Keene Board of Education Community Forum

Why is it that these recommended changes are being billed as a combo-deal? I believe that the ad hoc committee did an amazing job of taking all of the information into account when recommending to close a school, and then took reports into account when working to decide which school should be closed. The path is clear and easy to understand there. What I do not understand is how the narrowed grade ranges came into play and became attached to the "solution" - the only option for Keene residents (taxpayers and parents alike) as a result of two years of hard work.

One of the reasons my family lives in Keene is because of the community school model. We have a neighborhood school that our children are able to attend from the time they are 5 until the time they are 11.

We value our neighborhood school because our children will be able to look out for one another. We value our neighborhood school because we understand how important it is to set a solid foundation - with as few transitions as possible - as our children grow educationally. We value our neighborhood school because younger children have built in role models with the children in the upper grades - and social education is just as important as academic education.

We value our neighborhood school because it is a community. We have teachers we can count on - teachers who work together in a professional learning community, riding the waves of constant change with newly implemented programs and curriculum models. If one of the reasons for the narrow grade range is to make sure similar grade teachers are all in one building in order to form grade level PLCs, isn't there a way to turn one staff meeting a month into district-wide grade level meetings? There are options to create improved educational opportunities for teachers as well as students if we become even more creative and think about our CHILDREN FIRST.

Most parents and all educators understand that some of the best thinking happens when you get multiple grade levels together - just because a child is a first grader doesn't mean that they only need first grade skills. If you take away the upper grades, opportunities for enrichment fade away. If opportunities for enrichment fade away at the same time a child can truly fall in love with learning, in their first educational experience, then we - as a community - have done an incredible disservice to our children.

How much money will the city be saving if we amend the recommendation to indeed close a school but then redistrict so that the remaining four schools can be K-5 (or pre-K to 5)? I do not understand how the current proposal - in which every single child will be bused at one point before the age of 8 - will be a cost saving measure. Parents with young children in multiple elementary schools will also have to figure out childcare - which is already difficult when both parents work outside of the home - because of varied school start times based on grade level. That will not be a cost saving measure for the people it impacts - regardless of whether the money is paid through taxes or straight out of pocket.

I feel overwhelmed by the recommendation to close a school AND narrow the grade ranges. Those are two very separate and very large changes - and it is not fair to the community to bill them together as the only option. I support the cost saving measure of closing a school, and agree that enough research and thought went into the school chosen to close, but do not believe we are doing anything positive for our CHILDREN if we are to narrow our grade ranges.