School Committee member's blog furthers heated debate about potential school closure
AMHERST - An emotionally charged discussion of whether to close Mark's Meadow Elementary School to save money has moved to a School Committee member's blog.
A lively back-and-forth has developed in recent days at "My School Committee Blog," run by board member Catherine Sanderson.
Sanderson, on her blog and elsewhere, has repeatedly said closing Mark's Meadow would save the most by far of several elementary school reconfiguration plans discussed as possible cost-saving measures. This is based on the School Committee's preliminary calculations. School officials have projected a budget shortfall in the $1 million range.
Some who have posted to her blog thank Sanderson, who has been answering all the questions they raise, for the information she is providing.
Other people object to the forum.
"May I express how out-of-line I believe the #My School Committee Blog,' written by Catherine A. Sanderson is, in its effort to push the agenda of closing Mark's Meadow School?" writes John Keins, a Mark's Meadow teacher, in a letter to the Amherst Bulletin.
Keins says he finds some of Sanderson's assertions on the blog to be "erroneous conjecturing." In one post she says she has spoken to some Mark's Meadow parents who are not opposed to closing the school and would welcome sending their children to Wildwood Elementary School. Keins doubts the claim is valid.
Other posters to "My School Committee" consider the merits of the forum in the comment section.
"This blog is ... the place in Amherst to have an informed debate about education," writes Joel Wolfe, a University of Massachusetts professor of history. "The SC meetings are largely a farce and the public is treated shamefully."
An anonymous poster asks whether there are parameters for officials blogging: "Many towns and cities have very specific guidelines and rules for how public officials and employees can blog because of some of the legal implications," the poster notes.
"In most instances, a disclaimer that the blog is the personal opinion of the blogger is not usually enough. Does the town of Amherst have a #blogging policy?'"
A group of parents has written a letter to "implore the committee to withhold judgment and cease publicizing unconfirmed information," saying the decision to close Mark's Meadow should be made only under "careful professional review, hard numbers and community input."
Mark's Meadow parent Tracy Hightower, one of the letter writers, said she isn't opposed to Sanderson answering questions on the blog, but fears Sanderson's tone of certainty may sway some people who are not following the discussion closely.
"I think the sentiment is that since the School Committee is an elected board they shouldn't be advocating so much for a certain procedure until they have the information."
Hightower thinks "it's almost an ethical issue for an elected official to be so opinionated in one direction or another before all the information is clearly provided. Catherine is really committed to doing the right thing," Hightower said. "I'm just concerned about how vocal she's been for this one particular plan."
Sanderson said there is nothing hidden or half-baked about her calculations. The way the elementary school population is divided now there are vast inequities, she said, and taxpayers are paying more per child to be educated at Mark's Meadow where class sizes are smaller than at the other schools.
Among the disparities often cited are that some 60 percent of students at Crocker Farm qualify for free or reduced lunch compared to 22 percent at Wildwood.
Unless substantial cost savings can be found, it is likely that music and art programs would be cut and children charged for riding the bus, Sanderson said, changes that would hurt students from lower-income families most. Said Sanderson, "As an elected official, I 100 percent think I have a responsibility to every school child in Amherst."
To those who object to her sharing her opinions on her blog she said, "It's called #My School Committee Blog.'" The emphasis is on the "My," she said. "Anybody else who wants to have their own School Committee blog can set that up and have their opinions on it."
Mary Carey can be reached at mary.carey@att.net.
Comments
Sanderson's blog.
From the article Mary Carey writes. "Sanderson said there is nothing hidden or half-baked about her calculations. The way the elementary school population is divided now there are vast inequities, she said, and taxpayers are paying more per child to be educated at Mark's Meadow where class sizes are smaller than at the other schools."
You're right Catherine some of the numbers are not half-baked, but really... are class sizes so dispirit? A quote from your blog. "Fort River has the largest class size average (19.7), with a range of 17 to 25. Wildwood has the next largest class size average (19.3), with a range of 17 to 22. Marks Meadow has the third largest class size average (19.1), with a range of 16 to 25. And Crocker Farm has the smallest class size average (17.7), with a range of 15 to 22." And notice Mark's Meadow has the largest classroom in the district.
And the price per child...from your blog:
"Fort River: $5,105 (with 478 students)
Wildwood: $5,495 (with 418 students)
Marks Meadow: $6,302 (with 185 students)
Crocker Farm: $7,171 (with 255 students)"
With this logic we should be closing Crocker Farm, which I don't personally support.
I guess the whole point to Mr. Keins letter to the editor is that information from an elected officials should be backed up with arguments based on real numbers coming from the District offices, not a part time committee member who was elected to make decision based on the district’s numbers and recommendations, and to not push an agenda because Sanderson’s numbers work for her plan.
Carey touches lightly on the disparities between the more affluent schools and the not so affluent. I know Sanderson and the Amherst Elementary School Committee, as a whole are committed to rectifying this by redistricting. Closing Mark’s Meadow forces the redistricting to happen without any studies being done on the fall out of such a move. It is a much easier job to close a small school with only a few hundred parents who will raise hell, than to redistrict thoughtfully and come up against a thousand-plus parents who will raise even more hell, when the see there children being move to another school.
Slow it down, get the numbers from the District Finance Director, Rob Detweiler, do a redistricting plan, and strategically move forward. After all we pay Mr. Detweiler to do this work with the Superintendents…..we don’t pay our School Committee, we elect them to vote on plans set forth by the District employees.