suggest the School Committee was violating the IEPs of students who required a small, specialized environment.
After the protests, School Committee Member Karen Bachus moved to table elementary consolidation, but other members declined the motion.
“We’ve already bit off much more than we can chew and we don’t need a repeat at the elementary level. We’re hurting a lot of kids,” she said.
Discussion carried on. Though SMMA recommended the closure of 4 to 6 elementary schools, Director of Elementary Education Lynn Dambruch said the committee felt this was too many. Instead, two schools, John Wickes Elementary and Randall Holden Elementary, are recommended for closure and two others, John Brown Francis Elementary and Drum Rock Early Childhood Center, recommended for re-purposing.
Drum Rock, since it is already on the Toll Gate campus, would be used by the Career and Technical Center. Dambruch says the already overcrowded Drum Rock facility is not suitable for the needs of students there. It is located on top of a hill, making drop-offs and pickups difficult, especially in inclement weather. Additionally, whenever Toll Gate was placed on lockdown, Drum Rock would have to follow suit, which proved difficult with the 3 and 4 year olds who attend. Current conditions at the school put it at 1/5 with Rhode Island’s Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System BrightStars – the lowest possible ranking.
Dambruch said that after the subcommittee toured the schools, it decided Francis would be the best, least expensive option to transform into an early childhood center. The consolidation report details that the building has classrooms with bathrooms and sinks, ample meeting space, large hallways, ceiling fans, a newer roof, square footage that meets state and federal recommendations, and fenced in playgrounds that would be ideal for an early childhood center. Drop offs and pickups would also be more convenient – space is clearly defined and there is even opportunity to expand it. Students who would have attended Francis students would be bused to E.T. Wyman and Holliman.
Holden was recommended for closure on the basis that it serves the smallest area of all Warwick schools, .8 square miles, proximity to other schools; need for renovations to make it ADA compliant; lacks a parking lot and would cost $5.5 million to improve. Since the school borders a few other elementary districts, the report says students would easily be redistributed. Randall Holden students would be sent to Hoxsie and Sherman.
Wickes has 209 students and is at about 54 percent of capacity. It would cost approximately $9.8 million to make all improvements necessary to Wickes, including a new roof, heating system, playground, plumbing. The school is also close to the extended Green Airport runway and with the reconfiguration of Main Avenue access and egress from Child Lane is more difficult. Wickes students would be sent to Greenwood, Park, Robertson, and Scott Schools.
In response to questions about school crowding with consolidation, Dambruch pointed out that as of next year all sixth grade students will attend Winman and Vets, which are being converted from junior high to middle schools.
10 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Justanidiot
The time has come to build one school that houses everyone from K-12. Make school mandatory from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. so that mom and dad can have free all day care. That is what schools here in Warwick have become, might as well deal with it. It would cut back on administrators and teachers and you could pass that savings on to the taxpayers.
Thursday, September 8, 2016 Report this
richardcorrente
2 more schools closing? As Nathan Cornell so perfectly put it "Are you out of your minds?" Nathan, I think they are!
They have over a BILLION DOLLARS of taxpayers money since 2009 and they are playing a very high stakes game of chicken with it. As the number of teachers goes down (by approx. 30-35%) the number of School Committee administrators continues to increase by about the same percentage. We keep losing those irreplaceable people that we need to "teach" our children and we keep gaining those people that "control" our children and their futures.The Mayor NEEDS to get involved. The Mayor is directly ACCOUNTABLE to the taxpayers and the present one absolutely REFUSES to intercede. The present one will be gone soon. The new one will put 100% of his emphasis on the needs of the students. Count on it.
Hope to see everyone at the Food Truck event today (Thurs. Sept. 8th) in back of City Hall.
Teachers; the coffee is on me!
Richard Corrente
Endorsed Democrat for Mayor
Thursday, September 8, 2016 Report this
patientman
SMMA recommended 4-6 closures, but the school committee is only doing 2. And still parents complain. We have half the student population and declining enrollment. The time for action is now. Don't let Bachus waste a lot of time and money by slowing the process down for 1-2 years. t
Friday, September 9, 2016 Report this
bendover
Where was the hue and cry while millions were wasted to operate Aldrich and Gorton, two antiquated energy monsters, with a less than 60% census? Talk about breech of financial responsibility with taxpayer resources...All I am hearing as the election draws near is a lot of pontificating gasbags. I bet that guy Cote knows the true numbers from a personnel supplement, the number of employees including adminstrators and how much that represents in total wages, salaries and benefits as a percentage of the total budget...Then compare it with the real census and budget over say the last 5-8 years...It is all OPM...I bet they are left with 10 cents on the dollar for discretionary spending, but that is an guess on my part...Terrible financial mismanagement overall.
Friday, September 9, 2016 Report this
MisterP
I am disappointed with the headline saying 2 schools are closing. Three elementary schools would be closed under the proposal. One will become the early learning center currently at Drum Rock. Drum Rock would become part of the Career Center ---most likely a super restaurant for the culinary arts students. Headlining 2 schools seems to be posturing to benefit the school committee.
Ask students from the three schools proposed to close if TWO schools are closing. Those young students have a better understanding of math.
Saturday, September 10, 2016 Report this
Thecaptain
More pandering Rick.
Sunday, September 11, 2016 Report this
richardcorrente
Dear Rob Cote, AKA thecaptain,
You like that word "pandering" don't you?
So who am I pandering to this time Rob?
The teachers who deserve to be pandered to because they are willing to talk and the SC is NOT, or the taxpayers who deserve to be pandered to because they are paying the bill, especially people like you who are paying for public AND private schools.
Whichever group you are referring to, I plead guilty. Both groups have been taken advantage of by Avedisian. Both groups deserve "pandering".
Would you rather have Avedisians "hands-off" policy?
Richard Corrente
Endorsed Democrat for Mayor
Monday, September 12, 2016 Report this
Justanidiot
Hopefully the teachers will go out with their cheesy home made signs (you ever hear of a union print shop? Stop scabbing your work) and protest at the front of the admin building.
How much time did they take away from classroom time to do this little farce.
Monday, September 12, 2016 Report this
Justanidiot
And who had the cheesiest, cheapest, non-union printed sign. mayer corrente beaming like a rube marching with the teachers. How are you going to cut taxes and cut spending if you align with the biggest source of spending in the city?
Tuesday, September 13, 2016 Report this
moreofthesame
Justanidiot- you are an idiot!! Offering stupid comments and what I guess you think are incisive comments. You are quite dismissive of others opinions and concerns. If you have nothing to offer....just go away. Okay??
Captain - the same goes for you too...
Tuesday, September 13, 2016 Report this