Oh! Another Crazy School Closing Plan!

Starr: Close Stark, move Toquam there By Donna Porstner, Stamford Advocate, 04/25/2008
STAMFORD - Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr last night proposed closing Julia A. Stark Elementary and moving Toquam Magnet Elementary's teachers and students into the Glenbrook Road building.

Stark should close before any other school because it is traditionally the lowest performing and the district will soon be required to make changes to comply with federal No Child Left Behind legislation, he said at last night's Board of Education Redistricting Committee meeting.

By being proactive with changes at Stark, Starr said, "We clearly get ahead with the state, showing them we are serious about accountability."

It's only a matter of time before changes must be made at Stark, because state sanctions are increasing, he said,

The Redistricting Committee erred in deciding not to consider performance in deciding which school to close, Starr said.

"It doesn't pass the smell test that we'd be closing a great school - Toquam," Starr said.

Toquam students are among the district's highest achievers on state tests.

Members recently narrowed their list of potential schools to be shuttered to two - Toquam and Rogers Magnet School - largely based on the size of the student body and number of students walking to school.

With its planned redistricting, the school board is trying to balance the student population in each building based on economic background.

At the same time, board members are planning to close a building to save about $5 million. They are trying to increase the number of students walking to school in the process to reduce transportation costs.

Moving Toquam students and teachers, and its popular Bank Street program, to the Stark building would create five magnet schools in 2009, giving parents more choice in where children attend school, Starr said.

Some or all Stark students could be allowed to stay until they graduate, the superintendent said, though he would prefer to immediately close Stark and redistribute its students and staff to other buildings.

The number of buses would not increase, but bus rides would be longer for some children under his plan.

It was the second time in recent weeks the committee was thrown a curve ball.

Members were preparing to close Toquam until last month, when Mayor Dannel Malloy, a nonvoting school board member, convinced them to consider closing Rogers and moving those students to the new interdistrict magnet school when it opens on the Clairol property in 2009.

Starr acknowledged he is coming late to the game with the Stark plan. The committee has been working on a redistricting plan for 14 months.

"I wish I thought of it two months ago," Starr said.

Redistricting Committee Chairwoman Susan Nabel said she was "totally nonplussed" by the Stark plan.

Malloy said it makes no sense to fight the Rogers plan when parents support it - especially when the Rogers' building needs the most repairs.

If Rogers were moved to the new environmental-science magnet, Starr said the district could create a preference zone that includes students now assigned to Rogers, but cannot assign students directly to the new magnet school. They would be given preference but would have to apply, he said.

They could stay until the sixth grade, when some would have to move to other middle schools, because the district needs the seats for students from other districts, he said. Since it is an interdistrict school funded by the state, at least 25 percent of students must come from other towns.

Malloy said the Rogers students should be allowed to stay through eighth grade because about 14 percent of the pupils leave in any given year and there would be enough room.

Even if Stamford residents constituted more than 75 percent of students, the state would not pull funding for the school, he said. Malloy said there are interdistrict schools that have been open for eight years that don't have the required numbers of out-of-towners and still get state funding.

School board member Monica Hoherchak said she's concerned that under the mayor's plan, the district would lose about 200 seats for Rogers' International Baccalaureate program. After all current Rogers students graduate, there would be 336 students in the IB program in kindergarten through fifth grade, down from 530 today.

Malloy warned members not to muddy the redistricting decision, which he said should be focused on integrating school buildings based on family income, with discussions about the academic programs that would be offered.

"It sounds like policy and curriculum to me, more than redistricting," Malloy said.

Starr said he would post detailed information about the possible scenarios on the Board of Education's Web site at www.stamfordpublicschools.org. Parents will be invited to comment on the proposals during a public hearing May 5 at Cloonan Middle School.

Nabel said board members are going in circles and need to reach a decision.

"We need to move. We need to make a choice here," she said. "Parents are waiting for us to finish what we started."