amity >> The Daniel Boone Area School Board voted 5-4 Monday to approve a three-year elementary school reconfiguration plan that could save the district $540,000.
The most controversial part of the plan, Phase Three, is the closing of the Birdsboro Elementary Center within three years.
About 150 residents and district teachers attended the meeting to protest Phase Three, and dissuade their school board representatives from approving the plan.
The unpopular vote resulted in residents screaming at school board members representing Birdsboro, saying they had betrayed their constituents and lied to them.
At one point during the heated meeting, police escorted Birdsboro Mayor Joseph Peterson out of the session as he attempted to read a statement opposing the board’s decision.
Board members Carol Beitz, Connor Kurtz, Richard Martino, Jeff Scott and Michael Wolfe voted to approve the reconfiguration. The resolution was opposed by board members Dane Ochis-O’Neil, Scott Potts, David Rathgeb and Tamara Twardowski.
“My commitment has always been to the Daniel Boone School District,” said Birdsboro Borough Manager Aaron Durso prior to the vote. “If you’re going to vote ‘yes’ tonight, then you should step down and let the board appoint me, because the community needs someone that will advocate for them. I think you would be hard-pressed to find someone as strong an advocate as I am. If you represent Birdsboro – and you ran in the last election – you did not tell us that you would vote to close our school.”
Following the vote, Peterson was escorted out of the building by Amity Township police after yelling at board members.
Residents and teachers questioned the “rush” to approve, the “ever-changing math” of future enrollment, elementary class sizes, new housing starts, as well as the short time frame.
The new educational plan was presented to the board and public on April 11 by district administration and Superintendent James P. Harris.
Board members said Monday night that the approval is for “Phase One” of the three year plan.
Phase One will include relocating incoming kindergarten students from Amity Elementary Center to Monocacy Elementary Center. All future kindergarten students will be educated at Monocacy Elementary Center.
Phase One also includes relocating all incoming third grade students from Birdsboro Elementary Center to Amity Elementary Center.
School Board Solicitor Brian Subers said the three-year plan constitutes a decision by the board to close Birdsboro Elementary Center; approval of Phase Two in January would allow the board to prepare for a public hearing in February 2017 to close Birdsboro Elementary Center.
Prior to that, he said the board will receive updated demographics and enrollment projections in January 2017.
Based on that information, as well as the success of Phase One, the board would vote to implement Phase Two.
Phase Two involves locating all incoming fourth grade students from Birdsboro Elementary Center to Amity Elementary Center for 2017-18.
The only elementary grade remaining at Birdsboro Elementary Center would be fifth graders.
High School Teacher Austin Peterson began the one and half-hours of public comment by questioning if the new educational plan will improve on the current configuration.
“We just don’t know,” said Peterson. “Will putting our buildings at near capacity be beneficial? This is an opportunity for the school district to take a step back and analyze this — look at bus schedules, length of bus rides. Will old programs be restored? Take a year to look at it. Delay the plan while researching. Take the opportunity to rebuild the community’s trust. Wouldn’t it be great if a year from now this room was filled with people that support this plan, and with teachers and administrators behind it, backing it?”
Dave Austen, of Jefferson Street, Birdsboro, and Jack Sherman, a third-grader at Birdsboro Elementary Center, both asked the board to not close Birdsboro Elementary Center.
They said other students should have the opportunity to experience the same “great school” that they have known.
Sherman said the relocation of students from Birdsboro Elementary Center to Amity Elementary Center will result in overcrowded buses, and the new teachers and principal won’t know his name.
“Don’t close my school, that is in my town,” pleaded Sharon Morris, who spoke for the allotted three minutes about her beloved school and community, adding at the end, “I’m ashamed, I truly am.”
Julia Olafson, of Birdsboro, said she has recently seen two different sets of projections on the district website.
“If the math doesn’t work out (an entire grade doesn’t fit at Amity Elementary Center), where would it go?” asked Olafson.
“Until we can have the same projections for two meetings in a row, I urge you to vote no on this resolution. If there is no rush, there should be no negative impact to waiting for a year.”
Daniel Boone Education Association President Amy Hicks agreed, adding that she hasn’t seen the math or the revised encore schedules.
“Take the next year to plan – we have only one chance to do this right,” said Hicks. “Consistency and continuity are good for kids. Let’s do this carefully together, and do this right the first time. A ‘no’ vote can still show confidence in this plan, but that it’s too early for next year.”
Amity Elementary Center Principal Dane Miller and Monocacy Elementary Center Principal Melanie Hefter presented at the beginning of the meeting the advantages of the elementary school reconfiguration, as well as historical timelines and recent building highlights.
Residents questioned why Hefter and Birdsboro Elementary Center Assistant Principal Ted Isselmann did not make a presentation about Birdsboro Elementary Center.
Attorney William Fox, representing JP Mascaro & Sons, Birdsboro, asked if the administration is afraid to talk about Birdsboro Elementary Center’s “pluses” – “the only community school.”
He said Pat Mascaro sent a letter to the board on April 18, asking them to “step back.”
“We heard all the benefits of the plan, but haven’t heard any detriments or cons,” said Fox, adding, “You can’t rush into a critical decision such as this. Nothing like this should happen with such lightening speed.”
Birdsboro Borough Council Vice President Cindy Magee also asked the board to “step back” and carefully consider the situation, which she said has become a “tsunami of discontent.”
“I’m hearing three things tonight – anxiety, distrust, and divide,” said Magee, adding, “Let’s take a step back. If we do need to restructure that we get to the same place together. This is rippling through our community.”
School Board President Michael Wolfe said the board has been discussing this kind of consolidation for several months, not just two weeks.
“We’re not voting tonight to close Birdsboro Elementary Center,” said Wolfe. “Kindergarten and third grade – we need to validate the data over the next two to three years. I don’t want to close Birdsboro Elementary Center, but not all decisions we make are popular. We try to make the best decisions we can. I came to my decision trusting the administration.”
“There are a lot of reasons for not closing Birdsboro Elementary Center, and a lot of emotions,” said board member Tamara Twardowski.
“We don’t know now that bus rides will be 66 minutes long, we don’t know that there will be larger class sizes, that principals won’t know kids names. Are you going to show up here for every next meeting to help us find a solution? We have been talking about this for three years. You can’t come yelling at us once a year and think you’ve won because we didn’t close the school. The issue is still there.”
“I see this resolution as a plan for kids, not a plan for a building,” said board member Carol Beitz.
“What happens with the building is a long way down the road, and there is plenty of time to argue that out, and with better data.”
Beitz said she feels a need to rush, and consolidate the grade under one roof.
“We are not rushing to close a building. It will take two to three years to do that and two or three more votes by the board in 2018.”
Several residents applauded the future plan to close Birdsboro Elementary Center.
Gasps could be heard from the audience when one resident said the school should have been closed two years ago due to the increasing daily operating costs.
“One thing there is consensus on is that teachers and kids under the same roof is best, and that is why I am voting for the resolution, because I want what is best for the kids,” said Beitz.
