BRUNSWICK
Opponents of a plan to move the fifth grade to Brunswick Junior High School delivered 875 signatures to the school board on Wednesday requesting that the board revoke its May 2014 decision.
The board will take action on the request when it meets next month.
Moving the fifth grade is the board’s solution to an overcrowding problem at Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, due in part to the unexpected closing of Jordan Acres School.
Opposition to the plan has been gaining momentum in recent months, with parents and other community members raising concerns about safety, disruption and cost.
Opponents also cited concern about the “academic stability” of next year’s fifth grade class. Members of that class have already transitioned between a number of Brunswick elementary schools, including Longfellow, Coffin and Jordan Acres schools, before arriving at Harriet Beecher Stowe.
“We don’t have a lot of options, and sometimes the options we get forced into, nobody really likes,” said board member Brenda Clough, blaming the board’s lack of long-range planning for the situation.
Clough also warned against dismissing work that a transition team has already accomplished.
“That is what you are asking us to do, just dismiss it,” she said.
Newly elected board member Sarah Singer said that feedback from parents gathered during the transition planning has been “troubling” because of the lack of enthusiasm for the plan.
Opponents to the plan note that overall enrollment is decreasing, from about 700 students this year to 670 students projected in the 2017-18 school year.
Alternatives suggested include moving only half the fifth grade to the junior high or doing nothing to save money. Opponents also suggested converting two HBS music rooms into classrooms.
The signatures on the petition were gathered during the November election and were witnessed, said Eleesa Marnagh, responding to questions about the signatures’ validity by Clough.
Fifth grade teacher Janelle El Ghazouani said that she and several of her colleagues were “excited about the opportunities” afforded at the junior high.
Fellow teacher Maria Palopoli said that the learning needs of students could be met better with the specialization that occurs at BJHS.
Fifth grade teacher Lou Sullivan, however, said that while the worst of his fears were allayed by visiting districts with similar programming, parents ought to have a choice as to whether their students attend BJHS or Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Parent Seth Levy warned against pushing fifth graders to move “faster than their parents are ready for,” adding that the board “risks violating the public trust” by taking the fifth grade out of HBS.
Teresa Kelly-Gillis, who delivered the petition to the board along with Marnagh and Heidi Boyd, said she was pleased that the school board appeared to have listened to their concerns.
“We think there are other options that cost less, or cost nothing,” Kelly-Gillis said.
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