Statement on School Closing
At its February 25 Business Meeting, the Mineola Board of Education voted to close two of the district’s elementary schools. A decision on which two schools will be closed has not yet been made. However, it was decided that the first school will close as of September 1, 2011 and the second school will close as of September 1, 2012.
This decision was made after years of discussion, independent studies, and input from the Mineola community. Given the unprecedented financial challenges our district is currently facing, the Board’s decision was necessary to continue to maximize the high quality of education our students receive, while minimizing the financial impact to our taxpayers.
The Board has authorized me to develop and execute a plan for consolidating our elementary schools, which will ultimately lead to a more equitable and cost-efficient distribution of students in the elementary grades. I look forward to working with the Community Committee on Consolidation, a group comprised of area residents, to develop a reconfiguration plan. Together, we will find the right solution that is in the best interest of our students.
I for one am very happy with the decision to close 2 of our elementary schools. I personally do not see this as a negative thing at all. I am a graduate from Herricks, with family currently enrolled in the Herricks school district. Herricks has 3 elementary schools with grades K-5, about 5 classes per grade and 25 students in a class. It was the same numbers when I went to Center Street in the late 80’s and it is the same way now in 2010. This is still considered to be a small school/class. For Mineola to have 3 of the elementary schools so small, with only 2 classes per grade and some classes with only 16 students hardly seems reasonable. I totally understand why the parents of students in these schools are upset, but my children are zoned to go to Jackson, with 4-5 classes per grade and up to 25 in a class, so I don’t think us Jackson parents have much to lose!
We might even benefit because I believe Dr. Nagler spoke about having around 20 students in a class.
I am anxious to hear the results the Community Committee findings. I agree there is a lot of information to go over before we can make the best choices. Overall I am sure that our school system will be terrific. It seems that we have some wonderful teachers, parents, and children. I am very excited for my children to start in Mineola in 2011-2012 school year, and I am optimistic that we as a community will make it a great place for our children to learn. I felt the need to post because some parents seem so angry about this, and I really don’t think it will be as bad as they make it out to be. Keep positive everyone!
One other thing, lets try and give Dr. Nagler as much support as possible! I mean the poor man has a really tough job, and he is kind enough to offer this blog for all of us to use. I don’t think you will find another school district with a blog open to parents! He also was kind enough to answer some questions I had asked him via email. He answered me the same day, at 8:30 at night! So l would venture to say that he is working hard for us and our children.
Dr. Nagler, thank you for allowing me to continue blogging anonymously and my reasons for doing so as stated in a previous post. As in the past, you have my name and will continue to have it.
Some writers have mentioned that the survey that was sent out several years ago favored keeping the neighborhood schools. Some question why make the change when the community spoke out. That was then. However, so much has happened since then – the fiscal/economical climate of our country (which has affected each and every one of us in some way) and of our district has changed. We need to make changes now before we are forced to make changes in the future without a plan which would be devastating to our district.
Also, that was a new idea then and scary to many of us, including me. We needed to absorb more information. I commend the administration on a fantastic and effective job of presenting to the community in a clear, precise, step by step plan. I disagree that there was any lack of transparency. As time went on, many of us realized the urgency to make this change for the preservation of our district down the road, not just for this year. More people were able to speak out about the need for change. Also, just looking at how our cost-per-pupil has escalated over the last several years is proof enough for me that change is need now. I feel the results of that survey is now obsolete information. I believe that if the same survey was sent out today, the results would be very different.
I thank Dr. Nagler and his staff for educating me over the last several months, now enabling me to give my full support to this plan. I trust that it will be done with the best interests of each and every child in our district. Thank you for your dedication to our district.
Dr. Nagler,
As I have been keeping abreast of the happenings with the school board meetings these are tough times and I think the board and you have made the right decision. In September 1951 my 3rd grade class at Hampton St had 33 pupils. We all handled it well with one great teacher with no aides to assist her. As far as what you have had to face including the board members, my father always said don’t be too critical unless you walked in someones shoes. That bit of advice has always followed me through life and I believe you have presented the best fiscal plan available.
1, 2 & 3: I’m looking at your PowerPoint presentation from the January 21st BOE meeting. Specifically slide # 6 entitled “THE PLAN”. It says “Cluster the following grades: PreK&K at Willis, 1&2 at one Elementary, 3 to 5 at Jackson, 6 to 8 at Middle School, and 9 to 12 at High School.” It also says “Need to build on 2 buildings to make capacity for 600,400 students.” That’s your PowerPoint presentation, and it was the only configuration you presented.
Here’s the link: http://www.mineola.k12.ny.us/userfiles/resource/edubudgetplan/Projected%20Reduction_ClosingSchools.pdf
4. Thank you for the specific example on the 1st grade. You’d save 2 classroom teachers. And if you extend that same logic to the remaining 4 grades, you’d probably save a total of 8 classroom teachers in the 5 grades. Who makes up the balance of the 20 fulltime teachers you plan to excess? Music, art, drama and gym teachers?
5. I’m glad to hear it.
6. Look at Page 7 of the “Overview of Study” document. In it, the consulting firm hired by the district lists the following concern: “Consolidation of schools and programs may result in the loss of some of the best teachers and administrators because of the seniority system.” That’s what the district’s own consulting firm wrote, not me. And for the record, I agree that we have the best teachers here in Mineola.
Here’s the link:
http://www.mineola.k12.ny.us/userfiles/resource/edubudgetplan/OverviewofStudy.pdf
7. The district’s consulting firm said that studies have shown that more transitions can have a negative effect on young children’s performance. I agree with the experts and many parents have expressed concern about this issue.
10. Yes, technically the survey was not an official vote. It simply expressed the preferences and wishes of the respondents within our community. As such, I stand behind my statement. Most parents with children enrolled in the district expressed a preference for Option 6, i.e., keep the current configuration. They either “strongly agreed” or “moderately agreed” with Option 6, and they strongly disagreed with 4 of the other 5 options. See Figure 2 of the Survey Results.
11. My point is quite simply that every homeowner’s tax bill will go up even if your plan to close schools is implemented. That’s non-debatable. Anyone who expects their school taxes to remain the same after the closings will be sorely disappointed. And my example of an “average” homeowner is just that, an example. Many people have asked you for an estimated dollar amount; I’m trying to give them a ballpark answer. If someone’s actual current school taxes are lower, then the computed difference will be lower. If someone’s actual taxes are higher, than the difference will be higher. As I said, every homeowner will have to do the math and decide for themselves if their “estimated” tax savings are enough to justify the school closings.
There are so many “what if” questions going around after the decision to close two schools was made. Well, what if the board chose to keep them open? What some are saying would be a $100 – $200 increase in taxes “A” year to keep status quo, should really be saying “This” year. What if that 100-200 dollar amount this year becomes 200-400 next year and 300-600 the year after due to continuing increases in all aspects of district expenses? There is the possibility that those who can afford an increase this year will no be able to afford continuous increases over the coming years. Will the value of our homes decrease because there is no cute little school around the corner? I have to ask what would make potential buyers walk away, no little school, or a tax bill that they can’t possibly afford? Although some say that they purchased their homes based on small home schools, I’m sure that wasn’t the only factor. Would you rather buy a home in a district with a small “home” school, or a district that has wonderful academic and non-academic programs? Unfortunately, the reality is that we can no longer maintain both. I have been a resident of Mineola for 41 years, and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. By the time I sell my house, who knows what will happen. What if my child has to be on a school bus for 20-30 minutes? Driving my child to school would still be an option. I would rather have children on a bus a little longer, then home alone, or out at the park because there are no after school programs to keep them safely occupied until parents get home from work. There is life after elementary school. Clustering may not be beneficial in some opinions, but nobody has proven clustering to be detrimental to the education of a child. To me, transitions are a part of life. Many children have to transition in life to another town, or even state due to a job transfer or their families inability to afford to remain in their town, they may also have to transition to a single parent household due to the death of a parent. There was a time in my life that my son transitioning from the kitchen to the living room after dinner was difficult, but he got over it. I guess what I am trying to say is that I don’t feel that one more transition, simply to another building with all of their friends, is the worst thing. Again change is scary if you let it be, and most children acclimate much quicker than we do.
We have all had our say, and there was no way that whatever decision was made everyone would be happy. I think it is time to put the past in the past, stop worrying about past decisions that were made, (ie.Willis Ave., current contracts, frivolous spending), and realize that the current Board and administration did not make those decisions. Let’s put some faith in our current administration and those who were elected to the Board by the residents. Some people feel that this is all happening too fast, but many of us have been involved in this discussion for a few years. I feel that the survey that was sent out in 2008 was responded to by emotions, not reality. The least of all evils being no change of course dominated.
The Administration and the Board have been nothing but transparent about the current financial situation in our district, and I commend them for taking the steps to make a change before it is truly too late. Not every community has this much opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns, and have their questions answered even if we don’t like the answers we get. Unfortunately the truth hurts.
Mr. Campanella. I will be attending a special meeting of Meadow Drive’s PTA on Monday night, March 8. At that time I will be happy to further discuss your concerns. But I must ask that you cease in disseminating incorrect information. Not only is it counter productive to the process, it confuses simple facts. Here are some facts to the questions you ask:
1. We average 200 students per grade district wide. If the 8th grade goes to the HS and 5th grade goes to the MS then we are left with 800 students (grade 1-4) to divide between 2 buildings – Easily done with existing buildings at no cost for construction. As of this date of the 88 students spanning 9 grades in Corpus Christi 2 have enrolled in Mineola and a total of 13 have thus far expressed interest.
2. As I just stated- Construction is not necessary depending upon the final configuration
3. (re-read answer #2)
4. You continue to assert that the 20 teachers that will be excessed are all classroom teachers, they are not. In any case here is an example; we current have 219 students in 1st grade. We have 12 teachers across the district. Class size ranges from 13 to 21. If they were clustered and a class size was set at 22 then we would need 10 teachers. If class size were 20 then it would be 11 teachers. Hence my comment “we can make class size anything we want them to be” Either way it is a reduction of staff- a similar reduction occurs in every grade.
5. There will not be 30 students in a class
6. The more senior a teacher, typically the more qualified they are. In Mineola all of our teachers are Highly Qualified as defined by the State
7. This is an opinion not a fact
8. Whether this is an accurate statement will ultimately depend on the inevitable configuration
9. see answer # 8
10. Since the survey was a not a vote, your statement is inaccurate. In fact, the survey was a Likkert scale that asked respondents to agree or disagree. Please see page 3 of the study (available online) for the survey results.
11. The tax levy we list at 2.5% is the increase in the amount of money we ask the town to collect for us. 71.2 million to 73 million. The 2.5% has nothing to do with individual tax bills. You cannot simply multiply your bill by 2.5% and get your new tax bill. It is based on your assessed value, the percentage of money collected from commercial and residential and the tax rate (which is established by your assessed value). Since Nassau County’s assessed value has decreased 11% county wide the new tax rates will increase, thereby increasing taxes. This link helps to explain it: http://www.orps.state.ny.us/pamphlet/taxworks.pdf
Mrs. Schneider- I am baffled by the comment “why the lack of transparency?” Not only to I spend an incredible amount of time maintaining this blog- all of the information pertaining to reconfiguration is available on the website.
Dr. Nagler, This is my 1st post to the blog. I have been “taking it all in” for some time now. Most recently I was at the PTA Mtg. Mon. night, 3/1, and there seemed to be some debate over whether the BOE had voted to close 2 “Elementary Schools” or just “2 Schools” in general. Well we needed to look no further than right here to find this in print: “At its February 25 Business Meeting, the Mineola Board of Education voted to close two of the district’s elementary schools.
Does “Elementary schools” mean strictly the 1-5th gr. bldgs.? Or does this inc. ANY of the bldgs? Willis? MMS? MHS?
Also, if it does not inc. any of the other bldgs, why not?
I specifically remember in the consultants report that was presented at the MHS that it was said that ALL of the bldgs. were being underutilized and specifically the MMS & MHS were roughly at 1/2 capacity.
So, if you are strictly targeting 1-5th gr. bldgs., why would you do that when the other bldgs. are even emptier?
And please, why the lack of transparency? People want & deserve answers. Which bldgs. do you plan to close or consider the least usable under your new plan? You must have the data on this. I can’t believe the BOE & the Admin. would undertake such a tremendous upheaval of the entire MUFSD without any idea of what to do next. As a lifelong resident, alumni, & taxpayer I am very interested to hear the answers to my questions as well as some very important points Mr. John Campanella asked above? Thank You.
Now that the Board has voted to close two of our schools, this is a good time to reiterate some of the known problems with The Plan, as presented at the January 21st BOE meeting. I certainly hope and pray, for the sake of the children, that the Board and the Administration can come up with workable solutions.
1. There are not enough classrooms in the remaining two buildings to accommodate 400 extra children, plus over 40 children from the soon-to-be-closed Corpus Christi School.
2. Constructing additional classrooms will cost millions of dollars.
3. The new classrooms will not be ready until AFTER the existing two buildings are closed. (Re-read problem # 1.)
4. Firing 20 F/T teachers and 5 P/T teachers will increase some class sizes to 30 children per class. Dr. Nagler has disputed this and said “Once we cluster, we can make the class sizes anything we want them to be.” But I believe the burden of proof must be on the Administration to prove it to the parents.
5. Each classroom cannot realistically and safely accommodate 30 children.
6. Loss of some of the most qualified teachers and administrators due to the seniority system.
7. More transitions are not beneficial to children, especially at the elementary school level.
8. Increased transportation costs. Specifically, more buses, bus drivers, gasoline, insurance, and maintenance costs.
9. Increased transportation times for most children.
10. In the 2008 Grade Reconfiguration Survey, most respondents with children in the district voted to keep all schools open. (Not a problem, per se, just a statement of fact.)
11. Taxpayers will still have to pay a 2.5% tax levy increase even if the schools are closed, the teachers are fired, and the children are reconfigured.
This last point deserves an example. For an “average” homeowner who currently pays $5000 a year in school taxes, the difference between a 2.5% increase and a 5.6% increase is $155 a year. Do the math. That’s only $12.91 a month! Every homeowner will have to decide for themselves if this is enough of a savings to justify the school closings.
Once again, I hope and pray that the Board and the Administration can come up with workable solutions.
Now that the Board reached a decision to close schools, I wonder if we really know how this will impact the students of the Mineola district.
Will it be positive? Will it be negative?
How long will it be before the “chosen” elementary schools will be notified of their closing? In the meantime, will everyone be on the edge thinking if they will be without a job or classroom?
What is the criteria to close a school?
Will it be okay for a student to not graduate in their own home school that they grew up in?
Will it be okay for a parent to shuttle a child in second grade to one building and then shuttle the third grader to another?
Of course, there are studies that show positive outcomes with the benefit of savings to the district. However, this may take time…
The community may need to adapt to the transitions first.
I just hope we don’t have to face closing another elementary school in the future due to financial problems.
Dr. Nagler, I don’t envy the work ahead of you in creating a “new” Mineola School District. My gut tells me that much of it will be well researched and “pro student”. I sense the Board of Education, like yourself, only have the best interest of our children in mind.
My daughter is a 1st grader at Jackson Avenue where there are 5 1st grades. I can tell, from the homework she receives, that it is a collaboration of the 1st grade teachers. Most are studying the interchangeable relationship between numbers…and getting their own teachers’ twist on it.. SHE IS LEARNING. She has an opportunity to play at recess in the playground with ALL 1st graders……SHE IS MAKING NEW FRIENDS. She is a Daisy, soccer player and pool swimmer with childrn from a variety of schools……SHE IS SOCIAL. Whether there are 5 classes or 10 – a bus ride or a walk – a Jackson Ave social gathering or a District Rec Nite….I am confident she will learn academically and socially. I am very pleased with the attention she receives scholastically and I am hopeful for her future.
I support the coming together of our “Mineola town” for our children. I do not feel my children will suffer if we all unite in one place.
A 4-5% levy will create future problems. Action steps that needed to be taken, have been and I look forward to great results.
I do feel regret for those that will be excessed.