Surviving a
When a beloved neighborhood school closes,
emotions run high. Many parents believe
that schooling will change for the worse.
Peter M. De Witt
and Josephine Moccia
The full-size gymnasium seemed small that February night as 10 administrators faced the parents of a soon- to-be-closed elementary
school. As cold as New York State is in
midwinter, the audience’s reception was
colder. Every administrator from our
K– 12 schools in Averill Park Central
School District was at the event; we
wanted the 100-plus parents in the
room to know we were a team. In the
audience, arms were folded, no one was
smiling, and a few adults made angry
comments any time there was a second
of silence. When someone yelled, “How
can you sleep at night?” we knew it was
going to be a long, painful evening.
The anger stemmed from the district’s decision to close two elementary
schools. One school that served only
4th and 5th graders (Sand Lake) would
be combined with a K– 3 school on
the same campus. However, this cold
evening, we were in the gymnasium to
discuss the closing of George Washington Elementary School, a school of
approximately 100 students and one
classroom per grade.
Our board of education was consid-
ering renting the school’s building to
the Questar III Board of Cooperative
Educational Services. This would gen-
erate much-needed revenue and pos-
sibly save 16 teaching jobs and many
high school programs that were on the
chopping block. Our school district had
been facing low enrollment and, like all
New York State schools, was struggling
with budgetary issues. A study had indi-
cated that our enrollment would con-
tinue to decline over the next five years.
Unfortunately, the George Washington
community didn’t buy in to the idea of
closing their school, and every adult in
the gymnasium wanted us to know how
he or she felt.
School Closings
and Parents’ Anger
As more neighborhood schools close, 1
many parents believe that schooling
is changing for the worse. Parents fear
that their children will be educated by a
teacher just off the assembly line rather
than someone they’ve known for years.
They want the comfort of a school
building they can see out their back
window, knowing that if there were
an emergency, they could get to their
children quickly.
Our school district had tried to be
sensitive to such concerns. We began
by initiating discussion among the
community six months before the final
decision was made—through letters,
newspaper articles, meetings, infor-
mational e-mails, frequently asked
questions on the district’s website,
and public hearings. Interactions with
parents were rocky from the start. At
one board of education meeting, some
George Washington parents thought
it would be a good idea to have their
7-year-old children picket in front of the
school where the meeting was held. The
news media showed up with cameras
rolling.
Parents want the
comfort of a school
building they can
see out their back
window.
In March 2010, a month after our
face-the-parents meeting, the board
voted to close George Washington and
send its students to Poestenkill Elementary School, where I was principal.
I knew there would be hard feelings. As
angry as George Washington parents
were, Poestenkill Elementary parents
were just as upset that their school
would have to absorb 100 more students. One parent created a Facebook
page on which parents posted angry
rants that targeted certain administrators
and pitted parents of George Washington kids against Poestenkill parents.
Someone created an anonymous blog
that targeted administrators and staff.
