Decision nears on Barrows closure plan

By JEN COWART
Posted 3/6/19

By JEN COWART The third and final public hearing on the proposed closure of Chester Barrows Elementary School was held Feb. 27, and the School Committee may make a final decision on the facility's future later this month. Be assured we take this into"

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Decision nears on Barrows closure plan

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The third and final public hearing on the proposed closure of Chester Barrows Elementary School was held Feb. 27, and the School Committee may make a final decision on the facility’s future later this month.

“Be assured we take this into consideration with ultimate seriousness and we look at what is best for the students and best for the district,” Committee Chairman Dan Wall said, adding that a vote will likely take place at the committee’s March 18 meeting.

Wall reminded those present that anyone unable to attend the meeting is still able to email questions and concerns to any member of the School Committee or to the central administration.

He also said the committee will be taking several factors into consideration, including whether the school has the population to sustain it remaining open; whether or not the costs of maintaining it and providing the necessary repairs are feasible; whether or not it can be transformed and updated on the property that is there; and the impact or possible burden the closure would have on Rhodes and Edgewood Highland elementary schools.

Assistant Superintendent Norma Cole said officials understand the emotional impact of closing a school. She said the decline in student population in the Barrows area specifically – and in the city’s elementary schools more generally – played a significant role in the closure proposal.

“Small schools utilize resources that often have to be split up between schools,” she said. “This allows for more flexibility and less travel for teachers.”

Chester Barrows was built in 1924, and Cole said the building, like most of the buildings across the district, was not built for 21st-century learning. She said the five-year plan for the district, as well as plans beyond that timeframe, includes many changes for buildings throughout the district.

Cole said Rhodes could easily fit the incoming students from Barrows, which would allow for two classrooms per grade – a change she described as ideal for teaching and learning. The district is striving for a new, lower cap of 22 students for kindergarten, first- and second-grade classes, and although numbers are fluid while some students move out of the district and others move in throughout the school year, a sheet was passed out with the current numbers for each school. Of the schools, only the second grade at Edgewood Highland is currently at 25 students in each class.

Cole also explained that in determining which students would attend Rhodes and which students would attend Edgewood Highland, Park Avenue was used as a natural dividing line. She said the committee has worked hard to keep neighborhoods together. She reminded those present that all of the numbers are projections.

“Both Edgewood Highland and Rhodes schools are excited for the transition activities that would be in place, should the vote be for the closure of the school,” Cole said. “We’ve looked at this very carefully. I think I’ve looked at this every day for months, and we recognize how emotional this is, but for financial reasons and for building reasons, at this point, at this level, it makes the most sense.”

One question from the audience focused on whether Barrows students would be subjected to more changes if a district-wide redistricting process were to take place in the near future. Cole responded that at this point, given the five-year plan that includes changes for schools such as Waterman, Gladstone, Garden City and Eden Park elementary schools, that it is unlikely that Barrows, Rhodes and Edgewood Highland families would face significant changes again soon.

When asked what the potential savings would be to the district if Barrows were to close, officials said the preliminary estimate is $450,000.

Parents also expressed concerns about class size, and it was asked what would happen if additional students moved into the Edgewood or Rhodes areas and registered for the grades that were already slated to be at the current cap of 25.

Cole said new students would not necessarily be placed in their neighborhood schools if the classrooms are already at their cap, and assured the parents in the room that their own students have priority over those slots and would not be moved out if students moved into the neighborhood.

She said situations involving students moving into a neighborhood where the classrooms are already at their cap is not unusual and happens in other parts of the city, as well as in the Rhodes, Barrows and Edgewood Highland neighborhoods. In those situations, she said, the new students are sent to another school in the district where there is space in the classrooms.

When questions were raised as to how fiscal and technological changes and updates would affect educational practices – and whether large class sizes would negatively impact instruction – Cole gave examples of learning initiatives taking place in schools all across the city. She cited the Boston K2 kindergarten program currently running at many schools, including Edgewood Highland, and both blended and personalized learning K-12 instructional practices that represent positive changes for children.

“These are spaces where children are engaged and excited about learning,” she said. “These may be larger classes, but the spaces may also look different to how instruction used to be delivered. Since the 1950s, it has been exactly the same. We are looking to be able to offer a more engaging environment and a smaller environment.”

Cole also sought to reassure those who raised concerns over students having different teachers than the ones at Barrows.

“We have fabulous teachers in the Cranston Public Schools, in all of the buildings, and we have a solid curriculum,” she said. “On the accountability scoring, some schools did better than others, but some buildings have struggles that others do not have. All across the district they are taking the RICAS responses and studying them. Our teachers are fabulous and they are working really hard to fill the gaps.”

Cole said teacher assignments and reassignments are based on contractual procedures and that it could not be guaranteed that any particular teacher would be at any school, anywhere in the district.

As the meeting wrapped up, committee member Stephanie Culhane addressed the audience, reiterating Cole’s points about the fact that aging buildings in Cranston do not correlate with a lack of quality education.

“Our teachers are working very hard and our kids are getting a good quality education,” she said. “Our teachers are committed to blended learning, and that is an opportunity to make our classrooms look like 21st-century education.”

She noted the same about class size, citing her own son’s experiences in larger classes.

“Amazing things happen here in less than ideal circumstances,” she said.

Culhane also said the proposal to close Barrows is part of a larger vision.

“We need to look at our global plan. We have 24 buildings and almost 11,000 students, and we are charged with looking at the global impact,” she said. “As far as the savings of $400,000 by closing the building, that is not a huge win for us. It’s not the impetus behind it. Finances are not the only reason.”

Committee member Paul Archetto said the committee will be looking at the building closure proposal with close scrutiny. He said that as a teacher, he understands the impact that class size can have. He specifically expressed concern with the proposed classroom sizes in grades two and three at Edgewood Highland and grades three and five at Rhodes. He questioned the feasibility of utilizing portable units as a temporary measure.

“We prefer all students to be safe,” Cole responded. “We are removing the portables.”

Committee member Janice Ruggieri added that each portable unit costs $100,000 to operate, not including transportation costs, and also noted that the portable units no longer meet the Rhode Island Department of Education’s requirements.

The committee is scheduled to hold a work session March 11 and a regular meeting March 18.

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